This study will explore whether lollipop swabs are more acceptable and perform as well as nasal swabs with PCR testing. The study will be open to enrollment for both children and adults in the Madison community who have at least one COVID-19 symptom that has presented in the last 5 days and who have not had a positive COVID-19 test for a previous illness within the past 3 months. Participants can expect to be in the study for the duration of the swabbing, approximately 10 minutes.
This study will test the hypothesis that lollipop swabs are more acceptable to individuals and PCR testing is non-inferior to performing PCR on nasal swabs. To test this hypothesis, the study team will work with local community testing sites to incorporate a lollipop swab for PCR at the time a symptomatic individual receives a nasal swab for PCR that is part of the DHS program. The study will address the following two key questions: 1. Are lollipop swabs more acceptable to individuals when compared to nasal swabs? 2. Will lollipop swabs perform as well as nasal swabs with PCR-based testing? Participants with at least one COVID-19 symptom will be asked to suck on a swab for 20 seconds, like sucking on a lollipop. They then will be asked which COVID-19 PCR testing they would prefer if they had to do the testing again, nasal PCR versus lollipop PCR.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
NONE
The "lollipop" swab is a typical swab that would be used to obtain routine pharyngeal samples. Participants are instructed to suck on the swab for 20 second, as they would suck on a lollipop.
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Participant Sample Collection Preference
The acceptance of the lollipop swab relative to nasal swab collection will be measured by asking participants which sample collection method they prefer. Count of participants for each sample collection method will be reported.
Time frame: Day 1 (up to 10 minutes)
Number of Positive COVID-19 Diagnoses
The investigators will compare results of the lollipop swab and nasal swab to assess the efficacy of the lollipop swab to diagnose COVID-19.
Time frame: Day 1 (up to 10 minutes)
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