Following revised information pertaining to newer swab types and testing protocols in the new CLSI M40-A2 standard, we evaluated three liquid swab transport systems for the recovery of aerobic, anaerobic, and fastidious organisms at room temperature and at 4°C. All tested liquid swab transport systems were fully compliant with the M40-A2 standard, with acceptable performance at both temperature...

Clinical swab heads are often coated with biopolymers to improve the recovery and survival of organisms. To assess the effect of swab head material coating, water absorption capacity and capture and release characteristics of four pathogenic bacteria from protein coated and uncoated flocked swabs were determined. Demonstration of no uniformly higher recovery of all test bacteria from coated swa...

Strongyloides stercoralis is an opportunistic parasite that may cause severe and fatal disease in immunocompromised hosts. A 70-year-old man with a nonspecific history except pneumoconiosis had diffuse ulcers on the esophagus. Hence, only swab sample could be performed. On microscopic examination of sample, larvae soils were observed necrotic inflammatory background. It was evaluated as compati...

We recently reported the fungal “mycobiome” and its association with outcomes in a longitudinal prospective cohort study of 100 patients with diabetic foot ulcers (1). We appreciate the letter to the editor by Malone and Dickson (2) and are pleased that our findings generated interest and discussion among basic scientists and clinicians. The technique used to collect a sample for microbiome ana...

Paired nasal swab specimens were collected from patients who were undergoing routine methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) screening prior to elective cardiac or orthopedic procedures. Each patient was swabbed using a traditional wound fiber liquid Stuart swab and an ESwab device, a flocked swab with a modified liquid Amies microbiology transport medium. The two specimens were test...

To detect Streptococcus pneumoniae colonization, the nasopharynx is sampled using a swab placed in skim milk-tryptone-glucose-glycerol (STGG) transport medium, and then the swab specimen or STGG medium is cultured or subjected to PCR. We evaluated the effect of swab composition and compared the sensitivities of detection of culture and PCR using swabs and swab-containing medium. Calcium alginat...