{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T23:57:53Z","timestamp":1784159873658,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":11,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,22]],"date-time":"2021-08-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1629590400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Context: The Global Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has resulted in explosive patterns of transmission in most countries. Nasopharyngeal swabs were the specimen\u2019s collection tools recommended for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and for monitoring infection outbreaks in communities. Our objective was to report the quality and efficacy of unsupervised self-collected mid turbinate \u201cdry FLOQSwabs\u201d (MT FLOQSwabs) (56380CS01, Copan). There were 111 specimens collected for the study: 36 by health care personnel, from themselves, to verify the quality and efficacy of mid-turbinate swabs; 75 to compare and assess the diagnostic performance, among health care personnel, of nasopharyngeal swabs and self-collected mid-turbinate FLOQSwabs. A collection of 51 specimens was enrolled to define the efficacy of the Testami program (validation). Our analyses demonstrate that self-collected mid-turbinate dry swabs ensure an accuracy of 97.3%, as compared to the standard nasopharyngeal swabs collected by health care workers. Furthermore, the mid-turbinate FLOQSwabs can be stored without medium for six days at room temperature without affecting the molecular diagnosis of the SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. Self-collection of diagnostic specimens at home could offer an avenue to increase testing availability for SARS-CoV-2 infection without asking people to travel to a clinic or a laboratory, thus reducing people\u2019s exposure to infection. Our findings demonstrate that unsupervised self-collection swabs, transported dry, are sensitive, practical and easy-to-use tools and should be considered for diagnosis of SARS-COV-2 and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surveillance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v13081663","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,22]],"date-time":"2021-08-22T23:00:09Z","timestamp":1629673209000},"page":"1663","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Efficacy of Unsupervised Self-Collected Mid-Turbinate FLOQSwabs for the Diagnosis of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Egildo Luca","family":"D\u2019Andrea","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"COVID Laboratory, Biogem Scarl, Via Camporeale, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"},{"name":"Protein Factory, Biogem Scarl, Via Camporeale, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2646-1254","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessia Maria","family":"Cossu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"COVID Laboratory, Biogem Scarl, Via Camporeale, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"},{"name":"Molecular Oncology and Precision Medicine Laboratory, Biogem Scarl, Via Camporeale, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marianna","family":"Scrima","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"COVID Laboratory, Biogem Scarl, Via Camporeale, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"},{"name":"Molecular Oncology and Precision Medicine Laboratory, Biogem Scarl, Via Camporeale, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vincenzo","family":"Messina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious and Tropical Diseases Division, AORN \u201cSant\u2019Anna and San Sebastiano\u201d, 81100 Caserta, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pasquale","family":"Iuliano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Respiratory Diseases Division, AORN \u201cSant\u2019Anna and San Sebastiano\u201d, 81100 Caserta, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Felice","family":"Di Perna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Respiratory Diseases Division, AORN \u201cSant\u2019Anna and San Sebastiano\u201d, 81100 Caserta, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marco","family":"Pizza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Testami SRL, 80122 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fabio","family":"Pizza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Testami SRL, 80122 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5897-4949","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nicola","family":"Coppola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mental Health and Public Medicine, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6541-3821","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luca","family":"Rinaldi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna Maria","family":"Bellizzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cS.Ottone Frangipane\u201d Hospital, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chiara","family":"Pelosi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cS.Ottone Frangipane\u201d Hospital, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carmen","family":"Cocca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cS.Ottone Frangipane\u201d Hospital, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Angelo","family":"Frieri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cS.Ottone Frangipane\u201d Hospital, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fabio","family":"Lo Calzo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cS.Ottone Frangipane\u201d Hospital, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giovambattista","family":"Capasso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Translational Nephrology, Biogem Scarl, Via Camporeale, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Santina","family":"Castriciano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Global Scientific Affairs Director at COPAN ITALIA spa Via F. Perotti 10, 25125 Brescia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paolo","family":"Maggi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious and Tropical Diseases Division, AORN \u201cSant\u2019Anna and San Sebastiano\u201d, 81100 Caserta, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Mental Health and Public Medicine, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alessandra","family":"Fucci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"COVID Laboratory, Biogem Scarl, Via Camporeale, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"},{"name":"Protein Factory, Biogem Scarl, Via Camporeale, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2408-6091","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michele","family":"Caraglia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"COVID Laboratory, Biogem Scarl, Via Camporeale, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"},{"name":"Molecular Oncology and Precision Medicine Laboratory, Biogem Scarl, Via Camporeale, 83031 Ariano Irpino, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 80138 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3340","DOI":"10.1128\/JCM.02235-09","article-title":"Development and Evaluation of a Flocked Nasal Midturbinate Swab for Self-Collection in Respiratory Virus Infection Diagnostic Testing","volume":"48","author":"Smieja","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. 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