FDA and others have been very clear about this: you should use the tests as directed.
I (a decades-long amateur epidemiologist who’s done a deep dive on antigen test research), my partner (a medical epidemiologist who works full-time on Covid), and several other epidemiologists I’m aware of, all use throat + nasal swabs.
I wouldn’t worry at all about false positives: they really haven’t been an issue with antigen tests. If I got a positive from a throat + nasal swab, I’d follow it up with a nasal-only swab or a PCR, just to be sure.
There is non-zero risk that you’d get false negatives, by some unknown mechanism. That seems unlikely given that some countries like the UK use throat swabs, but it’s possible. It’s my well-informed but not data-supported belief that the benefit of swabbing your throat probably exceeds the downside.
Let me give you two answers for the price of one:
FDA and others have been very clear about this: you should use the tests as directed.
I (a decades-long amateur epidemiologist who’s done a deep dive on antigen test research), my partner (a medical epidemiologist who works full-time on Covid), and several other epidemiologists I’m aware of, all use throat + nasal swabs.
I wouldn’t worry at all about false positives: they really haven’t been an issue with antigen tests. If I got a positive from a throat + nasal swab, I’d follow it up with a nasal-only swab or a PCR, just to be sure.
There is non-zero risk that you’d get false negatives, by some unknown mechanism. That seems unlikely given that some countries like the UK use throat swabs, but it’s possible. It’s my well-informed but not data-supported belief that the benefit of swabbing your throat probably exceeds the downside.