2026 · JPMA. The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association · paywalled
Comparison of overall cost of plasma separation card with that of plasma preparation tube
Qureshi et al.
The finding, in our words
Plasma separation cards were 50 per cent more cost-effective than plasma preparation tubes for HCV RNA testing across a 500 km transport distance in 100 hepatitis C cases. This supports decentralised microsampling by eliminating cold-chain logistics and simplifying sample preparation for infectious disease screening.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
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 study found that self-collection of dried blood spots and other samples using at-home kits was a useful and cost-effective method for screening a large cohort for sexually transmitted infections outside a clinic. This demonstrates the feasibility of decentralised, patient-centric sampling for population-level infectious disease surveillance.
Mimiaga et al., Sexually transmitted infections (paywalled) · source ↗
The study validated a semi-quantitative protocol for Epstein-Barr virus serology using dried blood spots, demonstrating 98.8% sensitivity and 96.5% specificity compared to paired venous serum samples. The successful validation in a self-sampling cohort confirms the suitability of this patient-centric microsampling approach for large-scale seroprevalence studies and decentralised trials.
Dried blood spot sampling achieved high agreement with serum for anti-Trypanosoma cruzi antibody detection, supporting its use in decentralised settings; however, samples collected on Cobas Plasma Separation Cards showed lower antibody index values than serum and Whatman cards, which may reduce sensitivity in low-titre specimens.
In a pilot mixed-methods study of youth with HIV, mailed HemaSpot-HF kits enabled home-based dried blood spot collection that participants found feasible and acceptable, supporting remote viral load monitoring and a self-management model for decentralised care.
Gurung et al., AIDS and behavior (paywalled) · source ↗