Chlamydia Test Gives Faster Results

A highly sensitive test for chlamydia uses automated real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to deliver results quickly and accurately. The test has received the CE Mark.

Conventional testing methods for chlamydia can fail to detect highly asymptomatic infections. In clinical evaluations, nucleic acid tests that detect the presence of the bacterial DNA directly have been shown to be more sensitive than traditional testing methods. If left untreated, chlamydia can lead to serious complications, including pelvic inflammatory disease, urethritis, chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and potentially fatal ectopic pregnancies. A major study on the prevalence of Chlamydia involved 2,000 women, aged 18-25, at multiple centers in France, Germany, and Austria. The results showed that 90% of study participants who tested positive for chlamydia did not have any symptoms. Chlamydia is the second leading cause of blindness in the world, after cataracts.

The new test was developed by Roche Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) and is run on the Cobas TaqMan 48 analyzer of Roche. The analyzer can process up to 48 tests per cycle and provides results in only 2.5 hours after sample preparation.

"Accurate detection of chlamydia infection can play a key role in the fight against infertility,” said Jurgen Schwiezer, head of Roche Diagnostics in Europe, Middle East, and Africa. "The new test will be a valuable aid to labs and healthcare providers working to improve detection of chlamydia early, before irreversible damage occurs.”




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