@article{mbs:/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.015305-0, author = "Esposito, Susanna and Molteni, Claudio Giuseppe and Daleno, Cristina and Valzano, Antonia and Cesati, Laura and Gualtieri, Laura and Tagliabue, Claudia and Bosis, Samantha and Principi, Nicola", title = "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", journal= "Journal of Medical Microbiology", year = "2010", volume = "59", number = "1", pages = "96-99", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.015305-0", url = "https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.015305-0", publisher = "Microbiology Society", issn = "1473-5644", type = "Journal Article", keywords = "UTM, universal transport medium", keywords = "PDV, phocine distemper virus", keywords = "Ct, cycle threshold", abstract = "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 years with influenza-like illness (186 males; mean age 2.32±2.27 years) using both swabs in a randomized sequence for each patient. The flocked swabs permitted the detection of 28 influenza A (8.9 %) and 45 influenza B (14.3 %) cases, and the rayon-bud swabs 26 influenza A (8.3 %) and 43 influenza B (13.7 %) cases, with detection rates of 23.2 and 22.0 %, respectively, and similar cycle threshold values. Paediatricians 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 virus nucleic acid, but that the kit containing a flocked swab with a UTM allows easier and more rapid collection and processing of specimens.", }