Search

In recent years, the enormous demand for swabs for clinical use has promoted their relevance and, consequently, brought the environmental issues due to their single use and lack of biodegradability to the attention of the healthcare industry. Swabs consist of a stick that facilitates their easy handling and manoeuvrability even in complex districts and an absorbent tip designed to uptake and release biological samples. In this study, we focused on the fabrication of an innovative biodegradable poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofiber swab tip using the electrospinning technique. The innovative swab tip obtained showed comparable uptake and release capacity of protein and bacterial species ( Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus ) with those of the commercial foam-type swab. In this way, the obtained swab can be attractive and suitable to fit into this panorama due to its low-cost process, easy scalability, and good uptake and release capabilities.

In the absence of any other lesions on the body, the diagnosis of localized genital psoriasis can be difficult, requiring further examinations including a biopsy. We report a case of psoriatic pseudobalanitis circinata triggered by a herpes virus infection, and we discuss the Koebner phenomenon and the therapeutic management of psoriasis of the genital area.