“Point of Care Testing For Infectious Diseases, Historically, Presently and in the Future”

The purpose of a Point of Care Test (PoCT) is to yield a faster result closer to the time it is clinically required. Advancing technology, particularly in the molecular diagnostics field, is assisting clinicians in their diagnosis by providing a faster result from microbiology diagnostic laboratories. Provided they have adequate sensitivity and specificity, PoCT assays are likely to be endorsed by clinicians. The PoCT, once attributed to a test conducted at the patient’s bedside, is now more widely used to describe any group of tests offering a short turn-around time for a result with minimum input of laboratory personnel or other designated persons. Historically PoCT for infectious diseases have been of the lateral flow format offering varied reliability with regard to sensitivity and specificity. However, more reliable DNA/RNA testing platforms are entering the diagnostic market. The advantage of this style of test is that often it is a “specimen in-result out ” format. This offers fast time to result, which means less processing steps and hence less skilled labour usage which allows scientists to oversee the testing procedure. With staff shortages this regimen allows for less stressful working conditions