2024-06-25
Medical-Grade Swabs vs Drugstore Cotton Swabs for Viral Testing
Not all swabs are created equal. Take, for instance, Puritan’s HydraFlock® and PurFlock Ultra® nasopharyngeal swabs, which are both included in the FDA's preferred swab-based types for viral specimen collection, including COVID-19 testing.Puritan is the only U.S. manufacturer of this swab type. Unlike an ordinary cotton swab, it’s actually a highly sophisticated diagnostic tool. In fact, it’s regulated, patented, and specialized. This also means these swabs aren’t easy to manufacture on the fly. In this article, we explore some of the characteristics that make these two styles of flock nasopharyngeal swabs ideal for viral testing. In other words, they're not your typical drugstore cotton swab.