Feasibility of blood self-sampling with HemaSpot HF for Anti-Clostridium tetani Toxin IgG detection

The study found that DBS testing showed high specificity for HIV, HBV and HCV and perfect sensitivity for HIV and HBV, but lower sensitivity for syphilis and HCV, with creatinine measurements slightly higher than venous samples. Despite challenges in sample adequacy, DBS was acceptable to participants and could support decentralised STI and renal monitoring in men who have sex with men.

Use of Home-Based Self-Collected Dried Blood Spots to Test for Syphilis, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Hepatitis C and B Virus Infections and Measuring Creatinine Concentration — Nieuwenburg et al., Sexually transmitted diseases · source ↗

• blood
• dried
• dbs
• self-collection
• venous-agreement
• acceptability
• serology
• sti

In a Ugandan cohort, 96% of participants successfully collected at least 16 of 24 requested at-home dried blood spots, with strong correlation (R=0.93) between parasite RNA detected in self-collected spots and venous blood. The method was well tolerated, indicating self-collected DBS can reliably support decentralised malaria surveillance in endemic settings.

Feasibility of community at-home dried blood spot collection combined with pooled reverse transcription PCR as a viable and convenient method for malaria epidemiology studies — Hergott et al., Malaria journal · source ↗

• blood
• dried
• dbs
• self-collection
• venous-agreement
• acceptability
• pediatric
• serology

The study found that although participants preferred patient-centric microsampling devices for home use, the agreement with venous plasma for measuring CRP and cytokines was inconsistent, indicating that further validation is required before these methods replace standard venipuncture.

Limited agreement of cytokines and CRP through patient-centric microsampling compared to venipuncture in healthy adults — Tuttle et al., Bioanalysis (paywalled) · source ↗

• dct
• venous-agreement
• acceptability
• blood
• dbs
• self-collection
• dried
• biomarkers

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.

A dried blood spot protocol for high-throughput semi-quantitative analysis of Epstein-Barr Virus VCA IgG and EBNA IgG serologies based on the Roche Elecsys system — Rubio-Acero et al., Virology journal · source ↗

• blood
• dried
• capillary
• dbs
• self-collection
• validation
• venous-agreement
• serology

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.

An Examination of Perceptions and Usage of Dried Blood Spot Biosampling Technology for HIV Viral Load Collection Among Youth with HIV — Gurung et al., AIDS and behavior (paywalled) · source ↗

• blood
• dried
• dbs
• self-collection
• acceptability
• dct
• serology