Assessment of Sensitivity and Specificity of Nasopharyngeal and Throat Swabs in Detection of COVID-19 Infection Among Admitted Patients: A Scientific Perspective | ||||
| Egyptian Journal of Ear, Nose, Throat and Allied Sciences | ||||
| Article 34, Volume 22, Issue 22, January 2021, Page 1-5 PDF (390.86 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/ejentas.2021.50673.1285 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
Ahmed M. Elmalky  1; Ahmed Ali Ahmed2; Haya Jamal Albalawi3; Abdulmajeed Al Husain4; Afnan Alshammari5; Khalid Saad Alqarni6; Marwa Jamal Albalawi7
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| 1Dariyah 53/1856/02 KKUH | ||||
| 2Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt | ||||
| 3Undergraduate Student, College of Medicine, Tabuk University, Saudi Arabia | ||||
| 4Faculty of Medicine, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-kharj, Saudi Arabia | ||||
| 5Department of Respiratory Care, College of Applied Medical Sciences in Jubail, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University- Dammam, Saudi Arabia. | ||||
| 6Medical Intern, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tabuk | ||||
| 7Lab specialist, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia, Master of Molecular microbiology, Strathclyde University. UK | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Background: Early and accurate detection of respiratory viruses (RV) is important for patient management. We have previously shown that self-collected nasal swabs (NS) are feasible and as sensitive as clinician-collected nasal washes for detection of RV, but the additive benefit of self-collected throat swabs is unknown. Objectives: To test the rise in auto sufficient nasal yields to the throat swabs in patients with upper respiratory (URTI) symptoms for PCR identification of RV. Study Design: Patients with URTI symptoms self-collected paired polyurethane foam NS and nylon flocked throat swabs and completed a symptom survey. Swabs were tested for 12 RV by real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR. Descriptive, McNemar's, and Wilcoxon signed rank statistical tests were used. Results: The sample was made up of 115 paired swab nasals and throat, with at least 1 specimen being positive for RV (71/115 (62 percent), including 51 positive for both specimens, 17 positive for NS only and 3 favorable for RV only with throat swab. NS was 96 percent sensitive (95 percent CI: 88-99) compared with 76 per cent in throat swabs, p < 0.001 (95 percent CI: 65-85). The median PCR period threshold (Ct) of 51 concordant samples was lower in NS (25.1) than in swabs of the throat (32.0). Conclusion: Self-collection of NS was significantly more sensitive than self-collection of throat swabs for detection of RV by RT-PCR. The addition of throat sampling does not appear to increase the diagnostic load in the self-testing setting. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Assessment sensitivity; nasal; nasopharyngeal; specificity | ||||
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