Self-sampling with oral rinse to detect oropharyngeal <i>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</i> among men who have sex with men: results from an exploratory study in Belgium (the SSONG Study)
Vanbaelen et al.
The finding, in our words
Self-collected oral rinses showed higher sensitivity than clinician-collected swabs for detecting oropharyngeal gonorrhoea by NAAT while maintaining specificity, with good agreement between methods. Samples remained detectable after five days at room temperature, supporting feasibility of home-based STI screening.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
Saliva samples collected using the OMNIgene ORAL device and oral wash samples remain stable for microbiome diversity and relative abundance analyses for up to five years when stored at -80°C. This supports the use of these self-collection methods for long-term prospective biobanking and decentralised clinical studies.
Slack et al., Microbiology spectrum (paywalled) · source ↗
This review summarises how emerging HPV detection methods including CRISPR/Cas systems, droplet digital PCR and isothermal amplification, combined with self-collected vaginal swabs and liquid biopsy from urine or blood, could improve screening acceptability and enable point-of-care testing compared with conventional approaches that require invasive sampling and centralised laboratory infrastructure.
Shi et al., Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · source ↗
UriSwab provided a practical transport medium for urine-based STI testing, with Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae nucleic acids remaining detectable by PCR after up to 16 days' ambient or elevated temperature storage, and Mycoplasma genitalium for up to 10 days. This facilitates patient self-collection and postal return in decentralised sexual health programmes.
Costa et al., Sexual health (paywalled) · source ↗
Midstream urine self-collection demonstrated adequate sensitivity for Chlamydia trachomatis screening in asymptomatic patients, although it was less sensitive than vaginal swabs in women, and the study confirmed that nucleic acids in neat urine remain stable for up to seven days when stored at 4°C.
Ilardo et al., The new microbiologica (paywalled) · source ↗
This study found strong agreement between self-collected urine samples tested with the INDICAID HPV assay and clinician-collected swabs tested with the BD Onclarity assay for detecting high-risk HPV. The results suggest that urine-based self-collection offers a reliable alternative for cervical cancer screening, potentially improving access for women who face barriers to standard care.
Yung et al., Journal of gynecologic oncology (paywalled) · source ↗