Comparison of capillary blood self-collection using the Tasso-SST device with venous phlebotomy for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody measurement

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2023.113523
• Publication Date: 2023-07-08T00:49:36Z
• Authors: Elise R. King; Haley E. Garrett; Haley Abernathy; Caitlin A. Cassidy; Cameron R. Cabell; Bonnie E. Shook-Sa; Jonathan J. Juliano; Ross M. Boyce; Allison E. Aiello; Emily J. Ciccone
• Keywords: Phlebotomy; Venipuncture; Seroprevalence; Blood collection; Venous blood

AbstractMeasuring seroprevalence over time is a valuable epidemiological tool for improving our understanding of COVID-19 immunity. Due to the large number of collections required for population surveillance as well as concerns about potential infection risk to the collectors, self-collection approaches are being increasingly pursued. To advance this methodology, we collected paired venous and capillary blood samples by routine phlebotomy and Tasso-SST device respectively from 26 participants and measured total immunoglobulin (Ig) and IgG antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) on both specimens. Qualitatively, no discrepancies were noted in binary results between Tasso and venipuncture-derived plasma. Furthermore, in vaccinated participants, correlation between Tasso and venous total Ig and IgG specific antibody quantitative levels was high (Total Ig: ρ = 0.72, 95% CI (0.39- 0.90); IgG: ρ = 0.85, 95% CI (0.54, 0.96)). Our results support the use of Tasso at-home collection devices for antibody testing.