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

Background: During the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, nasopharyngeal swabs, combined throat and nose swabs and saliva samples have been evaluated for SARS-CoV-2 detection using nucleic acid amplification tests (NAT). Literature on anterior nasal swabs is limited. We investigated a novel anterior nasal swab that has been designed to standardised self-collection, maximise sample uptake and improve user comfort. We used combined throat and nose swabs and neat saliva samples as the comparators.Results: The overall positive percentage agreement between the RhinoswabTM and the combined throat and nose swab was 95.2 % at day 2 post participant recruitment and 93.3 % on day 4 post participant recruitment. This was favourable to the positive percentage agreement with saliva at the same time points.Conclusion: In our study the RhinoswabTM performed equally well in comparison to a combined throat and nose swab for the laboratory detection of SARS-CoV-2 using nucleic acid amplification techniques.

Automated summary

During the COVID-19 pandemic, various sample collection methods including nasopharyngeal swabs and saliva samples have been evaluated for SARS-CoV-2 detection. However, there is limited literature on the use of anterior nasal swabs. In this study, we investigated a novel anterior nasal swab designed for standardized self-collection, improved sample uptake, and user comfort. The results showed that the RhinoswabTM performed comparably to a combined throat and nose swab for detecting SARS-CoV-2 using nucleic acid amplification techniques.