title: Comparison between pernasal flocked swabs and nasopharyngeal aspirates for detection of common respiratory viruses in samples from children.
abstract: In this prospective study we compared the use of pernasal flocked swab samples with the use of nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA) samples for the detection of respiratory viruses from 455 children less than 5 years of age. Overall, the sensitivity and the specificity of the pernasal flocked swab samples were 98.5% and 100%, respectively. The excellent sensitivity of the flocked swab samples in combination with the rapid means by which they may be collected makes them an alternative to NPA samples, whose collection is more invasive.
authors.affiliation: Caritas Baby Hospital, Bethlehem.
authors.forename: Afaf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abu-Diab
authors.forename: Maysa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Azzeh
authors.forename: Raed
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghneim
authors.forename: Riyad
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghneim
authors.forename: Madeleine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zoughbi
authors.forename: Sultan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Turkuman
authors.forename: Nabeel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rishmawi
authors.forename: Abed-El-Razeq
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Issa
authors.forename: Issa
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Siriani
authors.forename: Rula
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dauodi
authors.forename: Randa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kattan
authors.forename: Musa Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Hindiyeh
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000821:virology*; D009666:Nose / Q000821:virology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods*; D014773:Virology / Q000379:methods*; D014780:Viruses / Q000302:isolation & purification*