2022 · The Pan African medical journal · open access
Validation of the point-of-care (POC) technologies Xpert HIV-1 Qual and m-PIMA HIV 1/2 detect for early diagnosis of HIV-1 and HIV-2 in Senegal
Ndoye et al.
The finding, in our words
In a Senegalese validation study of 192 infant samples, the Xpert HIV-1 Qual and m-PIMA HIV 1/2 Detect point-of-care assays showed 100% sensitivity and specificity for HIV-1 detection with both dried blood spots and whole blood, achieving perfect agreement with reference laboratory methods. This supports decentralised early infant diagnosis in resource-limited settings, reducing turnaround time and improving linkage to care.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
This review establishes that microsampling across blood, saliva, urine and stool matrices offers validated workflows and regulatory recognition for human biomonitoring comparable to conventional methods. It finds that these decentralised approaches enhance participant acceptability and enable screening in remote or low-resource settings.
The study validated a commercial ELISA for measuring measles-specific IgG in capillary dried blood spots from children, finding 100% sensitivity and 96.8% specificity against matched venous serum with 92% overall agreement, then applied the method to 1,588 field-collected samples in Mexico and Nicaragua. The procedure was acceptable to surveyors and participants, showing that dried blood spots are a feasible and accurate means of assessing population immunity to measles in low-resource settings.
Colson et al., Journal of medical virology (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.
Capillary samples collected using dried blood spots and Mitra microsamplers showed strong agreement with venous plasma for quantifying IgG antibodies against most vaccine-preventable diseases. Sensitivity was high for the majority of pathogens, though the study noted that antibody stability declined at room temperature over time, favouring cold storage for longer durations.
Ombati et al., Scientific reports (paywalled) · source ↗
Task sharing dried blood spot collection for HIV viral load testing with community lay cadres achieved high diagnostic agreement with healthcare worker collections and was highly acceptable to patients. This approach offers a viable strategy to overcome healthcare worker shortages and support decentralised viral load monitoring in resource-limited settings.
Prust et al., PLOS global public health · source ↗