Doctors in Switzerland uncover coronavirus in skin sample

Could there another way to test for coronavirus other than a nasal swab? Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

Doctors at the University Hospital Basel have confirmed a positive coronavirus case from a skin sample after a nasal swab test came back negative.

The case concerns an 81-year-old woman who was tested for coronavirus because she displayed symptoms including a fever. Both a nasopharyngeal swab coronavirus test and an antibody test, which was performed six weeks later, were both negative.

When the patient arrived at the hospital, she also had a skin rash. A team of dermatologists at the university hospital tested a sample of her skin for coronavirus, which came back positive.

The findings, published in the LancetExternal link, raise a host of questions about potential shortcomings in current nasal swab testing.

The study authors write that “swab samples that are taken incorrectly are known drivers of the relatively large number of false negative tests for SARS-CoV-2”. Testing skin biopsy samples could be used as an additional diagnostic tool according to the authors.

The study also contributes to the hypothesis that some patients with Covid-19 might not establish immunity.