Journal
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
Volume 11, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-81782-8
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Funding
- Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [P33062]
- Christian Doppler Society
- Tyrolean Research Fund (TWF)
- Verein zur Forderung von Forschung und Weiterbildung in Infektiologie und Immunologie an der Medizinischen Universitat Innsbruck
- Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [P33062] Funding Source: Austrian Science Fund (FWF)
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The study evaluated the performance of different swab systems in COVID-19 diagnosis through serial swab testing, with findings indicating that in-house swab systems outperformed commercially available sets. This suggests that a simple combination of widely available materials could help diagnostic laboratories overcome global limitations in the supply of swab sets.
The diagnosis of COVID-19 relies on the direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in respiratory specimens by RT-PCR. The pandemic spread of the disease caused an imbalance between demand and supply of materials and reagents needed for diagnostic purposes including swab sets. In a comparative effectiveness study, we conducted serial follow-up swabs in hospitalized laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients. We assessed the diagnostic performance of an in-house system developed according to recommendations by the US CDC. In a total of 96 serial swabs, we found significant differences in the accuracy of the different swab systems to generate a positive result in SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR, ranging from around 50 to 80%. Of note, an in-house swab system was superior to most commercially available sets as reflected by significantly lower Ct values of viral genes. Thus, a simple combination of broadly available materials may enable diagnostic laboratories to bypass global limitations in the supply of swab sets.
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