Which sample for the transport of mycoplasma, eSwab® or dry swab?

Mycoplasma hominis (MH) and Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU), belonging to mycoplasmas, are implicated in genital and urinary infections. These bacteria are extremely sensitive to environmental factors but remain detectable by culture methods. This study aimed to compare performance of detection on samples performed on eSwab or dry swabs. Eighty-five genital samples were prospectively collected on dry- and e-Swab, at the Dynabio Croix-Rousse laboratory (Lyon, France), from January to March 2017, searching for mycoplasma infection. After incubation for 48 hours, cultures were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed by a single qualified operator. On these samples, 23 specimens sampled on dry swabs were positive for UU and 2 for MH (versus 26 and 4 for eSwab). Quantification on eSwab and dry swabs were statistically correlated (r=0.9118; and r=0.7155; p< 0.01 respectively) without discrepant results. No sample was double-positive during this study. With an important sensitivity (without alteration of the bacterial quantification) and regarding to the gravity of this infection on at-risk patients, as young and/or pregnant woman, the eSwab sampling seem to improve the pre-analytic phase. However, the benefice to use these sampling methods for long-term conservations has to be evaluated.