Journal of Vaccines & Vaccination

Department of Molecular Medicine and Hematology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Biography

Medical scientist/R&D associate responsible for developing and/or evaluating HIV and tuberculosis diagnostic assays for use in developing countries. This includes laboratory and field evaluations, implementation studies and impact assessment, as part of a multidisciplinary team. My current research goal is to reach every patient and link them to the best possible care available.

Publications

• Research Article   
  Comparison of Three Nasopharyngeal Swab Types and the Impact of Physiochemical Properties for Optimal SARS-CoV-2 Detection
  Author(s): Trish R. Kahamba*, Lara Noble, Wendy Stevens and Lesley Scott
  
  Adequate swab specimen collection, release and detection of nucleic acids by molecular diagnostic assays is largely attributed to the physical and chemical characteristics of different swab types. We investigated properties of three types of commercial nasopharyngeal swabs (nylon flocked: Type-1 Media Merge; Type-2 Kang Jian Medical Apparatus, China and Type-3 Wuxi NEST Biotechnology Co. Ltd, China) used in clinical diagnostics with the aim to establish if different swab designs and configurations had any effect on swab performance. Properties investigated included viral absorption, release, capture, extraction and recovery efficiency from each swab for the detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). All swab types (n=18) were inoculated with different amounts of SARS-CoV-2 live viral cultures (1:10, 1:100 and 1:1000 dilution) and e.. View more»
  

  DOI: 10.35248/2157-7560.20.S6.005

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