admin The market is facing a shortage of specialized swabs which are used to test if a patient has the novel coronavirus or not and the burden is increasing in the top companies who manufacture such swabs. The Italian and US governments are trying to get the manufacturing of the test kit boost but the companies are not able to keep up with the pace.
The specialized swabs required to test coronavirus are called nasopharyngeal swabs which are different from the usual Q-tips. Thousands of patients in multiple countries are waiting to get tested because of the shortage of specialized swabs.
The specialized swabs are different as they are long and skinny to get to the nasopharynx, i.e., the upper part of the throat. This needs to be manufactured of synthetic fibre and not have a wooden stick attached to it. One more peculiarity that comes with a specialized swab is that its tips don’t contain calcium alginate which is usually found in wound care swabs.
For now, the swabs are being designed and manufactured according to the guidelines given by the CDC and Food and Drug Administration.
Soumi Saha is a pharmacist who is the senior director of advocacy for Premier Inc., which is a group buying the supplies for hospitals of US.
He said: “We have folks that can’t get a hand on any of them right now. Hospitals want to do their part and want to expand access to testing, but they’re hamstrung by the fact that they can’t access the actual swabs.”
Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner, on Monday via Twitter pointed out that there can be a lack of swabs which will become a hindrance in the process of providing help to the coronavirus patients even if there are site with the capacity to test patients.
Magazine
