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Performance of anterior nares and tongue swabs for nucleic acid, Nucleocapsid, and Spike antigen testing for detecting SARS-CoV-2 against nasopharyngeal PCR and viral culture.
Montaño, Michalina A; Bemer, Meagan J; Heller, Kate B; Meisner, Allison; Marfatia, Zarna; Rechkina, Elena A; Padgett, Leah R; Ahls, Charlotte L; Rains, Douglas; Hao, Linhui; Hsiang, Tien-Ying; Cangelosi, Gerard A; Greninger, Alexander L; Cantera, Jason L; Golden, Allison; Peck, Roger B; Boyle, David S; Gale, Michael; Drain, Paul K.
  • Montaño MA; Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Electronic address: micham@uw.edu.
  • Bemer MJ; Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
  • Heller KB; Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
  • Meisner A; Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA.
  • Marfatia Z; Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
  • Rechkina EA; Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
  • Padgett LR; Quantigen Biosciences, Fishers, IN.
  • Ahls CL; Quantigen Biosciences, Fishers, IN.
  • Rains D; Quantigen Biosciences, Fishers, IN.
  • Hao L; Department of Immunology, Center for Innate Immunity and Immune Disease, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
  • Hsiang TY; Department of Immunology, Center for Innate Immunity and Immune Disease, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
  • Cangelosi GA; Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
  • Greninger AL; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
  • Cantera JL; PATH, Seattle, WA.
  • Golden A; PATH, Seattle, WA.
  • Peck RB; PATH, Seattle, WA.
  • Boyle DS; PATH, Seattle, WA.
  • Gale M; Department of Immunology, Center for Innate Immunity and Immune Disease, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
  • Drain PK; Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
Int J Infect Dis ; 117: 287-294, 2022 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1670581
ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES:

This study assesses and compares the performance of different swab types and specimen collection sites for SARS-CoV-2 testing, to reference standard real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and viral culture.

METHODS:

Symptomatic adults with COVID-19 who visited routine COVID-19 testing sites used spun polyester and FLOQSwabs to self-collect specimens from the anterior nares and tongue. We evaluated the self-collected specimen from anterior nares and tongue swabs for the nucleocapsid (N) or spike (S) antigen of SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR and then compared these results with results from RT-PCR and viral cultures from nurse-collected nasopharyngeal swabs.

RESULTS:

Diagnostic sensitivity was highest for RT-PCR testing conducted using specimens from the anterior nares collected on FLOQSwabs (84%; 95% CI 68-94%) and spun polyester swabs (82%; 95% CI 66-92%), compared to RT-PCR tests conducted using specimens from nasopharyngeal swabs. Relative to viral culture from nasopharyngeal swabs, diagnostic sensitivities were higher for RT-PCR and antigen testing of anterior nares swabs (91-100%) than that of tongue swabs (18-81%). Antigen testing of anterior nares swabs had higher sensitivities against viral culture (91%) than against nasopharyngeal RT-PCR (38-70%). All investigational tests had high specificity compared with nasopharyngeal RT-PCR. Spun polyester swabs are equally effective as FLOQSwabs for anterior nasal RT-PCR testing.

CONCLUSIONS:

We found that anterior nares specimens were more sensitive than tongue swab specimens or antigen testing for detecting SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR. Thus, self-collected anterior nares specimens may represent an alternative method for diagnostic SARS-CoV-2 testing in some settings.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Nucleic Acids / COVID-19 Type of study: Diagnostic study / Experimental Studies Limits: Adult / Humans Language: English Journal: Int J Infect Dis Journal subject: Communicable Diseases Year: 2022 Document Type: Article

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Nucleic Acids / COVID-19 Type of study: Diagnostic study / Experimental Studies Limits: Adult / Humans Language: English Journal: Int J Infect Dis Journal subject: Communicable Diseases Year: 2022 Document Type: Article