• 1. Center of Infectious Diseases, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, P. R. China;
  • 2. The Red Cross Hospital of Wuhan (The Eleventh Hospital of Wuhan City), Wuhan, Hubei 430015, P. R. China;
  • 3. Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, P. R. China;
LUO Fengming, Email: luofengming@hotmail.com
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Objective To investigate a more convenient and safe sampling method for viral nucleic acid detection of coronavirus disease 2019.Methods An oropharyngeal swab and nasopharyngeal swab were simultaneously taken from 100 patients with coronavirus disease 2019 in a hospital in Wuhan. Then the efficacies of two sampling methods were compared on the positive rates of viral nucleic acid detection.Results The positive rate for SARS-CoV-2 was 54% in oropharyngeal swabs, while 89% positive in nasopharyngeal swabs. There was a significant difference in the detection rate between oropharyngeal swab and nasopharyngeal swab (χ2=3.850 4, P=0.049 7).Conclusions The positive rate for nucleic acid testing from nasopharyngeal swabs are significantly better than that from oropharyngeal swabs. Therefore, sampling by nasopharyngeal swabs, rather than oropharyngeal swabs, should be chosen as the preferred virological screening method for patients with coronavirus disease 2019.

Citation: LIU Yanbin, LIU Tao, CUI Yue, WANG Bo, LUO Fengming. A comparative study of nasal and pharyngeal swabs in the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019. Chinese Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2020, 19(2): 141-143. doi: 10.7507/1671-6205.202002088 Copy

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