TABLE 1.

Stability of dry versus wet swabs seeded with C. trachomatis antigens determined by Aptima CT test

Storage condition/samplea	Storage temp (°C)	RLU at day:
		0	7	14	21	28	56	63	69	77	84
Wetb
50	4	9,328	8,843	8,999	8,440	5,848	5,707	5,171	4,502	4,498	5,557
	23	9,271	8,426	9,177	8,499	5,382	5,432	5,481	4,715	4,418	5,378
	36	9,098	8,810	8,911	8,416	5,315	5,550	5,166	4,806	4,287	5,576
486	4	9,337	8,888	8,848	8,252	5,509	5,751	5,287	4,286	4,479	5,429
	23	9,196	8,502	9,165	8,441	5,448	5,637	5,679	4,759	4,352	5,332
	36	8,929	8,823	9,332	8,332	5,270	5,475	5,318	4,761	4,329	5,494
39	4	9,675	8,846	8,787	8,422	5,451	5,716	5,367	4,758	4,367	5,499
	23	9,412	8,902	9,568	8,308	5,644	5,623	5,363	4,782	4,450	5,315
	36	9,169	8,449	9,273	8,297	5,565	5,629	5,400	4,750	4,354	5,200
Neg	4	1	1	1	1	1	NDd	0	1	0	0
	23	1	1	1	1	1	1	ND	1	0	0
	36	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1
Dryc
50	4	9,005	8,842	8,653	8,524	5,453	5,649	5,671	4,889	4,338	5,401
	23	9,429	8,877	8,897	8,338	5,458	5,389	5,264	4,594	4,367	5,395
	36	9,364	8,474	8,584	8,275	5,704	5,644	5,432	4,647	4,463	5,671
486	4	9,231	9,148	8,740	8,678	5,631	5,470	5,511	4,804	4,242	5,322
	23	9,292	8,672	9,069	8,135	5,430	5,311	5,177	4,663	4,384	5,628
	36	9,309	8,339	9,013	8,568	5,468	5,644	5,432	4,647	4,463	5,671
39	4	9,243	8,373	8,734	8,455	5,423	5,496	5,514	4,779	4,377	5,357
	23	9,264	9,031	8,413	8,369	ND	5,704	5,080	4,718	4,466	5,332
	36	ND	8,422	9,057	8,618	5,539	5,580	5,425	4,546	4,482	5,491
Neg	4	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0
	23	1	1	1	ND	1	1	1	1	0	1
	36	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1

^aC. trachomatis isolates (isolates 50, 486, and 39) and negative (Neg) sample (phosphate-buffered saline).

^bDacron swabs spiked with 50 μl of sample and placed into Aptima transport tubes.

^cDacron swabs spiked with 50 μl of sample and stored dry (without medium).

^dND, not done.