Testing the feasibility of a national respiratory swabbing tool in FluSurvey to support pandemic preparedness in England, 2025-26
- 1Respiratory virus section, Immunisation and Vaccine Preventable Diseases, UKHSA
Abstract
BackgroundFluSurvey is a participatory surveillance system, through which participants report weekly respiratory symptoms, healthcare use and social contacts. To support rapid public health assessment we developed a respiratory self-swabbing feature. We aimed to assess the feasibility of self-swabbing among symptomatic FluSurvey participants.
MethodsFluSurvey self-swabbing was deployed in England between January-March 2026. Adults reporting recent Acute Respiratory Infection symptoms were eligible for a self-swabbing Covid-19, RSV and Influenza PCR test which was returned to the laboratory by post. Participants were sent optional feedback surveys. We described swabbing interest, timeliness and participant demographics. We evaluated participant feedback to improve the process.
ResultsThere were 234 eligible illnesses during the study period; 45.7% (107/234) requested test kits and 93.5%(100/107) test kits were returned. Of these, 97.0%(97/100) had valid results; median participant age was 61.74 years (IQR:47.4-67.4), 68.4% were female and 90.0% were of white ethnicity. All nine regions in England were represented. Timeliness was high; the median time from symptom onset to specimen date was 4.0 days (IQR:3.0-5.0). Of participants completing feedback surveys, 96.7%(59/61) would consider participating in self-swabbing again.
ConclusionsWe developed a tool to test individuals, often not presenting to healthcare, for respiratory viruses using an established community-based surveillance system. This tool can be rapidly deployed and adapted to public health need, to assess community-based emerging respiratory or pandemic infections. The high return rate and positive feedback suggest continued engagement of the cohort in respiratory virus swabbing.
Related
- Maternal critical care infrastructure and organisational preparedness in Türkiye: a national analysis of the MaCriCare cross-sectional survey
- The Central African Republic – A fragile centre: Emergency preparedness through national, regional and One Health approaches
- COVID-19 Curriculum Disruptions and Future Preparedness in Iranian Medical Education: A National Mixed-Methods Study.
- Knowledge, Confidence and Preparedness for Brain Death Determination Among Anaesthesiology and Reanimation Residents: A National Web-Based Survey with an Embedded Randomised Vignette.
- A national framework for strengthening public health laboratory preparedness and resilience in Jordan: advancing health security, One Health, and early warning capacity
BibTeX
@misc{wolmuthgordon2026testing,
title = {{Testing the feasibility of a national respiratory swabbing tool in FluSurvey to support pandemic preparedness in England, 2025-26}},
author = {H. Wolmuth-Gordon and M. Lachhani and R. Pebody and G. Amirthalingam and R. E. Green and G. Dabrera},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.09.26362615},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.09.26362615v1},
note = {CC BY-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Testing the feasibility of a national respiratory swabbing tool in FluSurvey to support pandemic preparedness in England, 2025-26
AU - H. Wolmuth-Gordon
AU - M. Lachhani
AU - R. Pebody
AU - G. Amirthalingam
AU - R. E. Green
AU - G. Dabrera
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/09
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.09.26362615
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.09.26362615v1
AB - BackgroundFluSurvey is a participatory surveillance system, through which participants report weekly respiratory symptoms, healthcare use and social contacts. To support rapid public health assessment we developed a respiratory self-swabbing feature. We aimed to assess the feasibility of self-swabbing among symptomatic FluSurvey participants. MethodsFluSurvey self-swabbing was deployed in England between January-March 2026. Adults reporting recent Acute Respiratory Infection symptoms were eligible for a self-swabbing Covid-19, RSV and Influenza PCR test which was returned to the laboratory by post. Participants were sent optional feedback surveys. We described swabbing interest, timeliness and participant demographics. We evaluated participant feedback to improve the process. ResultsThere were 234 eligible illnesses during the study period; 45.7% (107/234) requested test kits and 93.5%(100/107) test kits were returned. Of these, 97.0%(97/100) had valid results; median participant age was 61.74 years (IQR:47.4-67.4), 68.4% were female and 90.0% were of white ethnicity. All nine regions in England were represented. Timeliness was high; the median time from symptom onset to specimen date was 4.0 days (IQR:3.0-5.0). Of participants completing feedback surveys, 96.7%(59/61) would consider participating in self-swabbing again. ConclusionsWe developed a tool to test individuals, often not presenting to healthcare, for respiratory viruses using an established community-based surveillance system. This tool can be rapidly deployed and adapted to public health need, to assess community-based emerging respiratory or pandemic infections. The high return rate and positive feedback suggest continued engagement of the cohort in respiratory virus swabbing.
ER -