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=Volume 10 - 2020

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=CDC and WHO guidelines for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) 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 swabs supplies shortage during current high SARS-CoV2 testing demands, particularly on developing countries.