Over 500 million new and curable STIs occur worldwide each year. With this figure rising year on year, and the increasing emergence of antimicrobial resistance to current STI treatments, the need for STI detection and monitoring is critical and presents an increasing challenge to world public health. Untreated STIs can lead to major health problems in men, women and newborns, however most STIs are easily treated if detected early, although in many cases they are asymptomatic and remain undiagnosed, increasing the risk of unhindered spread.¹ ²
In low and middle-income countries, diagnostic tests are largely unavailable. Where testing is available, it is often expensive and geographically inaccessible; and patients often need to wait a long time (or need to return) to receive results. As a result, follow up can be impeded and care or treatment can be incomplete. Many of these countries rely on syndromic management, which is based on the identification of consistent groups of symptoms and easily recognised signs to guide treatment, without the use of laboratory tests. This approach misses infections that do not demonstrate any syndromes – the majority of STIs globally.¹
The CE-marked STI Array provides excellent precision, specificity, sensitivity and accuracy for STI diagnosis, resulting in a reduced risk of false reporting and a reduced number of unnecessary confirmatory tests, saving healthcare providers both time and money. Simultaneous screening for multiple STIs will identify specific viral, protozoan and bacterial pathogens and identify secondary infections, which may otherwise remain undiagnosed. Through the use of simultaneous multiplex testing, smaller sample volumes are required, enabling faster throughput and rapid patient diagnosis.
STI Multiplex Array detects
- Chlamydia trachomatis
- Neisseria gonorrhoea
- Herpes simplex 1
- Herpes simplex 2
- Treponema pallidum
- Mycoplasma hominis
- Ureaplasma urealticum
- Mycoplasma genitalium
- Haemophilius ducreyi
- Trichomonas vaginalis
Key Benefits
- Simultaneously detect 10 viral, bacterial and protozoan STIs from a single patient sample
- Save time and cost associated with single infection detection
- Detection of primary, secondary and asymptomatic co-infections
- Single Tube multiplex PCR
- Added specificity due to combination of stringent PCR and array hybridisation
- Rapid turnaround time of ~6 hours
- Suitable for use with both quantitative and screening methods
- Added specificity due to combination of stringent PCR and array hybridisation
- 54 patient samples can be processed at one time
- Reduced sample requirements
References
- World Health Organisation. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) Fact Sheet No 110. Updated November 2013. Online. Available at: www.who.int. Last accessed 13 June 2014.
- World Health Organisation. 2008. Global incidence and prevalence of curable sexually transmitted infections. Online. Available at: www.who.int. Last accessed 13 June 2014.