Self-collection: An appropriate alternative during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Area of Science:

• Virology
• Public Health
• Clinical Diagnostics

Background:

• Healthcare worker collection of swabs for SARS-CoV-2 poses infection risks and necessitates personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Evaluating alternative, reliable self-collection methods is crucial for efficient respiratory virus diagnostics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the reliability of self-collection (SC) of nasal and throat swabs for diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses.
• To compare the concordance of self-collection with health worker collection (HC) methods.

Main Methods:

• A prospective study involved patients from two Australian states offering self-collection (SC) of nasal and throat swabs (SCNT) before health worker collection (HC).
• Samples were analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 and common respiratory viruses.
• Concordance was measured using Cohen's kappa (κ), and Cycle threshold (Ct) values served as a surrogate for viral load.

Main Results:

• Self-collection (SC) demonstrated high concordance with health worker collection (HC) for all viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 (κ = 0.890).
• SC was more concordant with positive results from any method (κ = 0.959) compared to HC (κ = 0.933).
• No significant differences in mean Ct values for SARS-CoV-2, rhinovirus, or parainfluenza were observed between SC and HC methods.

Conclusions:

• Self-collection of nasal and throat swabs is a dependable alternative to health worker collection for diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses.
• This method improves patient access to testing, minimizes exposure risks for patients and healthcare professionals, and reduces the need for PPE.