AUTHOR=Freire-Paspuel Byron , Vega-Mariño Patricio , Velez Alberto , Castillo Paulina , Gomez-Santos Eliana Elizabeth , Cruz Marilyn , Garcia-Bereguiain Miguel Angel 

TITLE=Cotton-Tipped Plastic Swabs for SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR Diagnosis to Prevent Supply Shortages

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2020.00356

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2020.00356

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<p>CDC and WHO guidelines for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) diagnosis only recommend synthetic fiber swabs for nasopharyngeal (NP) sampling. We show that cotton-tipped plastic swabs do not inhibit PCR and have equivalent performance to rayon swabs. Cotton-tipped plastic swabs are massively produced worldwide and would prevent swab supply shortages under the current high SARS-CoV-2 testing demands, particularly in developing countries.</p>