How kids are getting positive COVID test results with orange juice
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Teenagers in the UK have figured out how to “fake” positive results on COVID-19 tests - prompting at least one school to issue a warning to parents.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The trick has taken off on social media, as teens use orange juice or soft drinks to generate a false positive result on lateral flow Covid tests.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It is not known whether any students have used it to successfully get time off school.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gateacre School in Belle Vale, Liverpool, asked students in years 7-10 to stay home from school after some positive COVID-19 test results were discovered in the school community, and warned parents to be vigilant about the social media trend.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Nationally, some school students have discovered that placing droplets of orange juice or other fruit juice on an LFD test gets a false ‘positive’ result,” </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/schools-warning-children-using-fruit-20896618?_ga=2.269013617.1871628857.1625379206-1709235865.1625379206" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the warning email read</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“In light of this, can you be extra vigilant when your child is doing their LFD tests. Also, remind them that a positive LFD test must be followed by a confirmatory PCR test.”</span></p>
<p><strong>How it happens</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The false positive occurs due to the acidity of the juice or soft drink, rather than the beverage containing the virus, which essentially breaks the test.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, Mark Lorch, a professor of science communication and chemistry at the University of Hull, </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-kids-are-using-soft-drinks-to-fake-positive-tests-ive-worked-out-the-science-and-how-to-spot-it-163739" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">has said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> it is possible to spot “fake” positive tests by washing them with a buffer solution that restores the correct pH to the testing device. Once this happens, the “positive” line disappears to reveal the negative result.</span></p>
<p><strong>A selfish thing to do</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jon Deeks, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Birmingham, has criticised the practice and discouraged teens from trying it.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“False positives affect not just that child but their family and their bubble at school, so [it is a] pretty selfish thing to do. There are less harmful ways to fake a day off school,” he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Professor Lorch instead encouraged students to help him publish his findings.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Children, I applaud your ingenuity, but now that I’ve found a way to uncover your trickery I suggest you use your cunning to devise a set of experiments and test my hypothesis,” he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Then we can publish your results in a peer-reviewed journal.”</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Mark Loch</span></em></p>
