Influencia del tipo de hisopo en el aislamiento de Chlamydia trachomatis. / [Effect of the type of swab on the isolation of Chlamydia trachomatis]

ABSTRACT

The success in the isolation of C. trachomatis is dependent on several factors. One of them is the type of swab used for collection the specimens. As some types of swabs, such as calcium alginate and aluminum, cotton and wood have recently been shown to decrease the isolation rate, different types of swabs were prepared and tested in our laboratory. Commercial aluminum, type 5056 aluminum and stainless steel were used with the same type of cotton. Commercial swabs of cotton and wood were tested too. The swabs were incubated with 1 ml of transport medium and a known number of UFI for 24 h at 4 degrees C, then were processed for isolation. The isolation rate with commercial aluminum was 95