Tu Wan-Chen, Robertson Ingrid H, Blom Andrea, Alfaro Elena, Shinkawa Victoria A M, Hatchett Daniel B, Sanchez Juan C, McManamen Anika M, Su Xiaojing, Berthier Erwin, Thongpang Sanitta, Wald Ellen R, DeMuri Gregory P, Theberge Ashleigh B
Department of Chemistry University of Washington Seattle Washington USA.
Department of Pediatrics University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Madison Wisconsin USA.
Bioeng Transl Med. 2025 Feb 27;10(4):e70001. doi: 10.1002/btm2.70001. eCollection 2025 Jul.
Obtaining high-quality samples to diagnose streptococcal pharyngitis in pediatric patients is challenging due to discomfort associated with traditional pharyngeal swabs. This may cause reluctance to go to the clinic, inaccurate diagnosis, or inappropriate treatment for children with sore throats. Here, we determined the efficacy of CandyCollect, a lollipop-inspired open-microfluidic pathogen collection device, to capture Group A (GAS) and compare user preference for CandyCollect, conventional pharyngeal swabs, or mouth swabs in children with pharyngitis and their caregivers.
All child participants (30/30) were positive for GAS by qPCR on both the mouth swab and CandyCollect. Caregivers ranked CandyCollect as a good sampling method overall (27/30), and all caregivers (30/30) would recommend CandyCollect for children 5 years and older. Twenty-three of 30 children "really like" the taste and 24/30 would prefer to use CandyCollect if a future test were needed. All caregivers (30/30) and most children (28/30) would be willing to use CandyCollect at home.
All participants tested positive for GAS on all three collection methods (pharyngeal swab, mouth swab, and CandyCollect). While both caregivers and children like CandyCollect, some caregivers would prefer a shorter collection time. Future work includes additional studies with larger cohorts presenting with pharyngitis of unknown etiology and shortening collection time while maintaining the attractive form of the device.
由于传统咽拭子会带来不适，获取高质量样本以诊断儿科患者的链球菌性咽炎具有挑战性。这可能导致儿童不愿去诊所、诊断不准确或对喉咙痛的儿童进行不恰当的治疗。在此，我们确定了受棒棒糖启发的开放式微流控病原体收集装置CandyCollect捕获A组（GAS）的效果，并比较了咽炎患儿及其护理人员对CandyCollect、传统咽拭子或口腔拭子的用户偏好。
所有儿童参与者（30/30）的口腔拭子和CandyCollect的qPCR检测均显示GAS呈阳性。护理人员总体上将CandyCollect评为一种良好的采样方法（27/30），所有护理人员（30/30）都会向5岁及以上的儿童推荐CandyCollect。30名儿童中有23名“非常喜欢其味道”，如果未来需要进行检测，24/30的儿童更愿意使用CandyCollect。所有护理人员（30/30）和大多数儿童（28/30）都愿意在家中使用CandyCollect。
所有参与者在所有三种采集方法（咽拭子、口腔拭子和CandyCollect）上的GAS检测均呈阳性。虽然护理人员和儿童都喜欢CandyCollect，但一些护理人员希望采集时间更短。未来的工作包括对更大队列的病因不明的咽炎患者进行更多研究，并在保持装置吸引人的形式的同时缩短采集时间。
