Peer Reviewed Publications Archives

A novel anterior nasal swab to detect respiratory viruses: a prospective study of diagnostic sensitivity and specificity

BACKGROUND Detection of respiratory viruses requires the collection of samples for testing, however, nasal and throat swabs can cause discomfort and procedural anxiety in children. Respiratory sampling methods which are accurate and less invasive are needed. AIM To determine whether Rhinoswab Junior (ANS) is a suitable alternative to the standard combined nose and throat (CTN) … Read more

Feasibility of specimen self-collection in young children undergoing SARS-COV-2 surveillance for in person learning

The study was conducted at a K-8 school in California with 296 participants to assess whether school children aged 5 to 14 years, can feasibly self-collect SARS-CoV-2 samples for surveillance testing over the course of an academic year. Clinical research staff provided all students with instructions to ensure proper technique. Errors occurred in 2.7% (n = … Read more

Assessment of Sensitivity and Specificity of Patient-Collected Lower Nasal Specimens for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

This prognostic study compared collection of three specimens: a patient-collected lower nasal swab, a physician-collected lower nasal swab and a physician-collected oropharyngeal swab from 30 participants infected with SARS-CoV-2. Diagnostic equivalence was seen across the three methods of specimen collection. While it was discussed that the small sample size limits generalizability, self-collected lower nasal swabs … Read more

Evaluation of a novel anterior nasal swab for the detection of SARS-CoV-2

This study investigated a novel anterior nasal swab Rhinoswab™ which is designed to standardise self-collection, maximise sample uptake and improve user comfort. Combined throat and nose swabs and neat saliva samples were used as comparators. The overall positive percentage agreement between the Rhinoswab and the combined throat and nose swab was 95.2 % at day 2 … Read more

Nasal swab as preferred clinical specimen for Covid-19 testing in children

A prospective study of children (age 0–18) testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, with 52 paired samples of both nasal and oropharyngeal specimens taken on admission and every 1-3 days during hospitalization. Overall, 24 of 26 nasal specimens resulted positive, whereas 20 of 26 oropharyngeal specimens resulted positive. CT values of the first simultaneous collected materials were … Read more

Swabs Collected by Patients or Health Care Workers for SARS-CoV-2 Testing

A cross sectional study with 530 participants from five ambulatory clinics comparing self-collected tongue, nasal and mid turbinate samples with clinician collected nasopharyngeal samples. All samples were submitted to a reference laboratory for reverse-transcriptase–polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) testing that yielded qualitative results (positive or negative) and cycle threshold (Ct) values for positive samples only. Both the nasal and mid-turbinate … Read more

Self-collection: An appropriate alternative during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

A prospective study of 236 patients comparing patient collected throat and nasal swabs, clinician collected (HCW) throat and nasal swabs and clinician collected throat and nasopharyngeal swabs. Samples were analysed for SARS-CoV-2 as well as common respiratory viruses. Self-collection was highly concordant with HCW collected for all viruses including SARS-CoV-2 and the mean SARS-CoV-2 E-gene … Read more

Comparison of Unsupervised Home Self-collected Midnasal Swabs With Clinician-Collected Nasopharyngeal Swabs for Detection

A cross sectional study with 185 symptomatic patients, of which 41 had positive results. Study participants were recruited from symptomatic outpatients’ health care workers presenting to drive-through clinics. Participants were provided test kits for unsupervised home self-collection of a mid-nasal swab. Home swab performance was compared with clinician-collected nasopharyngeal swabs, which were collected by medical … Read more

Diagnostic performance of different sampling approaches for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing: a systematic review and meta-analysis

A search of PubMed, Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science, medRxiv, bioRxiv, SSRN, and Research Square from Jan 1, 2000, to Nov 16, 2020 was conducted. Original clinical studies that examined the performance of nasopharyngeal swabs and any additional respiratory specimens for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection among individuals presenting in ambulatory care were include in the review. … Read more