Development and evaluation of a flocked nasal midturbinate swab for self-collection in respiratory virus infection diagnostic testing

J Clin Microbiol. 2010 Sep;48(9):3340-2. doi: 10.1128/JCM.02235-09. Epub 2010 Jul 7.

Abstract

We developed and evaluated flocked nasal midturbinate swabs obtained from 55 asymptomatic and 108 symptomatic volunteers. Self-collected swabs obtained from asymptomatic volunteers yielded numbers of respiratory epithelial cells comparable to those of staff-collected nasal (n = 55) or nasopharyngeal (n = 20) swabs. Specific viruses were detected in swabs self-collected by 42/108 (38.9%) symptomatic volunteers by multiplex PCR.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Human Experimentation
  • Humans
  • Nasal Mucosa / virology*
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods
  • Respiratory Tract Infections / diagnosis*
  • Respiratory Tract Infections / virology
  • Self Care / methods*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Virology / methods*
  • Virus Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Virus Diseases / virology
  • Viruses / isolation & purification*