Which swabs can be used for diagnostic workflow and which to avoid?

Which swabs can be used for diagnostic workflow and which to avoid?

Swabs compatibility

1. Dry swabs, swabs within some aspirate collected at the same site as the swab, or swabs in NaCl can be used.
   
2. Swabs in a medium containing agar can be difficult because the agar might lead to clogged columns.
   

1. Commercially available systems need to be carefully evaluated:
   
2. The eNat® system for swabs (Copan, USA) cannot be used in combination with any MolYsis™-based kits since it contains some detergent initiating cell lysis.
   
3. The eSwab® system for swabs (Copan, USA) can be used for SepsiTest™-UMD but not for Micro-Dx™. The filtration steps on the column by vacuum in the Micro-Dx™/SelectNA™plus are affected by the Amies medium included in the eSwab® system which can lead to blocked columns and thus rejected samples. SepsiTest™-UMD was not affected in tests with the eSwab® system.