A comparison of oral fluid collection devices for use in the surveillance of virus diseases in children

Three oral fluid collection devices (OraSme, Omni-SAL and Oracol) were comp ared in terms of the quality of oral fluid collected by each device for ant ibody testing and their acceptability to participants. Participants (143 ch ildren aged 3.5 -5 y from North Hertfordshire, UK, who had recently receive d DTaP and MMR vaccination) were randomised to use one of the three types o f collection device. Oral fluid was collected by a parent who completed a s hort questionaire recording information on ease of use and willingness to u se the device again. A matching serum sample was collected by a nurse. Oral fluid samples were screened for total IgG and IgM by ELISA and for rubella specific IgG and parvovirus specific IgG by radioimmunoassay. Serum sample s were screened for rubella specific IgG and parvovirus B19 specific IgG by ELISA. 87.4% (125) of participants provided a matching oral fluid and seru m sample. Of these, 100% (125) and 10.4% (13) had serum IgG specific for ru bella and parvovirus B19, respectively. The Oracol device provided oral flu id samples with the highest geometric mean titres of total IgG and IgM and with rubella specific IgG results which correlated most closely with those of matching sera. A higher proportion of parents found the Oracol and OraSu re devices easier to use than the Omni-SAL (P < 0.001) and the proportion w ho would not take another test was higher for the Omni-SAL than for the Ora col or Orasure. Oral fluid samples collected by each of the devices gave qu alitative results acceptable for surveillance and epidemiological studies o f rubella and parvovirus B19. The highest quality oral fluid sample for ant ibody testing in terms of total IgG and IgM concentration and rubella speci fic IgG concentration was collected by the Oracol. The acceptability to par ticipants of both the Oracol and OraSure was high. As the cheapest device a vailable, the Oracol is the preferred oral fluid collection device for stud ies involving children in the UK.