123 Cough swab versus cough plate in non-expectorating patients with Cystic Fibrosis

The efficacy of cough plates in the identification of bacterial pathogens in children with cystic fibrosis

“…This study has demonstrated that cough plates are less effective than cough swabs for isolating bacterial pathogens from non-expectorating CF patients; this data therefore reiterates the findings of Orska et al 9 but using a larger cohort of patients.…”

“…A comparison of cough plates with cough swabs and sputum specimens in 31 expectorating CF patients showed that cough plates were significantly more sensitive than cough swabs and were equivalent to sputum specimens 7. A subsequent abstract confirmed the increased efficacy of cough plates compared to cough swabs in 131 non-expectorating children with CF8 although a further abstract demonstrated the opposite result in 48 children 9…”