The viral transport medium (Viral Transport Medium, VTM) has many advantages.

In terms of sample preservation

• Maintaining viral activity
  • The viral transport medium can provide a suitable living environment for the virus, containing nutrients and chemical substances necessary to maintain the integrity of the virus structure and function. For example, it can provide the virus with necessary nutrients such as salts, sugars, and amino acids, allowing the virus to maintain a certain activity in vitro and prolong the survival time of the virus, ensuring that the virus does not quickly inactivate during transportation and detection, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the detection result.
• Preventing viral degradation
  • It contains special components that can inhibit the activity of enzymes such as viral nucleases, preventing the nucleic acid of the virus from being degraded. This is crucial for some nucleic acid detection methods, because the complete viral nucleic acid is the basis for accurate detection. Even during a long period of transportation and storage, it can effectively protect the genetic material of the virus to ensure the reliability of the detection result.

In terms of transport convenience

• Possibility of normal temperature transport
  • Some viral transport media allow normal temperature transport under certain conditions, which greatly increases the convenience and flexibility of transport. Compared with the requirement of strict low-temperature transport, normal temperature transport not only reduces the transportation cost, but also reduces the dependence on cold chain equipment, making the sample can be transported more conveniently in different regions and different environments, especially suitable for sample transport in some areas with relatively weak infrastructure or in emergency situations.
• Good stability
  • During the transport process, even if it is affected by certain external forces such as vibration and jolt, the viral transport medium can maintain its performance stability, and will not cause the virus to inactivate or the sample quality to decline due to physical factors. Its stable chemical properties and physical structure provide continuous protection for the virus, ensuring that the sample can safely reach the testing laboratory.

In terms of compatibility

• Adaptable to multiple detection methods
  • The viral transport medium is compatible with multiple virus detection methods, including but not limited to nucleic acid detection (such as PCR technology), antigen detection, and virus culture. Whether it is based on molecular biology for high-precision detection or based on immunology for rapid detection, the samples collected and preserved using the viral transport medium can meet the detection requirements, providing a unified sample processing method for different detection purposes and laboratories.
• Widely applicable to multiple viruses
  • It is universal for various viruses and can be used for the collection, transport, and preservation of different types of viruses, such as influenza viruses, COVID-19 viruses, respiratory syncytial viruses, etc. This enables medical institutions and testing institutions to use a common medium to handle various virus samples, reducing the types of reagents and equipment, and improving work efficiency and resource utilization.

In terms of safety

• Reducing the risk of infection
  • The viral transport medium usually has a well-sealed container, which can effectively prevent sample leakage and reduce the risk of the virus being exposed to the external environment, thereby reducing the possibility of infection for the operator and the surrounding environment. At the same time, its components are also optimized to not cause harm to the operator’s health, ensuring the biosafety during sample processing and transport.
• Compliant with biosafety standards
  • The production process follows strict biosafety standards, and the quality is reliable, which can meet the safety requirements of medical institutions and laboratories for the transport and processing of biological samples. In the global epidemic prevention and control and virus detection work, the safety of the viral transport medium has been widely recognized, providing strong support for public health safety.

In terms of operational convenience

• Simple and convenient to use
  • Generally, the operation steps of the viral transport medium are simple and easy to understand. When collecting samples, it is only necessary to directly put the collected virus samples into the medium. There is no need for complex preprocessing procedures, reducing the risk of operational errors and sample contamination, and improving work efficiency. Even non-professional personnel can correctly use it after simple training.
• Easy to identify and record
  • The container of the medium is usually designed with an area that is easy to identify, facilitating the operator to record relevant information of the sample, such as the collection time, patient information, sample type, etc. This helps the management and traceability of the sample, ensuring that each sample can be accurately identified and analyzed during the detection process, improving the work flow and data management standardization of the laboratory.

To sum up, the viral transport medium has significant advantages in the preservation, transport, detection, etc. of virus samples, providing important guarantees and support for virological research, clinical diagnosis, public health monitoring, and other work.