Impact of repeated nasal sampling on detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2

Joshua M Levy; Jennifer K Frediani; Erika A Tyburski; Anna Wood; Janet Figueroa; Russell R Kempker; Paulina A Rebolledo; Mark D Gonzalez; Julie Sullivan; Miriam B Vos; Jared O'Neal; Greg S Martin; Wilbur A Lam; Jesse J Waggoner

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-94547-0

Impact of repeated nasal sampling on detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2

Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 21;11(1):14903. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-94547-0.

Authors

Joshua M Levy^#^{1

2}, Jennifer K Frediani^#^{2

3}, Erika A Tyburski^{1

4}, Anna Wood⁵, Janet Figueroa⁵, Russell R Kempker^{1

6}, Paulina A Rebolledo^{1

6

7}, Mark D Gonzalez^{1

8

9}, Julie Sullivan^{1

5}, Miriam B Vos^{1

5

8}, Jared O'Neal¹, Greg S Martin^{1

6}, Wilbur A Lam^{10

11

12

13}, Jesse J Waggoner^{14

15

16}

Affiliations

¹ The Atlanta Center for Microsystems-Engineered Point-of-Care Technologies, Atlanta, GA, USA.
² Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
³ Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁴ Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁶ Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁷ Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁸ Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁹ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
¹⁰ The Atlanta Center for Microsystems-Engineered Point-of-Care Technologies, Atlanta, GA, USA. Wilbur.lam@emory.edu.
¹¹ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA. Wilbur.lam@emory.edu.
¹² Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA. Wilbur.lam@emory.edu.
¹³ Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA. Wilbur.lam@emory.edu.
¹⁴ The Atlanta Center for Microsystems-Engineered Point-of-Care Technologies, Atlanta, GA, USA. jjwaggo@emory.edu.
¹⁵ Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA. jjwaggo@emory.edu.
¹⁶ Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. jjwaggo@emory.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

The impact of repeated sample collection on COVID-19 test performance is unknown. The FDA and CDC currently recommend the primary collection of diagnostic samples to minimize the perceived risk of false-negative findings. We therefore evaluated the association between repeated sample collection and test performance among 325 symptomatic patients undergoing COVID-19 testing in Atlanta, GA. High concordance was found between consecutively collected mid-turbinate samples with both molecular (n = 74, 100% concordance) and antigen-based (n = 147, 97% concordance, kappa = 0.95, CI = 0.88-1.00) diagnostic assays. Repeated sample collection does not decrease COVID-19 test performance, demonstrating that multiple samples can be collected for assay validation and clinical diagnosis.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
COVID-19 / diagnosis*
COVID-19 / virology*
COVID-19 Testing / methods*
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Infant
Male
Middle Aged
Reproducibility of Results
SARS-CoV-2 / isolation & purification*
Sensitivity and Specificity
Specimen Handling / methods*
Turbinates / virology

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding