2026 · Journal of clinical microbiology · open access
Development and evaluation of dried urine strip for genital chlamydia and gonorrhea testing
Gibbons et al.
The finding, in our words
Dried urine strips demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy and stability for chlamydia and gonorrhea detection compared to standard urine samples. This method supports decentralised screening by allowing self-collection and ambient temperature transport without compromising sample integrity.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
For decentralised testing, a study found dry vaginal self-samples using Copan FLOQSwabs stored up to two weeks at room temperature maintain DNA quality. However, first-void urine collected with the Colli-Pee device may be less sensitive for HPV detection, showing lower positivity and higher cycle threshold values, median Ct 30 versus 27 for other samples.
The hrHPV ReadyMix qPCR Kit detected high-risk HPV DNA in self-collected urine with 80.9% sensitivity and 100% specificity when compared to cervical swabs. Urine testing identified a similar HPV prevalence (6.28%) to cervical swabs (6.62%), suggesting this non-invasive method could expand cervical cancer screening programmes in low-resource settings.
Self-collected urine samples detected high-risk HPV DNA in 25.5 per cent of women and 8 per cent of men by qPCR, while oral gargle samples detected HPV in 7 per cent of women and 5 per cent of men. With good diagnostic accuracy against Pap smear, qPCR on self-collected specimens offers a viable decentralised approach to HPV screening in remote populations.
The pilot study provided evidence that a dry-stored, self-collected vaginal swab could assist detection of Chlamydia trachomatis when compared with clinician-collected discharge, first-catch urine and blood serology, potentially reducing privacy barriers and removing cold-chain requirements for screening in remote areas.
Self-collected dry glans swabs detected Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae with 91% sensitivity and 99% specificity, showing 98% agreement with clinician-collected swabs. This patient-centric approach enables decentralised STI screening programmes by facilitating non-invasive specimen collection in non-medical venues.