Happy Valentine's Day from Puritan!

Here at Puritan, we make our products with love, attention to detail, and the consistent quality that our customers can rely on. This year, we're celebrating Valentine's Day by asking a few of our employees what they love about working for Puritan Medical Products Company. We also asked them to share which Puritan product is their favorite. Check out their responses below, and have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Topics: Puritan, Flocked Swabs, Media Transport Systems, Single-Use Products, Flavored Tongue Depressors

2015’s Measles Outbreak

Here at Puritan, it’s our mission to inform and educate our readers and customers during times of national crisis, including outbreaks and endemics of highly contagious viruses. Not only are we committed to sharing our wealth of information, but also to producing the highest quality, American made, single-use products that facilitate the identification and diagnosis of the viruses that impact our country. Today, we focus on measles, a virus which was officially eradicated in 2000, but which has made a resurgence in 2015’s growing outbreak. Since the factors contributing to the current measles outbreak are numerous, it is important to focus more on measures to take in order to help quell the spread of this dangerous virus.

Topics: UniTranz-RT, PurFlock Ultra, Measles, Single-Use Products, Measles Virus, Measles Outbreak, Liquid Transport Medium, MMR Vaccine

Topics: Diagnostic Swab, Flu, UniTranz-RT, Flocked Swabs, Media Transport Systems, Flock Swab, Influenza, PurFlock Ultra, Flu Testing

January is cervical health awareness month, and a great reminder for women everywhere to begin 2015 with a renewed commitment to their health and wellness.

Topics: Pap test, Histobrush, Womens Health, HPV Test, Cervical Health, Cervical Cancer, Wooden Scrapers

Topics: Puritan, Critical Environments, Customer Service, VWR, Operational Excellence, Lab

2015 started off with a bang, and unfortunately so did the flu virus. Having swiftly spread throughout the country and increased in intensity from past years, 2015’s dominant strain, H3N2 is cause for concern. The CDC has reported that the flu virus has reached widespread levels, already causing the deaths of 21 children this season. While the CDC still strongly suggests getting vaccinated, they are also aware that the vaccine is not as effective as they had originally hoped, due to the difference in strain from years prior.

Topics: Flu, UniTranz-RT, Flocked Swab, Flu Testing, Diagnostic

Recently Puritan’s Director of Sales - South Region, Elaine Seavey Maliff, had the opportunity to present on forensic swabbing techniques to a class of CSI students at Westwood College in Atlanta. Read her account below. 

Topics: Foam Tipped Swab, Diagnostic Swab, Specimen Collection, Flocked Swabs, Cotton Tipped Applicators, Forensic Swabs

We’ve always taken pride in providing the forensic field with the highest quality devices and materials, and this year they’ve shown their appreciation by awarding Puritan’s Cap-Shure® Cotton Tipped Applicator one of Forensic Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Best Forensic Product of 2014!

Topics: Cotton Tipped Applicators, Forensic Swabs, Forensics

Flocked swabs have been hailed by the microbiology and diagnostic communities for their ability to absorb and elute more specimen than traditional fiber or foam swabs. But not all flocked swabs are created equal. 

Some flocked swabs, like Copan's eSwab, are coated with biopolymers that are said to “improve the recovery and survival of organisms.”

Topics: Hydraflock, Flocked Swabs, PurFlock Ultra, Diagnostic

Why are flocked swabs more effective at collecting and eluting specimens than other swab types? It all comes down to the materials and construction. The type of fibers used, plus the swab's physical construction/manufacturing process, have an impact on results because it is the swab tip that comes in direct contact with the specimen to be collected. 

Topics: Hydraflock, Flocked Swabs, PurFlock Ultra, Diagnostic