Key TakeawaysA new study found that sebum-based testing (using a skin swab) might be a potential way to diagnose COVID-19.Skin swab testing would be easier to collect than a saliva sample from someone’s mouth, nose, or throat.While it’s promising, more research is needed to show that skin swabs could be used to detect COVID or other health conditions.

Key Takeaways

A new study found that sebum-based testing (using a skin swab) might be a potential way to diagnose COVID-19.Skin swab testing would be easier to collect than a saliva sample from someone’s mouth, nose, or throat.While it’s promising, more research is needed to show that skin swabs could be used to detect COVID or other health conditions.

FrequentCOVID-19 testingincreases the chance of early detection. Finding out that you have COVID sooner rather than later gives you a chance to get treated to avoid complications and lets you know that you need to isolate and take steps to prevent spreading the virus to others.

In a new study, researchers from the University of Surrey collected sebum, blood, and saliva samples from 83 hospitalized patients—some of whom had COVID. Using the samples, the researchers tested the different biofluids for virus biomarkers and got some surprising results.

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Which Biofluid Is Best?

Polymer chain reaction(PCR) tests are the “gold standard” for diagnosing COVID because they look for the virus itself in a sample taken from a person’s mouth, nose, or throat.

However,Matt Spick, a postgraduate researcher at the University of Surrey and an author of the new study, told Verywell that sebum-based testing showed surprisingly good results in their research.

What Is Sebum?

Spick said that in their study, blood-based testing for COVIDbiomarkerswas 97% accurate. Sebum- and saliva-based testing were 88% and 80% accurate, respectively.

Although sebum swabs are not commonly used for testing, it is a growing area of research—and not just for COVID. For example, scientists at The University of Manchester have found that sebum might have the potential to identify biomarkers forParkinson’s disease.

“We also know that other viruses modify the skin,” said Spick. “Flavivirusmodifies its host’s skin to make it more attractive to mosquitoes, helping the virus to propagate. We think sebum skin swabs have lots to tell us about what is going on elsewhere in the body.”

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Why Would Skin Swabs Be Helpful?

According to Spick, skin swabs have a few advantages: they are convenient and less painful to collect than other bodily fluids, and they may not be as likely to get contaminated.

Mark Loafman, MD, MPH, a family physician and chair of the Family and Community Medicine Department at Cook County Health, told Verywell that a test with those features would be welcomed.

“There’s always hope for diagnostic testing that is more accurate, faster, less expensive, and ideally less invasive,” said Loafman. “The invasive nature of a nasal swab or blood draw can be a disincentive for some adults and many children.”

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A Future With More Testing Options

Loafman said that investigating new sampling techniques could also be an opportunity to discover new insights about the body’s response to infection and the health condition being tested. In turn, that knowledge could lead to breakthroughs in treatment and prognosis.

Matt SpickWe hope that our research will lead to further investigation of the potential of non-invasive sampling, either for specific conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease, or perhaps even for the next pandemic.

Matt Spick

We hope that our research will lead to further investigation of the potential of non-invasive sampling, either for specific conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease, or perhaps even for the next pandemic.

However, theCOVID testingmethodology in the study is still in the experimental stage, and Loafman said we’ll be using traditional biofluid samples for the foreseeable future.

According to Spick, there is an established infrastructure forPCR and rapid antigen tests, which means that skin swab testing is a lower priority for now.

“Our study was small, and would need substantial validation work,” said Spick. “We hope that our research will lead to further investigation of the potential of non-invasive sampling, either for specific conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease, or perhaps even forthe next pandemic.”

The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. For the most recent updates on COVID-19, visit ourcoronavirus news page.

4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.COVID-19 testing: What you need to know.Spick M, Lewis HM, Frampas CF, et al.An integrated analysis and comparison of serum, saliva and sebum for COVID-19 metabolomics.Sci Rep. 2022;12(11867). doi:10.1038/s41598-022-16123-4Sinclair E, Trivedi DK, Sarkar D, et al.Metabolomics of sebum reveals lipid dysregulation in Parkinson’s disease.Nature Communications. 2021;12(1). doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21669-4Zhang H, Zhu Y, Liu Z, et al.A volatile from the skin microbiota of flavivirus-infected hosts promotes mosquito attractiveness.Cell. 2022;185(14):2510-2522.e16. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2022.05.016

4 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.COVID-19 testing: What you need to know.Spick M, Lewis HM, Frampas CF, et al.An integrated analysis and comparison of serum, saliva and sebum for COVID-19 metabolomics.Sci Rep. 2022;12(11867). doi:10.1038/s41598-022-16123-4Sinclair E, Trivedi DK, Sarkar D, et al.Metabolomics of sebum reveals lipid dysregulation in Parkinson’s disease.Nature Communications. 2021;12(1). doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21669-4Zhang H, Zhu Y, Liu Z, et al.A volatile from the skin microbiota of flavivirus-infected hosts promotes mosquito attractiveness.Cell. 2022;185(14):2510-2522.e16. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2022.05.016

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.COVID-19 testing: What you need to know.Spick M, Lewis HM, Frampas CF, et al.An integrated analysis and comparison of serum, saliva and sebum for COVID-19 metabolomics.Sci Rep. 2022;12(11867). doi:10.1038/s41598-022-16123-4Sinclair E, Trivedi DK, Sarkar D, et al.Metabolomics of sebum reveals lipid dysregulation in Parkinson’s disease.Nature Communications. 2021;12(1). doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21669-4Zhang H, Zhu Y, Liu Z, et al.A volatile from the skin microbiota of flavivirus-infected hosts promotes mosquito attractiveness.Cell. 2022;185(14):2510-2522.e16. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2022.05.016

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.COVID-19 testing: What you need to know.

Spick M, Lewis HM, Frampas CF, et al.An integrated analysis and comparison of serum, saliva and sebum for COVID-19 metabolomics.Sci Rep. 2022;12(11867). doi:10.1038/s41598-022-16123-4

Sinclair E, Trivedi DK, Sarkar D, et al.Metabolomics of sebum reveals lipid dysregulation in Parkinson’s disease.Nature Communications. 2021;12(1). doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21669-4

Zhang H, Zhu Y, Liu Z, et al.A volatile from the skin microbiota of flavivirus-infected hosts promotes mosquito attractiveness.Cell. 2022;185(14):2510-2522.e16. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2022.05.016

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