RESEARCH ARTICLE


Utilisation of Rapid Tests for Sexually Transmitted Infections: Promises and Challenges



Rosanna W. Peeling*
Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, The London School of Hygiene Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street,London WC1E 7HT, UK

Article Information


Identifiers and Pagination:

Year: 2009
Volume: 3
First Page: 156
Last Page: 163
Publisher Id: TOIDJ-3-156
DOI: 10.2174/1874279301004010156

Article History:

Received Date: 25/6/2009
Revision Received Date: 13/9/2009
Acceptance Date: 14/9/2009
Electronic publication date: 24/12/2009
Collection year: 2009

© 2009 Peeling et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Correspondence: *Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, The London School of Hygiene Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK; Tel: +44 (0)20 7927 2529; Fax: +44 (0)20 7637 4314; E-mail: rosanna.peeling@lshtm.ac.uk


Abstract

The control of curable STIs in countries with high disease burden has been hampered by the lack of accessible STI laboratory services. Rapid tests that are sensitive, specific and easy to use have the potential to increase the specificity of syndromic management of STIs in symptomatic patients and increase access to screening of asymptomatic infection to prevent the development of long-term complications and to interrupt the chain of transmission of STIs in the population. Although most rapid tests for chlamydia and gonorrhoea have sub-optimal sensitivity, and are neither simple nor affordable, some rapid syphilis tests have been shown to have acceptable performance. These can be deployed to increase access to screening in settings where testing is not previously possible or where laboratory services are inconsistent. With more political commitment and technological advances made possible by increased funding and public and private product development partnerships, there is much optimism in the near future for point of care tests for STIs that can improve patient management and disease control.