{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T13:05:06Z","timestamp":1784120706012,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":11,"publisher":"Microbiology Society","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,1]],"date-time":"2026-07-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782864000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Accurate detection of respiratory viruses is essential for infection control, patient management and public health response. Nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS), collected by healthcare workers (HWC-NPS), remain the gold standard for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection but require trained personnel and can be uncomfortable for patients. Self-collected swabs, such as oral\u2013nasal swabs (SC-ONS) and mid-turbinate swabs, offer scalable alternatives suitable for mass testing. Previous mid-turbinate swab designs included a plastic stopper and were not compatible with automated laboratory testing. This study compared the performance of (i) SC-ONS, (ii) an automation-friendly, redesigned version of mid-turbinate swab (SC-MTS) and (iii) HWC-NPS in detecting SARS-CoV-2. Between April and June 2022, paired NPS, ONS and MTS samples were collected from 100 participants at a Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) assessment centre in Hamilton, Ontario. Samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by reverse-transcriptase PCR. Compared to HWC-NPS, SC-ONS demonstrated 82.1% sensitivity and 100% specificity, while SC-MTS showed 75.0% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Agreement with HWC-NPS was strong for both SC-ONS (\u03ba=0.863) and SC-MTS (\u03ba=0.804). Agreement between SC-ONS and SC-MTS was nearly perfect (\u03ba=0.944). Cellular material yields as well as SARS-CoV-2 viral loads were lower for self-collected swabs than HWC-NPS, while viral load comparisons revealed no significant difference between SC-ONS and SC-MTS. Our study aligns with previous work demonstrating the use of self-collected mid-turbinate swabs for the detection of respiratory viruses, while also demonstrating the compatibility of the newly designed swabs with automated laboratory instruments. Our results, while conducted in a relatively small sample, suggest that self-collected ONS and MTS are reliable alternatives to HWC-NPS, offering practical, less invasive, automation-friendly options for large-scale respiratory virus surveillance and pandemic preparedness.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1099\/acmi.0.001148.v3","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T12:15:34Z","timestamp":1784117734000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Comparison of self-collected oral\u2013nasal and mid-turbinate swabs to healthcare worker-collected nasopharyngeal swabs for the detection of SARS-CoV-2: a paired clinical evaluation"],"prefix":"10.1099","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Jodi","family":"Gilchrist","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada"},{"name":"Research St. Joseph\u2019s \u2013 Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, 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Canada"},{"name":"Research St. Joseph\u2019s \u2013 Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marek","family":"Smieja","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada"},{"name":"Hamilton Regional Laboratory Medicine Program, St. Joseph\u2019s Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada"},{"name":"Research St. Joseph\u2019s \u2013 Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"345","reference":[{"key":"R1","article-title":"WHO COVID-19 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