Swab transport systems are used for a variety of specimen types and must maintain organism viability throughout the transport process. The Copan ESwab is a new nylon-flocked swab designed to optimize specimen collection and to minimize entrapment of the specimen. We used the quantitative elution method with recommended strains, as described in CLSI document M40-A, to evaluate the ESwab for maintenance of viability of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms for 0, 6, 24, and 48 h during room temperature and refrigerated temperature storage. The Becton Dickinson CultureSwab MaxV swab and the Remel BactiSwab were used as comparators. The ESwab met CLSI acceptance criteria for all aerobic isolates stored at both temperatures and for all anaerobic isolates stored at refrigerated temperature. The ESwab also met CLSI criteria for four of five anaerobic strains at room temperature. Prevotella melaninogenica was not recovered after 24 or 48 h of room temperature storage with any of the three swab transport systems tested. Overall, the ESwab was equivalent to the Becton Dickinson CultureSwab MaxV swab in organism recovery but recovered more isolates than Remel BactiSwab.Appropriate specimen collection and transport are essential for accurate laboratory diagnosis of bacterial infections. Because of their convenience, swab systems with transport media are often used to collect and transport specimens of various types. These systems must maintain organism viability during transit to a laboratory. Given the increasing frequency of transport delays due to cost containment measures, consolidations, and services being shifted to centralized or reference laboratories, robust transport systems are becoming increasingly relevant. The CLSI M40-A method (2) was used recently to evaluate several swab collection and transport devices for maintenance of bacteria viability (3,4,6,7,8,9).Swab tips, which are typically rayon or Dacron, should be prepared with material that collects sufficient specimen material, is nontoxic to microorganisms, maintains viability in conjunction with the transport medium, and releases specimen material efficiently onto agar media. A new nylon-tipped swab (ESwab; Copan Diagnostics, Inc., Corona, CA) prepared by spray-on flocked fiber technology has been developed for transport of bacteria and viruses. This technology provides stronger capillary action and strong hydraulic uptake of liquids, which should result in better specimen collection. This design should also provide more efficient release of specimen material and, therefore, less entrapment of specimen than occurs with typical rayon or Dacron fiber-tipped swabs. The ESwab shaft is scored for ease and consistency of tip breakage into the modified liquid Amies transport medium. A swab capture mechanism in the cap locks the broken swab shaft into the cap when it is fully closed.In MATERIALS AND METHODSOrganisms. The 10 strains tested were those recommended by CLSI document M40-A (2), as follows: Haemophilus influenzae ATCC 10211, Neisseria gonorrhoeae ATCC 43...

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