Comparison of nasopharyngeal flocked swabs and nasopharyngeal wash collection methods for respiratory virus detection in hospitalized children using real-time polymerase chain reaction

► Compared nasopharyngeal washes (washes) and nasopharyngeal flocked swabs (flocked swabs) for collection of respiratory viruses in children hospitalized with lower respiratory tract infections. ► No significant difference in detection between washes and flocked swabs for Group 1 viruses when the specimens are collected on the same day. ► Flocked swabs could reasonably replace washes as a collection method for all the viruses we tested for without significant loss of sensitivity.