What is a non-inactivated virus sampling tube?

Ⅰ. Definition

A non – inactivated virus sampling tube is a special container used for collecting, transporting, and storing virus samples. It can collect samples while maintaining the activity of viruses, enabling subsequent operations such as virus culturing, isolation, and nucleic acid testing.

Ⅱ. Components

1. Sampling tube
   • It is usually made of medical – grade polypropylene (PP) material. This material has good chemical stability and will not have a chemical reaction with the preservation solution inside the tube. Moreover, it has high transparency, which is convenient for observing the sample situation. At the same time, the PP material has a certain strength to prevent the sampling tube from breaking during transportation and storage.
2. Preservation solution
   • The main components include buffer, protein, antibiotics, etc.
   • The buffer is used to maintain the stability of the pH value of the solution, ensuring that the virus remains active in a suitable acid – base environment. For example, the commonly used Tris – HCl buffer can stabilize the pH value of the solution within a suitable range.
   • The presence of proteins such as bovine serum albumin (BSA) can provide certain nutrition and protection for the virus, preventing the virus from becoming inactive due to a lack of nutrients.
   • Antibiotics (such as penicillin, streptomycin, etc.) are used to inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi, avoiding microbial contamination of the sample during collection and storage, which may affect the activity of the virus.

Ⅲ. Working principle

1. Sample collection
   • After a sample containing a virus (such as a throat swab or nasal swab) is collected using a sampling swab, the swab is placed in a non – inactivated virus sampling tube. At this time, the preservation solution in the sampling tube will quickly soak the swab, enabling the virus sample to come into full contact with the preservation solution.
2. Maintaining virus activity
   • The buffer in the preservation solution creates a suitable living environment for the virus by maintaining a stable pH value. Proteins provide a nutrient environment similar to that in the host cell for the virus, reducing virus inactivation due to environmental changes outside the body. Antibiotics inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi that may contaminate the sample, ensuring that the virus remains active for as long as possible without interference from other microorganisms.
3. Transportation and storage
   • During transportation, the non – inactivated virus sampling tube can maintain the activity of the virus in the sample within a certain temperature range (usually requiring refrigeration). During storage, a suitable temperature and preservation solution environment can enable the virus to survive in the sampling tube for several days or even longer, providing an effective sample for subsequent laboratory analysis.

Ⅳ. Application scenarios

1. Clinical diagnosis
   • In hospitals, it is used to collect samples from patients suspected of being infected with viruses, such as the detection of influenza virus and COVID – 19 infections. Doctors can place respiratory swabs of patients into non – inactivated virus sampling tubes and send the samples to the laboratory for virus culturing, isolation, and nucleic acid testing, etc., to assist in accurate disease diagnosis.
2. Disease monitoring
   • During disease outbreaks, large – scale sampling and screening of populations in specific areas are carried out. For example, in areas where infectious diseases are prevalent, samples of a large number of people are collected and transported to professional laboratories through non – inactivated virus sampling tubes for virus monitoring and epidemiological analysis to understand the spread and epidemic trends of diseases.
3. Scientific research purposes
   • In the field of virology research, researchers use non – inactivated virus sampling tubes to collect virus samples for studying the biological characteristics of viruses, such as virus structure, replication mechanisms, and mutation situations. These studies help to gain an in – depth understanding of viruses and provide a basis for the development of antiviral drugs and vaccines.