Viral Transport Medium: COVID-19 Testing Essential for Effective Diagnosis and

Appropriate Treatment.

With an increasing need for extensive diagnosis on SARS-CoV2 during this global pandemic,
the effective confirmatory diagnosis of COVID-19 infections by cell culture relies heavily on
the careful and aseptic collection of specimens. This is where specialized Viral Transport
Medium (VTM) plays its role to protect the virus from environmental damage and maintain
its activity with adequate sustainable transport system.

Over the years, a diverse transport media have been formulated including the early bacterial
transport broth or nutrient broth. Although few swab-tube combinations have proven to be
both effective and convenient, swabs which are toxic to the virus or culture should be
avoided. Among liquid based transport media, sucrose-based and broth-based media appear
to be the most popular whereas some labs even use E-MEM media with sterile PBS.

Viral Transport Medium Guidelines by WHO and CDC

During the light of COVID-19 pandemic, specialized transport media allow more effective
usage of the virus culture prior to diagnosis. Word Health Organization
(WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have recently brought out
certain guidelines for VTM preparation to encourage various labs in preparation of efficient
transport medium for viruses.

In order to do sterility checks, CDC recommends the use of blood agar plate for checking
microbial growth upon incubation. In case of VTM aliquot (small portion) storage, optimal
storage period of 48 hours-96 hours, the sterile media should be stored at 2 to 8 degree
Celsius temperature without freezing. And for a greater period of storage, the vials can be
stored at -20 degree Celsius until used but one should avoid the freeze-thaw cycles at any
cost.

How is VTM effective for SARS-CoV-2 Transport?

The Viral Transport Medium’s essential nutritional components and pH makes it the ideal
culture medium for transporting viral specimen from a patient’s body to the testing lab.
HBSS media, a modified and enriched with BSA, cysteine, gelatin, sucrose and glutamic
acid, help in maintaining the viability & sensitivity of the corona virus during its transport.
The VTM is also needs to be made selective to inhibit various bacterial or fungal growth by
adding Vancomycin, Amphotericin B and Gentamycin. The medium is designed to be
biocompatible with primary cell cultures. Glucose in the media further facilitates virus
viability when stored at lower temperatures for longer period of time. Generally, VTM comes
with Nasopharyngeal and Oropharyngeal swabs for collection which is followed by an
immediate placing of the swabs into the sterile tubes
containing the medium for maintaining optimal viral load.

Essential Components of VTM kits :

1. Appropriate Base Media

2. Potency of Anti-Biotics.
 3. Cryoprotectant.
4. Sterile Leakage Free Tube.
5. Sterile Nasopharyngeal and Oropharyngeal swabs

How each Components are Beneficial for an Effective Diagnosis of COVID-19.

1. Appropriate Base Media : Base Media is very essential for VTM because its
improve the viability and growth of the specimen along with stabilizing the pH &
osmolarity.

2. Potency of Antibiotic: Potency of the Antibiotics is very much crucial as it helps to

avoid contamination from bacterial and fungal origin.

3. Cryoprotectant: The medium should also contain a cryoprotectant which helps in

preserving the viruses, if specimens are frozen for prolonged storage.
4. Sterile Leakage Free Tube : Sterility of the tube and leakage proof tubes are one of
the most essential part in VTM production and choosing the right brand, the reason
being so is –

a) It reduces the chance of microbe contamination.

b) Reduces the media loss, as for an effective viral growth 3ml media should be
required and if it bleeds out from the tube the test cannot be conducted properly.

c) Size and shape of the tube is equally essential as it should be sufficient to

accommodate the swabs which contain the viral specimen easily.

5. Sterile Nasopharyngeal and Oropharyngeal swabs : Swabs are the most crucial
part for collecting the viral sample and compromising on the same must have a
compromise result, to avoid such situation one should see the following things before
choosing the right swab.

a) The length of the swab should be sufficient to reach the Oropharyngeal and
Nasopharyngeal cavity.
b) Swabs should be sterile otherwise there is a chance of false result.
c) Swabs should have easy breakpoints to ease and safety of the collection person.
d) Use of Nylon Swab tips are more effective at releasing cellular materials from the
inner core compared to cotton swabs.

Why to choose SARC MEDIA VTM kits:-

1. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) & National Institute of Virology (NIV)
validated VTM kit.
 2. USFDA & WHO-CDC approved reagent of Viral Transport Medium (VTM).

3. Viral transport medium(VTM) comes with 2 antibiotic combination for reducing the
chances of contamination.

4. Our viral transport medium contains Fetal Bovine serum(FBS) as cryoprotectant

which helps the sample for prolonged storage.

5. 2 Individually sterile packed medical grade Nylon flocked swabs for Oropharyngeal
& Nasopharyngeal respectively.

6. Only company to provide VTM in Sterile internationally branded 15 ml conical

centrifuge tubes like Falcon and Corning to provide assurance of leakage free
transport.

7. Only Manufacturer to provide one Bio-hazardous zip lock pouch for each tube as a
part of the kit for safer transport.

8. Kits manufactured in class 1000 environment for reducing the chances of

contamination.

9. Our manufacturing Facility is accredited by ISO 9001-2015, ISO 13485-2016, GMP

and CE-IVD.

10. Each Individual viral transport medium (VTM) passes through stringent quality
control parameters.

11. Our Viral transport Medium ( VTM) comes in international standard packaging with
375 gsm box with internal double decker rack arrangements for ensuring tubes
position during transport.

12. We are the only manufacturer to provide 100 percent replacement guarantee of any
SARC Media’s Viral transport medium (VTM) kits received by our customers.

13. SARC Media’s VTM comes in uncompromised quality at most economical rate.

14. SARC Media’s Viral Transport Medium (VTM) is used by various NABL accredited
labs across the country and awarded us performance testimonials.

So, if you want to know more about our product and attractive offers kindly visit our website
: www.sarcellulabs.com or call us at 9667799904, 9667799903, 9667799902, 9667799901.