2024 · Journal of epidemiology and global health · open access
Acceptability and Feasibility of the Plasma Separation Card for an Integrated Model of Care for HBV and HCV Screening Among People Attending HIV Clinics in Cameroon and Uganda
Picchio et al.
The finding, in our words
The study found that 70% of people living with HIV considered the plasma separation card acceptable for hepatitis B and C screening, with markedly higher acceptance in Uganda (100%) than Cameroon (43.2%). This demonstrates that while the card is a feasible tool for decentralised viral hepatitis screening in sub-Saharan Africa, acceptability is context-dependent and requires local assessment.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
Capillary blood self-collected with the VAMS device showed 100 per cent agreement with serum for detecting SARS-CoV-2 S RBD antibodies in participants with known past infection, and saliva showed slightly lower but high agreement; agreement was good to almost perfect in those without known antibodies, and most participants found finger prick easy while half found the microsampler easy, supporting decentralised serosurveillance.
A 2025 review maps 28 microsampling devices, from dried spots and volumetric absorptive tips to upper-arm liquid capillary collectors, and names what a laboratory must control before their results are used: the haematocrit effect in non-volumetric dried samples, interstitial fluid from finger milking, volume, haemolysis and transport stability. Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic ask for the same two things, a device the patient can use safely and a sample fit for the test.
The authors observe that self-sampling devices for capillary blood are gaining traction as a patient-preferred alternative to venous collection, with one centre reporting a 15 percent reduction in laboratory test volumes when local collection was offered. They argue that successful integration into total laboratory automation requires addressing cost, transport regulations and sample volume adequacy while ensuring robust device design and seamless workflow compatibility.
Poland & Cobbaert, Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine (paywalled) · source ↗
Plasma separation cards showed high specificity (99.3%) but moderate sensitivity (87.5%) against EDTA-plasma for HIV-1 viral load monitoring at a 1,000 copies/ml threshold in a South African cohort. Despite favourable usability among healthcare workers, laboratory-reported technical difficulties must be addressed to enable reliable decentralised scale-up in resource-constrained settings.
Chimoyi et al., Journal of clinical microbiology · source ↗
The Drawbridge OneDraw device enabled home blood collection with high acceptability, as 76 per cent of participants preferred it to finger-prick or venous methods and reported significantly lower pain scores. In a remote study of 4023 participants, sample return rates stayed above 89 per cent across three timepoints over six months, and antibody results agreed well with venous blood in a validation subset of 120 participants.
Koulman et al., Journal of telemedicine and telecare · source ↗