About disposable swabs.

There are two main types of sampling swabs available. One is the dry swab, which is placed directly into a storage tube after sampling and then provided to the laboratory. Dry swabs can be stored and sent for testing within a short period of time (i.e., immediately after collection for testing, up to 1-2 days). However, in the case of tests that require express shipping, a large number of bacteria can grow in the dry swab during shipping, especially in rainy weather, which can affect the accuracy of the test results.

The other is a wet swab, which is more suitable for long-term storage than a dry swab. After the wet swab sampling is completed, the head of the swab needs to be cut or broken off and put into a test tube preloaded with reagents. In practice, multiple sets of tubes need to be used at the same time, so the overall operation is more complicated.

The sample swab consists of a nylon staple fiber flat pile hair and a medical grade ABS plastic rod. The nylon short fibers play the role of a soft brush, which can effectively improve the collection of cellular material; the capillary motion between the fibers creates strong water pressure, which can absorb liquid samples; meanwhile, the samples are close to the swab surface and easy to elute.

Nylon flocked swabs are widely used for bacteriological sample processing, virology cell culture, DFA assay, rapid direct assay, enzyme immunoassay, polymerase chain reaction, molecular diagnostic based assay and forensic identification. It can also be used for throat sampling of respiratory viruses such as influenza, swine flu, avian influenza and hand, foot and mouth.