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Comparative Study
. 2020 Jul:128:104442.
doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104442. Epub 2020 May 16.

A combined oropharyngeal/nares swab is a suitable alternative to nasopharyngeal swabs for the detection of SARS-CoV-2

Jason J LeBlanc  1 , Charles Heinstein  2 , Jimmy MacDonald  2 , Janice Pettipas  3 , Todd F Hatchette  1 , Glenn Patriquin  4
Affiliations
Comparative Study

A combined oropharyngeal/nares swab is a suitable alternative to nasopharyngeal swabs for the detection of SARS-CoV-2

Jason J LeBlanc et al. J Clin Virol. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Given the global shortage of nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs typically used for respiratory virus detection, alternative collection methods were evaluated during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study showed that a combined oropharyngeal/nares swab is a suitable alternative to NP swabs for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, with sensitivities of 91.7% and 94.4%, respectively.

Keywords: COVID-19; Nares; Oropharyngeal; PCR; SARS-CoV-2; SWAB.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflicts to declare.

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