Volume 10, Number 6—June 2004
Research
Swab Materials and Bacillus anthracis Spore Recovery from Nonporous Surfaces
Laura Rose*
, Bette Jensen*, Alicia Peterson*, Shailen N. Banerjee*, and Matthew J. Arduino*
, Bette Jensen*, Alicia Peterson*, Shailen N. Banerjee*, and Matthew J. Arduino*Table 2
Comparison of spore recovery efficiencies by swab preparation, material, and recovery methods
| Mean percentage recovery from 2x2-inch steel coupon (SD), N = 10 |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recovery method | All swabs | Cotton | Macrofoam | Polyester | Rayon |
| All | |||||
| Dry | 4.4 (4.7) | 5.1 (3.9) | 8.4 (6.2) | 1.2 (1.0) | 3.0 (2.2) |
| Premoistened | 14.3 (14.9) | 20.0 (18.1) | 22.5 (17.5) | 7.7 (5.3) | 7.0 (6.8) |
| pa | • 0.01 | • 0.01 | • 0.01 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Extractionb | |||||
| Dry | 6.5 (4.4) | 7.5 (2.3) | 12.3 (3.2) | 1.7 (0.8) | 4.4 (1.0) |
| Premoistened | 19.7 (15.5) | 27.7 (17.7) | 30.7 (15.9) | 10.6 (4.1) | 10.0 (6.4) |
| pa | • 0.01 | • 0.01 | • 0.01 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| No extraction | |||||
| Dry | 0.4 (0.7) | 0.5 (0.4) | 0.7 (1.1) | 0.1 (0.2) | 0.1 (0.2) |
| Premoistened | 3.5 (3.1) | 4.7 (2.2) | 6.3 (3.9) | 2.0 (1.0) | 1.0 (0.8) |
| pa | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Vortex | |||||
| Dry | 6.6 (4.2) | 8.0 (1.4) | 11.9 (3.1) | 2.1 (0.9) | 4.4 (1.0) |
| Premoistened | 26.7 (18.9) | 41.7 (14.6) | 43.6 (11.1) | 9.9 (3.8) | 11.5 (7.9) |
| pa | • 0.01 | • 0.01 | • 0.01 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Sonication | |||||
| Dry | 6.4 (4.8) | 6.9 (3.0) | 12.7 (3.4) | 1.4 (0.5) | 4.5 (1.0) |
| Premoistened | 12.7 (5.6) | 13.6 (3.2) | 17.7 (5.9) | 11.2 (4.4) | 8.5 (4.4) |
| pa | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
aAdjusted for multiple comparisons by Bonferroni correction.
bVortex and sonication combined.
