What is a virus sampling tube?

Virus sampling tube is a container used for collecting, preserving and transporting virus samples.

I. Main components

It usually consists of tube body, lid, preservation solution and so on.

1. Tube body: Generally made of plastic material, it has certain sealing and corrosion resistance to ensure that the sample will not leak or be contaminated by external impurities during storage and transportation.
2. Lid: The design is tight, which can effectively prevent sample leakage and the entry of external impurities.
3. Preservation solution: There are various kinds of preservation solutions, and common ones are inactivated type and non-inactivated type. The inactivated preservation solution can quickly inactivate the virus, prevent the spread of the virus, and at the same time maintain the stability of the viral nucleic acid, which is convenient for subsequent nucleic acid detection; the non-inactivated preservation solution can maintain the activity of the virus and is suitable for some experiments that need to culture and isolate the virus.

II. Functions

1. Collect samples: Used to collect viruses in samples such as human respiratory tract, blood, and feces. For example, when conducting COVID-19 detection, medical staff will use virus sampling tubes to collect samples such as throat swabs and nasal swabs from patients.
2. Preserve samples: The preservation solution can maintain the activity of the virus or inactivate the virus, and at the same time prevent the virus in the sample from degrading after collection to ensure the stability of the sample within a certain period of time.
3. Transport samples: It is convenient to safely transport the collected samples to the testing laboratory for detection and analysis.

III. Precautions for use

1. Strictly follow the operating procedures for sampling to ensure the accuracy and reliability of sampling.
2. After sampling, the lid should be covered tightly as soon as possible to avoid sample contamination.
3. During transportation, ensure that the sampling tube is under appropriate temperature and humidity conditions and avoid violent vibration and high temperature environment.
4. Different types of virus sampling tubes are suitable for different detection needs, and the appropriate sampling tube should be selected according to the actual situation.