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Published on: July 22, 2012
A current overview of commercially available nucleic acid diagnostics approaches to detect and identify human
Kate Reddington1, Nina Tuite1, Elizabeth Minogue1
1Nucleic Acid Diagnostics Research Laboratory (NADRL), Microbiology, School of Natural Sciences, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.
Abstract:
Gastroenteritis is caused by a wide range of viral, bacterial and parasitic pathogens and causes millions of deaths worldwide each year, particularly in infant populations in developing countries. Traditional microbiological culture and immunological based tests are time consuming, laborious and often lack diagnostic specificity and sensitivity. As a result patients can receive suboptimal and/or inappropriate antimicrobial treatment. In recent years, rapid nucleic acid diagnostics (NAD) technologies have become available to complement or even bypass and replace these traditional microbiological culture and immunological based tests. The main purpose of this review is to describe a number of recently available multiparametric commercial tests, to support the rapid and accurate clinical diagnosis of human gastroenteritis. These state of the art technologies have the ability to identify a wide range of microorganisms associated with enteric gastroenteritis. Following further technological innovation and more comprehensive clinical validation studies, these NAD tests have the potential to impact on the economic burden of health care systems. These rapid NAD tests can also be used to guide improved patient therapy in a timely manner which will reduce the extent of morbidity and mortality associated with these infections globally.
Insights
Rapid nucleic acid diagnostics (NAD) offer faster, more accurate identification of gastroenteritis pathogens than traditional methods. These advanced tests improve patient treatment, reduce healthcare costs, and decrease global mortality from these infections.
Area of Science:
- Clinical microbiology
- Infectious diseases
- Molecular diagnostics
Background:
- Gastroenteritis, a major cause of global mortality, especially in infants, is often diagnosed using slow and inaccurate traditional methods.
- Current diagnostic techniques for gastroenteritis lack specificity and sensitivity, leading to inappropriate antimicrobial treatments.
- The limitations of traditional diagnostics result in significant morbidity and mortality worldwide.
Approach:
- This review focuses on recently developed multiparametric commercial nucleic acid diagnostic (NAD) tests for human gastroenteritis.
- These state-of-the-art NAD technologies offer rapid and accurate identification of diverse enteric pathogens.
- The review highlights the potential of NAD to complement, bypass, or replace conventional microbiological and immunological tests.
Key Points:
- Multiparametric NAD tests enable the simultaneous detection of a broad spectrum of gastroenteritis-causing microorganisms.
- These advanced diagnostics provide timely and precise etiological information crucial for effective patient management.
- NAD technologies represent a significant advancement over traditional culture and immunological assays in terms of speed and accuracy.
Conclusions:
- Rapid NAD tests have the potential to significantly reduce the economic burden on healthcare systems.
- By enabling prompt and appropriate therapy, NAD tests can decrease morbidity and mortality associated with infectious gastroenteritis globally.
- Further technological innovation and clinical validation of NAD tests are expected to enhance their impact on public health outcomes.
