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Taking Care of Ourselves & Each Other

Health & Well-Being

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Color How-to Videos and Diagrams

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Self-swab instruction videos

How to activate your kit and collect your sample

How to activate your kit and collect your sample

How to activate your kit and collect your sample



Why is Stanford utilizing nasal swab testing instead of saliva testing methods?

Stanford is routinely evaluating emerging technologies for mass screening alternatives. At this time, we believe the nasal swab testing is the best match for our students. Although saliva testing is easier to collect, it may be difficult to collect from some students and may still pose an aerosol risk. There is a loss in sensitivity (10-50 times less) when using saliva than when using a nasopharyngeal swab. As such, patients with low viral loads may falsely test negative.