STI Panel Test
Providing diagnostic and drug sensitivity testing in less than 30 minutes will enable patients to immediately receive the treatment they need.
The Problem
Current screening initiatives for these, often symptomless, infections are hindered by long turnaround times, with many patients never returning for treatment.
Chlamydia trachomatis (chlamydia) and neisseria gonorrhea (gonorrhea) are the two most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs). However, testing currently relies on culture, which takes at least 48 hours. Unfortunately, the stigma associated with STIs deters many from returning to clinics for treatment.
STIs can be transmitted through sexual contact and through mother-to-infant during pregnancy, childbirth, blood transfusions, and shared needles. People can also pass STIs to their sexual partners without any symptoms to themselves, resulting in a lack of care seeking and appropriate treatment.
Current STI testing in an outpatient setting relies on lab culture to identify infections and any drug resistance. This takes at least 48 hours. In the meantime, the patient is prescribed a first line antibiotic treatment.
However, increasingly, the pathogens are resistant to these antibiotics, resulting in an ineffective first treatment and patients having to be recalled for a follow up consultation. This is where the treatment of STIs is significantly complicated by social stigma, economic, and behavioural factors.
Untreated or inappropriately treated STIs can lead to a range of secondary complications including pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, complications in pregnancy, reproductive system cancers, enhanced transmission of HIV and epididymitis; each with a cost to the healthcare system. The emergence of drug resistant strains of STI such as gonorrhea is also causing considerable global concern.
The Solution
Enabling gold-standard molecular diagnostic testing and treatment in a single patient consultation.
This important panel test will harness the power of molecular diagnostics to support crucial screening programmes for the most common sexually transmitted infections.
QuantuMDx is developing an STI panel test to provide accurate and reliable testing at the patient’s side. By providing results in minutes, this test will enable immediate prescription of the most effective drug treatment. As well as treating the individual and preventing secondary complications, this rapid testing will help to prevent further spread of the infections within the community.
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