Complications of nasal and pharyngeal swabs: a relevant challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Bandik Föh; Max Borsche; Alexander Balck; Stefan Taube; Jan Rupp; Christine Klein; Alexander Katalinic

doi:10.1183/13993003.04004-2020

Complications of nasal and pharyngeal swabs: a relevant challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Eur Respir J. 2021 Apr 8;57(4):2004004. doi: 10.1183/13993003.04004-2020. Print 2021 Apr.

Authors

Bandik Föh^{1

2}, Max Borsche^{3

2}, Alexander Balck³, Stefan Taube⁴, Jan Rupp⁵, Christine Klein³, Alexander Katalinic⁶

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Nutritional Medicine, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
² Shared first authorship, equal contributions.
³ Institute of Neurogenetics, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
⁴ Institute of Virology and Cell Biology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
⁵ Dept of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
⁶ Institute of Social Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.

Abstract

Although swab procedures during SARS-CoV-2 testing are generally safe (3 adverse events in 11 476 swab procedures; 0.026%), increased awareness of complications is necessary, considering approximately 5.1 million tests conducted worldwide daily. https://bit.ly/2J5sd96

Publication types

Letter

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Humans
Nasopharynx / virology*
Pandemics*
Specimen Handling / adverse effects*