Three female volunteers of different ages (20s, 30s 40s) provided semen-free vaginal swabs taken at two different points in their menstrual cycle (beginning, middle or end). A post menopausal female donor in her 50s also donated swabs. Each donor provided two swabs at any given time and at least seven days after sexual intercourse. Technical Services Consultants (TSC™) swabs were used. One swab was extracted using protocol B (Table 1). A drop of the resulting supernatant was placed onto filter paper and tested using AP reagent. This is the indirect method of AP testing swabs. An aerosol was used to directly apply AP reagent to the entire swab head of the second swab.
The time taken for the initial development of any colour change was recorded together with the colour and strength of the reaction for each of the indirect and direct (aerosol) methods. The colour and strength of any reaction on the test paper or swab was also noted at 2 and 10 min.