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Feasibility of Serial Saliva Collection for Surveillance of Swimming-Associated Illness
Citation:
Converse, R., E. A. SAMS, T. J. WADE, A. P. DUFOUR, J. S. JAGAI, AND A. Egorov. Feasibility of Serial Saliva Collection for Surveillance of Swimming-Associated Illness. Presented at International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) Annual Meeting, Columbia, SC, August 27 - 30, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
We collected saliva samples to measure immune responses to waterborne pathogens and evaluated the efficacy of these assays as tools for measuring infection with waterborne pathogens.
Description:
BACKGROUND. The symptoms of many swimming-associated illnesses overlap, and clinical diagnoses often require serum or stool samples. Therefore, it has been difficult to determine the contributions of different etiologic agents to swimming-associated illness. OBJECTIVES. We collected saliva samples to measure immune responses to waterborne pathogens and evaluated the efficacy of these assays as tools for measuring infection with waterborne pathogens. METHODS. Visitors to recreational beaches in Buffalo, Iowa and Racine, Wisconsin were interviewed and baseline saliva samples were collected during beach visits. After two weeks, participants were contacted and asked about new symptoms. Saliva samplers and instructions for collection were mailed to participants, who were asked to return samples two and six weeks following their beach visit. RESULTS. In Racine, 1489 participants were recruited at the beach, 89.5% completed the follow-up interview, 80.3% returned the first mail-in saliva sample, and 71.1% returned the second mail-in saliva sample. Of the 540 participants recruited at the Iowa beach, 65.4% completed the follow-up interview, 38% returned the first mail-in saliva sample, and 28.5% returned the second mail-in saliva sample. Approximately 90% of saliva samples were of sufficient quality and quantity for analyses, regardless of whether collection instructions were delivered by staff on the beach or by mail. Increased monetary incentives ($15 per sample) attributed to the improved response rate in Racine. CONCLUSIONS. Saliva collection is easy and can be selfadministered. Immunoassays in development can provide estimates of the rates of infection with specific waterborne pathogens. This abstract does not reflect EPA policy.