Efficacy of Self-Collected diagnostic tampon as a Novel Tool for Vaginal Sample Collection Towards the Detection of Genital Infections

Efficacy of Self-Collected diagnostic tampon as a Novel Tool for Vaginal Sample Collection Towards the Detection of Genital Infections | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Efficacy of Self-Collected diagnostic tampon as a Novel Tool for Vaginal Sample Collection Towards the Detection of Genital Infections Valentina Milanova, Kalina Mihaylova, Iva Lazarova, Michelle Gomes, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4016993/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The composition of the vaginal microbiome plays a crucial role in women's health, and disruptions in microbial balance can lead to various health issues. This study aimed to assess the suitability of self-collected diagnostic tampons as a specimen collection device for analyzing the vaginal microbiome using qualitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (rtPCR). Tampon samples were compared to self-collected lower vaginal swabs (LVSs) and clinician-collected 1 cervical swabs in a cohort of 83 female subjects. The tampons used for self-sampling are 100% organic cotton diagnostic tampons (Daye brand, Anne’s Day Ltd). The results showed that the tampon samples detected significantly higher levels of Total Bacterial Mass (TBM), compared to cervical and vaginal swabs (7.24, 6.87 and 7.25 log (GE/ml) respectively, p = 0.0002), Lactobacillus spp. (7.13, 6.76 and 7.16 log (GE/ml) p = 0.0019), and Ureaplasma spp. (4.12, 3.78 and 4.23 log (GE/ml), p = 0.0279), compared to cervical and vaginal swabs. There was no significant difference in the detection of Candida spp. (3.92, 3.83 and 4.27 log (GE/ml), p = 0.3346) or Gardnerella vaginalis (4.43, 4.29 and 4.46 log (GE/ml), p = 0.2293). Overall, the diagnostic tampons showed promise as a convenient and effective self-collection tool for analyzing the vaginal microbiome. This paper highlights the importance of understanding and maintaining a healthy vaginal microbiome for women's health and provides valuable insights into new methods for sample collection towards detecting genital infections. Microbiome Tampons Health Sampling rtPCR Swabs Lactobacilli Ureaplasma Candida Gardnerella DNA Infections Stability Ethnicity Diagnostics Policy Clinical Public Health Screening Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4016993","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":276740314,"identity":"1ce2051c-d917-4bd2-bc1f-0ede4e665042","order_by":0,"name":"Valentina Milanova","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Anne’s Day Ltd","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Valentina","middleName":"","lastName":"Milanova","suffix":""},{"id":276740315,"identity":"229e2b32-b67e-4bec-a65e-b75ac8646cd7","order_by":1,"name":"Kalina Mihaylova","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Anne’s Day 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DNA, Infections, Stability, Ethnicity, Diagnostics, Policy, Clinical, Public Health, Screening","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4016993/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4016993/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The composition of the vaginal microbiome plays a crucial role in women's health, and disruptions in microbial balance can lead to various health issues. This study aimed to assess the suitability of self-collected diagnostic tampons as a specimen collection device for analyzing the vaginal microbiome using qualitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (rtPCR). Tampon samples were compared to self-collected lower vaginal swabs (LVSs) and clinician-collected 1 cervical swabs in a cohort of 83 female subjects. The tampons used for self-sampling are 100% organic cotton diagnostic tampons (Daye brand, Anne’s Day Ltd). The results showed that the tampon samples detected significantly higher levels of Total Bacterial Mass (TBM), compared to cervical and vaginal swabs (7.24, 6.87 and 7.25 log (GE/ml) respectively, p = 0.0002), Lactobacillus spp. (7.13, 6.76 and 7.16 log (GE/ml) p = 0.0019), and Ureaplasma spp. (4.12, 3.78 and 4.23 log (GE/ml), p = 0.0279), compared to cervical and vaginal swabs. 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