HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (Papers in Press[PDF]) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Google Scholar Articles by Esposito, S. Articles by Principi, N. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Esposito, S. Articles by Principi, N. Agricola Articles by Esposito, S. Articles by Principi, N.

Comparison of nasopharyngeal nylon flocked swabs with universal transport medium and rayon bud swabs with a sponge reservoir of viral transport medium in the diagnosis of paediatric influenza

¹ Universita degli Studi di Milano;

² Department of Maternal and Pediatric Sciences, Universita degli Studi di Milano

³ E-mail: nicola.principi{at}unimi.it

Received August 14, 2009
Accepted October 3, 2009

This study compared a kit containing a nasopharyngeal nylon flocked swab and a tube with a liquid universal transport medium (UTM) with a kit containing a plastic shafted rayon budded swab with a sponge reservoir of viral transport medium for the molecular detection of influenza viruses in children. Respiratory samples were collected from 314 children aged <5 yrs with influenza-like illness (186 males; mean age, 2.32 ± 2.27 yrs) using both swabs in a randomised sequence for each patient. The flocked swabs permitted to detect 28 influenza A (8.9%) and 45 influenza B cases (14.3%), and the rayon bud swabs 26 influenza A (8.2%) and 43 influenza B cases (13.7%), with detection rates of respectively 23.2% and 21.9%, and similar cycle threshold values. Pediatricians and laboratory staff were significantly more satisfied with both the simplicity (p<0.0001) and rapidity (p<0.0001) of the nasopharyngeal flocked swabs with UTM. These findings show that the flocked swabs with UTM and the rayon bud swabs with a sponge transport medium are similarly efficient in preserving influenza viruses nucleic acid, but the kit containing a flocked swab with a UTM allows the easier and more rapid collection and processing of specimens.