The acceptance of nucleic acid probes as diagnostic tools for the clinical laboratory has been hampered by a number of factors, including laborious techniques and limited sensitivity. The focus of this review is on the recent development of amplification techniques to enhance the signal generated by nucleic acid-based detection systems. Three general areas are discussed: (1) amplification of ta...

OBJECTIVES The contribution of acute HIV infection (AHI) to transmission is widely recognized, and increasing AHI diagnosis capacity can enhance HIV prevention through subsequent behavior change or intervention. We examined the impact of targeted pooled nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) and social marketing to increase AHI diagnosis among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Vancouver. ...

BACKGROUND Infection by Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the most prevalent sexually transmitted infection (STI) world wide. The most frequently used diagnostic test for CT is a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), which is highly sensitive and specific. To further shorten time delay until diagnosis has been made, in order to prevent CT spread, the use of point-of-care (POC) tests may be the wa...

BACKGROUND At least 10% of the 56,000 annual new HIV infections in the United States are caused by individuals with acute HIV infection (AHI). It unknown whether the health benefits and costs of routine nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) are justified, given the availability of newer fourth-generation immunoassay tests. METHODS Using a dynamic HIV transmission model instantiated with U...

BACKGROUND Antibiotic resistance is threatening to make gonorrhoea untreatable. Point-of-care (POC) tests that detect resistance promise individually tailored treatment, but might lead to more treatment and higher levels of resistance. We investigate the impact of POC tests on antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea. METHODS We used data about the prevalence and incidence of gonorrhoea in men who hav...

BACKGROUND The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommended the expansion of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody testing. However, antibody tests have longer "window periods" after HIV acquisition than do nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs). METHODS Public Health-Seattle & King County offered HIV antibody testing to men who have sex with men (MSM) using the Ora...

OBJECTIVES To compare the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a promising new point-of-care (POC) chlamydia test with traditional nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT), and to determine the characteristics that would make a POC test most cost-effective. METHODS A decision tree was constructed to model chlamydia screening visits to a sexually transmitted disease clinic by a hypothetica...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the potential for next generation sequencing (NGS) to be used directly on clinical specimens that have tested positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae by nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT), to generate information on epidemiological genotyping and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) markers. METHODS DNA was extracted from 13 N. gonorrhoeae NAAT-positive urine specimens, ...

Numerous reports indicate that African Americans and Latinos are being affected disproportionately by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Positivity rates have not been analyzed on scale because only 4 states report race/ethnicity as part of severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing. Previous studies also had little ability to control for many known risk factors better identify ...