Children Use Cola to Fake Covid Test Results

Ah Covid tests, so reliable children learned how to create false positive at will. Turns out, the COVID-19 lateral flow test can be easily made to produce a false positive using cola or another highly acidic liquid.

Apparently videos of the trick have been around since December.

The explanation is essentially, liquids with a pH range of 2-4 cause the antibody proteins present in the test become positively charged and bind to the cola producing a false positive.

So easy a kid can do it

www.bbc.com...

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Children are always going to find cunning ways to bunk off school, and the latest trick is to fake a positive Covid-19 lateral flow test (LFT) using soft drinks. [Videos of the trick have been circulating on TikTok since December and a school in Liverpool, UK, recently wrote to parents to warn them about it.] So how are fruit juices, cola and devious kids fooling the tests, and is there a way to tell a fake positive result from a real one? I’ve tried to find out.

First, I thought it best to check the claims, so I cracked open bottles of cola and orange juice, then deposited a few drops directly onto LFTs. Sure enough, a few minutes later, two lines appeared on each test, supposedly indicating the presence of the virus that causes Covid-19.

So, how can a soft drink cause the appearance of a red T line? One possibility is that the drinks contain something that the antibodies recognise and bind to, just as they do to the virus. But this is rather unlikely. The reason antibodies are used in tests like these is that they are incredibly fussy about what they bind to. There’s all sorts of stuff in the snot and saliva collected by the swabs you take from the nose and mouth, and the antibodies totally ignore this mess of protein, other viruses and remains of your breakfast. So they aren’t going to react to the ingredients of a soft drink.

A much more likely explanation is that something in the drinks is affecting the function of the antibodies. A range of fluids, from fruit juice to cola, have been used to fool the tests, but they all have one thing in common – they are highly acidic.

in acidic conditions, the protein becomes increasingly positively charged. As a result, many of the interactions that hold the protein together are disrupted, the delicate structure of the protein is affected and it no longer functions correctly. In this case, the antibodies’ sensitivity to the virus is lost.

Given this, you might expect that the acidic drinks would result in completely blank tests. But denatured proteins are sticky beasts. All of those perfectly evolved interactions that would normally hold the protein together are now orphaned and looking for something to bind to. A likely explanation is that the immobilised antibodies at the T-line stick directly to the gold particles as they pass by, producing the notorious cola-induced false positive result.

a reply to: dug88

Which is why PCR is preferable.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

PCR...ah yes that test that works by detecting the presence of viruses based on the sensitivity of the test. The test that doesn't actually test for covid antibodies. Much more reliable I'm sure.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

I think the truth is preferable!

originally posted by: dug88
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

PCR...ah yes that test that works by detecting the presence of viruses based on the sensitivity of the test. The test that doesn't actually test for covid antibodies. Much more reliable I'm sure.

No offense but you clearly know very little about these tests. PCR is a far more reliable method, and is in fact the gold standard.

A recent Cochrane Review, which combined the results of multiple studies assessing the accuracy of LFTs, found that the average sensitivity of such tests was 72% among people with COVID-19 symptoms, and 58% for people without symptoms.

www.gavi.org...
And as your source shows it's pretty easy to get a false positive with no covid antibodies. FYI soda can get a false positive line on some pregnancy tests too which is maybe why they tried it for covid.

The nose swab PCR test for COVID-19 is the most accurate and reliable test for diagnosing COVID-19.

my.clevelandclinic.org...

The major strength of this study lies in the large sample size (100,001 SARS-CoV-2 rtRT-PCR tests from 95,919 patients) from which discordant results were identified. Discordant results were found for 0.05% of all patients tested. Based on re-testing of 49 patients with discordant results, the FNR and sensitivity of our LDT in this subgroup of patients was approximately 9.3% and 90.7%, respectively.

virologyj.biomedcentral.com...

False positives can happen, but usually mean you had covid in your system, but not enough to create an infection and your body had fought it off because there were too few virus to overcome the bodies initial defenses.

originally posted by: KawRider9
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

I think the truth is preferable!

As do I, what truth do you refer to?

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

WTH kinda question is that? What truth?

There's only one truth. ONE!!!

False positive, False negative, hospitals are overrun, or maybe not, masks work, or maybe not, this drug is good, or maybe not, the list is endless! The ####ing truth would be nice for a change.

What truth?

a reply to: KawRider9

So what is that truth? Not sure why you replied and didn't actually answer the question.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

I don't know what the truth is. Nothing in this so called pandemic has been truthful. Nothing!

How else could I have answered your question? The experts have flip flopped on every aspect of this bs!

The truth is not believing what I want to hear. The truth is the damn truth.

But last time I did the COVID 19 test, they still were swabbing inside the nose.

WTF.... Soda sniffers ???

a reply to: Trueman

That's the PCR test that takes a bit longer, but is much more accurate. Most LFT include a mouth swab.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

OK, but where I am you don't do the test by yourself. There is a nurse in a lab doing the test with you.

Here in the UK you do the PCR test yourself.

Sit in your car and swab in tha back of the throat then up one nostril. Put it in a vial and then a medibag and it gets taken to the lab via currier.

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

OK, but where I am you don't do the test by yourself. There is a nurse in a lab doing the test with you.

a reply to: Trueman

In my hospital we do the test, as crazy as it sounds, other local hospitals and clinics are having people self test.

Is it that crazy to you?

It's far cheaper and quicker and there's a lower chance if infecting the staff surely?

I'm asking as it's how we do it at work.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
a reply to: Trueman

In my hospital we do the test, as crazy as it sounds, other local hospitals and clinics are having people self test.

a reply to: nonspecific

Yes, because you are unlikely to go as far as necessary to do the test correctly. I go way up, whereas the do it yourself is barely in the nose. You will get way more false negatives.

Yeah it's a downside I agree.

I personally think that may be a reason we go slightly higher on the cycles than the general public with a degree in science from the combined university of Facebook and YouTube seem happy with. I can't verify this of course.

It does mean we can handle far more tests this way though.

One mobile testing van with a team of 7 non medical staff can handle up to around 600 tests in a day at any location it's needed. To do that with trained staff and full safety protocol would be far harder and costlier to implement.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
a reply to: nonspecific

Yes, because you are unlikely to go as far as necessary to do the test correctly. I go way up, whereas the do it yourself is barely in the nose. You will get way more false negatives.

originally posted by: dug88
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

PCR...ah yes that test that works by detecting the presence of viruses based on the sensitivity of the test. The test that doesn't actually test for covid antibodies. Much more reliable I'm sure.

Antibody tests have their place, but they don't test for the presence of the virus. They only show that someone has antibodies to the virus (either from infection and recovery, or from vaccination).

PCR tests for the genomic sequence of the virus. It tests for the virus itself. And it is less error prone than most antibody tests.

a reply to: nonspecific

Don gown, gloves, N95, leave it on the whole shift other than break time, and it's very little difference. The cost might be a little higher, but not getting false negatives should cover the cost.

originally posted by: nonspecific

Here in the UK you do the PCR test yourself.

Sit in your car and swab in tha back of the throat then up one nostril. Put it in a vial and then a medibag and it gets taken to the lab via currier.

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

OK, but where I am you don't do the test by yourself. There is a nurse in a lab doing the test with you.

There is potential for contamination or not getting a good enough sample if people test themselves. I do understand that there is less likelihood of transmission of the virus, and faster sample gathering, but I believe it would lead to too many poor readings.