A patient self-collection method for longitudinal monitoring of respiratory virus infection in solid organ transplant recipients

Background: Methods for the longitudinal study of respiratory virus infections are cumbersome and limit our understanding of the natural history of these infections in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients.

Objectives: To assess the feasibility and patient acceptability of self-collected foam nasal swabs for detection of respiratory viruses in SOT recipients and to define the virologic and clinical course.

Study design: We prospectively monitored the course of symptomatic respiratory virus infection in 18 SOT patients (14 lung, 3 liver, and 1 kidney) using patient self-collected swabs.

Results: The initial study sample was positive in 15 patients with the following respiratory viruses: rhinovirus (6), metapneumovirus (1), coronavirus (2), respiratory syncytial virus (2), parainfluenza virus (2), and influenza A virus (2). One hundred four weekly self-collected nasal swabs were obtained, with a median of 4 samples per patient (range 1-17). Median duration of viral detection was 21 days (range 4-77 days). Additional new respiratory viruses detected during follow-up of these 15 patients included rhinovirus (3), metapneumovirus (2), coronavirus (1), respiratory syncytial virus (1), parainfluenza virus (1), and adenovirus (1). Specimen collection compliance was good; 16/18 (89%) patients collected all required specimens and 79/86 (92%) follow-up specimens were obtained within the 7 ± 3 day protocol-defined window. All participants agreed or strongly agreed that the procedure was comfortable, simple, and 13/14 (93%) were willing to participate in future studies using this procedure.

Conclusion: Self-collected nasal swabs provide a convenient, feasible, and patient-acceptable methodology for longitudinal monitoring of upper respiratory virus infection in SOT recipients.