Human β-actin DNA concentration in staff- and self-collected swabs.

<p>A. Human β-actin DNA concentration in staff- and self-collected swabs obtained according to the time scheme shown in Fig. 1. β-actin DNA concentration was determined by real-time PCR and is plotted on the y-axis as the number of molecules per swab. Boxes: upper border, 75^th percentile; lower border, 25^th percentile; bold horizontal line, median; whiskers, minimum and maximum excluding outliers (circles); circles, outlying values exceeding the 75^th percentile by >1.5 times the height of the box. B. β-actin DNA concentration per swab in relation to time elapsed between onset of ARI symptoms and the day of swabbing (r² = 0.02, p = 0.32).</p

Agreement in pathogen detection between staff- and self-swabs collected on the same day.

<p>Swabs were designated positive if any of 15 respiratory viral pathogens were detected by real-time PCR (Seeplex RV15 ACE Detection kit, Seegene Germany, Eschborn, Germany). Concordant scenarios are shown on the left, discordant scenarios on the right.</p

Timeline of staff-collected (interrupted line) and self-collected (solid line) swabs.

<p>A staff-collected and a self-collected swab were obtained on day 1 from separate nostrils. The participants were instructed to collect a self-swab from each nostril the next day, but the actual day of self-swabbing ranged from day 2 to day 6, as indicated by the triangle.</p

Acceptability of nasal swabbing.

*<p>only those participants who collected at least one nasal swab.</p>**<p>all participants.</p

Viral respiratory pathogens detected in staff-and self-collected swabs obtained in the study center¹.

1<p>Values represent the percentages of pairs of staff- and self-collected swabs obtained in the study center (total n = 75 swab pairs, collected from 56 participants) in which a given pathogen was detected by real-time PCR in at least one swab.</p

Relation between β-actin DNA concentration and viral positivity status in staff- and self-collected swabs collected on the same day.

<p>Analysis based on the data set used for <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0048508#pone-0048508-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2</a>, but stratified according to viral detection status (+ positive, − negative). Y-axis: human β-actin DNA molecules per swab. P values: p = 0.186 for comparison between negative and positive staff-swabs; p = 0.404 for comparison between negative and positive self-swabs (Wilcoxon rank sum test).</p

Antimicrobial resistance patterns of <i>S. aureus</i> isolated from the nasal swabs of the 389 participants of the general population of Braunschweig, Germany.

<p>Abbreviations: PEN: Penicillin, ERY: Erythromycin, CIP: Ciprofloxacin, TET: Tetracycline, MFL: Moxifloxacin, OXA: Oxacilin, CLI: Clindamycin.</p><p>All isolates tested were susceptible to vancomycin, tigecycline, gentamicin, linezolid, daptomycin, fosfomycin, fusidic acid, rifampicin and trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole.</p><p>Antimicrobial resistance patterns of <i>S. aureus</i> isolated from the nasal swabs of the 389 participants of the general population of Braunschweig, Germany.</p

Profile of MRSA-positive cases identified in a random sample of 389 participants from the general population of Braunschweig, Germany.

<p>Abbreviations: URTI; Upper respiratory tract infections, LRTI; Lower respiratory tract infections, GIT; Gastrointestinal tract infections.</p><p>*t330 was an MSSA.</p><p>Profile of MRSA-positive cases identified in a random sample of 389 participants from the general population of Braunschweig, Germany.</p

BURP analysis of the <i>S. aureus spa</i> types isolated from nasal swabs of 389 participants of the general population of Braunschweig, Germany.

<p>Each <i>spa</i> type identified is depicted with circles. Related <i>spa</i> types are connected with a black line; resultant clonal complexes are written in bold. The predicted founder of each clonal complex is indicated in blue and sub-founders are labelled in yellow. The size of the circle is proportional to the frequency of the <i>spa</i> type in the population. Each clonal complex (CC) is defined by the predicted founder <i>spa</i> type or by the <i>spa</i> types it contains.</p

Descriptive characteristics of the study participants of the general population of Braunschweig, Germany.

<p>N = 389 (100%): Missing are included therefore percentage do not always add up to 100 percent.</p><p>Descriptive characteristics of the study participants of the general population of Braunschweig, Germany.</p