Nucleic acid contamination in sexual health clinics

This review explores the potential for nucleic acid contamination with gonorrhoea or chlamydia within healthcare settings, the implications that this has for the transmission of infection and the potential for contamination to cause false positive test results in patients.

Contamination with Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae nucleic acid on hard surfaces and examination equipment is common particularly in areas where urine samples are being taken. The quantity of material which can be detected is low and unlikely to lead to transmission of infection, but does present a potential risk for contamination of patient samples leading to false positive results. Attempts to reduce contamination through cleaning and improved infection control have been unsuccessful.

Clinicians involved in taking specimens for sexually transmitted infections should be aware of the risk of surface contamination, and the potential for specimen contamination. As patients increasingly take their own genital specimens rather than it being done by doctors or nurses, patients need to be given appropriate advice to minimize the risk of contamination.