1. Comparison of wound fiber swabs to flocked swabs.
Comparison of wound fiber swabs to flocked swabs. Traditional swabs are constructed by winding fiber strands around the tip of a straight shaft to create a wound fiber bulb for collection of the specimen. Winding of fibers creates a “net” which may entrap microorganisms and prevent efficient release onto solid or liquid culture medium. Flocked swabs are composed of a solid bulbous core at the tip of the swab which is coated with perpendicular fibers. This arrangement allows for more efficient release of microorganisms collected in a specimen onto culture medium.
Blake W. Buchan, and Nathan A. Ledeboer Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 2014; doi: /CMR