Transport Medium with Swab

This medium is usually used for collecting, preserving, and transporting biological samples, especially those collected from certain parts of the human body, such as the throat and nasal cavity. The following is a detailed introduction to the transport medium with swab:

I. Components

1. Buffer Solutions
   • It usually contains buffering substances, such as phosphate – buffered saline (PBS), to maintain a stable pH value. A suitable pH environment is crucial for maintaining the activity of microorganisms or viruses in the sample because they are sensitive to pH changes.
2. Nutrients
   • It contains certain nutritional components to maintain the short – term survival of microorganisms. These nutrients may include amino acids, sugars, etc. For example, some bacteria need these nutrients to maintain basic metabolic activities after being separated from their original growth environment.
3. Protectants
   • Common protectants are protein – based substances, such as bovine serum albumin (BSA). It can prevent the loss of microorganisms or viruses due to adsorption onto the container walls during transportation and help maintain the stability of their structures.
4. Antibiotics and Antifungal Agents
   • Appropriate amounts of antibiotics (such as penicillin and streptomycin) and antifungal agents (such as amphotericin B) are added to inhibit the growth of contaminating bacteria and fungi. During sample collection and transportation, preventing contamination by other microorganisms is important to ensure that the detection of the target microorganisms or viruses is not interfered with.

II. Types of Swabs

1. Common Cotton Swabs
   • They have a lower cost and are widely used for general microbial sample collection. However, common cotton swabs may have a certain adsorption effect on some viruses or microorganisms, affecting the sample collection amount and activity.
2. Synthetic – fiber Swabs
   • Such as polyester – fiber swabs, have better water – absorption and release properties. These swabs can collect microorganisms or viruses more effectively when sampling, and release the samples into the transport medium more thoroughly, reducing sample residue.
3. Flocked Swabs
   • They are a relatively advanced type of swab. The head of the swab adopts a special flocking process, with super – strong water – absorption and release capabilities. It can quickly absorb samples and release them almost completely into the transport medium. Moreover, flocked swabs have a high collection efficiency for cells and viruses and are widely used in some tests with high – quality sample requirements, such as viral nucleic acid testing.

III. Application Fields

1. Clinical Diagnosis
   • In hospitals, the transport medium with swab is commonly used to diagnose various infectious diseases. For example, for respiratory tract infectious diseases, doctors can use nasal swabs or throat swabs to collect nasal or throat samples from patients, put them in the transport medium, and then send them to the laboratory for bacterial culture, virus detection, etc., to identify the pathogen causing the infection and then formulate an accurate treatment plan.
2. Disease Surveillance
   • In the field of public health, it is an important tool for disease surveillance. For example, during the influenza season, by collecting throat swab samples from people in different areas and using the transport medium with swab to transport the samples to the monitoring center, the epidemic situation and variation trend of the influenza virus can be timely understood, providing a basis for influenza prevention and control.
3. Microbiological Research
   • In microbiological research, researchers often use this transport medium when collecting microbial samples from various environments or organisms. Whether collecting microorganisms from environmental samples such as soil and water, or collecting symbiotic or parasitic microorganisms from animals and plants, the transport medium with swab can help effectively preserve and transport the samples for subsequent isolation, identification, and research work.