Importance of Effective Sample Collection for MRSA Screening

A documentary entitled ‘Tackling MRSA and Other Hospital Related Infections’, broadcast on NHS 247 TV (Sky channel 166; Freesat channel 402) throughout December 2009, stressed the importance of good sample collection in MRSA screening programmes. The film, which covered all aspects of MRSA infection control, introduced a new, specialised MRSA swabbing kit, the Copan e-Swab MRSA kit from Sterlin,
which greatly enhances the collection of specimens for MRSA screening.

Good sample collection is critical to the successful isolation of any infectious agent from a patient. The new Copan ‘flocked’ swab offers several advantages over traditional swabs. The moulded plastic tip base is electrostatically coated with high density, perpendicular nylon fibres to produce a flocked pile. This brushlike structure allows both the efficient removal of the sample from the body surface and the uptake of liquid through capillary action. In addition, since the shape of the swab is determined by the shape of the plastic moulding, the flocked pile is only 1-2mm deep. This allows the sample to remain close to the surface of the swab at all times, enabling efficient sample release and improved recovery rates.

Two Copan flocked swab products are available for MRSA screening. The standard Copan e-Swab is for the collection and transport of individual patient samples and the Copan e-Swab MRSA kit is for the collection and transport of up to three samples from a single patient. Sampling multiple sites maximises the chances of identifying MRSA colonisation. All three swabs from a single patient can then be concentrated into a single aliquot of liquid medium, which can be processed as a single sample, keeping laboratory workload to a minimum.