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. 2024 Jun 16;110(1):116404.
doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2024.116404. Online ahead of print.

Performance characteristics of "lollipop" swabs for the diagnosis of infection with SARS-CoV-2

Joseph A McBride  1 , Gregory DeMuri  2 , Cassandra Nelson  2 , Suzanne Cranley  2 , Elena Alfaro  2 , Jens Eickhoff  2 , Ailam Lim  3 , Shelby O'Connor  4 , Ellen R Wald  2
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Free article

Performance characteristics of "lollipop" swabs for the diagnosis of infection with SARS-CoV-2

Joseph A McBride et al. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. .
Free article

Abstract

Background: Common biologic samples used to diagnose COVID-19 include nasopharyngeal, nasal, or oropharyngeal swabs, and salivary samples. The performance characteristics of a sucked "lollipop" swab to detect SARS-CoV-2 virus is assessed in four small sub-studies.

Methods: In each sub-study, a flocked swab was sucked for 20 s and submitted for PCR detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Results: Across all studies, 52 of 69 (75.4%) COVID-19 positive participants had positive "lollipop" swabs. Twelve of the 17 COVID-19 positive participants with negative "lollipop" swabs had known corresponding cycle threshold values of >37 from their nasal/nasopharyngeal swabs, an indication of low viral load at time of sampling. In a paired samples sub-study, the sensitivity and specificity of the "lollipop" swabs were 100% and 98%.

Conclusions: "Lollipop" swabs performed satisfactorily especially in individuals with acute infection of COVID-19. "Lollipop" swabs are a simple method of sample collection for detecting SARS-CoV-2 virus and warrants additional consideration.

Keywords: COVID-19; Non-invasive diagnostics; Viral diagnostics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Shelby O'Connor reports financial support was provided by Wisconsin Partnership Program - AAJ7234 related to study materials. Ellen Wald reports financial support was provided by Wisconsin Partnership Program - AAJ7234 related to study materials. Shelby O'Connor reports a relationship with National Institutes of Health that includes: funding grants. Shelby O'Connor reports a relationship with Gingko Concentric that includes: funding grants. Shelby O'Connor reports a relationship with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that includes: funding grants. Shelby O'Connor reports a relationship with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that includes: funding grants. Shelby O'Connor reports a relationship with AEGIS that includes: funding grants. Dr. Shelby has served as a reviewer for the Scientific Review Panel PREPARE (Program of Research in Epidemic Preparedness and Response). If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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