Changing from Clinician-Collected to Self-Collected Throat Swabs for Oropharyngeal Gonorrhea and Chlamydia Screening among Men Who Have Sex with Men
Eric P. F. Chow, Catriona S. Bradshaw, Deborah A. Williamson, Shauna Hall, Marcus Y. Chen, Tiffany R. Phillips, Ria Fortune, Kate Maddaford, Christopher K. Fairley
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led many clinics to move from clinician-collected to self-collected oropharyngeal swabs for the detection of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Before this change, however, self-collection was used primarily for genital and anorectal infections, with only limited studies on the performance of self-collection of oropharyngeal swabs for oropharyngeal STI detection. The Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC) changed from clinician-collected to self-collected oropharyngeal swabs for oropharyngeal gonorrhea and chlamydia screening on 16 March 2020 in order to reduce health care worker risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.