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.
The finding, in our words
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.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
Among 154 volunteers, 85% found HemaSpot HF self-sampling acceptable, but correlation with venous blood for anti-tetanus toxin IgG was moderate (r = 0.73) and sensitivity varied from 70% to 100% depending on the cut-off value, with concentration differences widening at higher IgG levels. The device requires further improvement before it can reliably replace venous puncture for decentralised serological testing.
Dried blood spot sampling matched venous serum performance for islet autoantibody detection and was considered minimally invasive and convenient by parents and stakeholders, supporting its use for decentralised screening in home or community settings.
Faustini et al., Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association · source ↗
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.
Nieuwenburg et al., Sexually transmitted diseases · source ↗
VAMS microsampling found no significant difference from venous blood for tacrolimus in paediatric patients; samples were stable for 14 days, with average difference between paired at-home samples of 0.12 ± 0.94 ng/mL.
Zhao et al., J. Mass Spectrometry and Advances in the Clinical Lab · source ↗
Dried VAMS and DBS samples collected at home and analysed after a median of three days showed poor agreement with standard venous or capillary blood for HbA1c monitoring. In contrast, wet VAMS samples analysed immediately demonstrated excellent agreement, indicating that sample drying and delayed analysis compromise reliability for decentralised HbA1c measurement.
Verougstraete et al., Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine (paywalled) · source ↗