23 / 35
Infectious Diseases 2018
Journal of Prevention and Infection Control
ISSN: 2471-9668
Page 62
June 07-08, 2018
London, UK
8
th
Edition of International Conference on
Infectious Diseases
Statement of the Problem:
Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are
useful tools to diagnose a variety of infections. RDTs generally
use a dipstick or cassette format, and results are usually given
in 10 minutes. They are particularly advantageous in resource
limited settings where they can be implemented easily at the
point of care and provide results quickly. However the appeal of
RDTs has led to an explosion of products on the market. Most are
neither WHO prequalified nor registered with a stringent authority
such as the US Food and Drugs Administration meaning their
quality and efficacy cannot be assured. In order to quantify this
problem, a search was performed of available RDTs for purchase
for two common infectious diseases.
Methodology:
A web based search on leading search engines,
using the following search terms: Dengue Rapid Diagnostic Kit,
Dengue Test Kit, HIV Rapid Diagnostic Test Kit and HIV Test Kit.
Selecting the first page of the search, I then checked themagainst
the WHO prequalified list. Variables of interest were: whether
WHO prequalified or not, pharmaceutical supplier and country,
validation data on website, validation data either on PubMed or
Google scholar. Data was extracted in a standard format into a
database.
Findings:
For dengue, 76 test kits were found, 1 appeared to be
WHO prequalified. 37 test kits were found for HIV, 1 appeared to
be WHO prequalified.
Conclusion & Significance:
These results show not only the
availability but also the ease of purchasing RDTs that may have
not been adequately tested. As a result, potentially less effective
tests may be in use. In addition to causing patient harm through
potential misdiagnosis, the purchase of tests that do not work
properly are a waste of resources. Recommendations are made
for greater awareness, research and centralized testing systems
to address this important issue.
melissachowdhury@gmail.comRapid diagnostic tests – the troubling online market for
unvalidated tests
Melissa Chowdhury
North Middlesex University Hospital, UK
J Prev Infect Cntrol 2018, Volume 4
DOI: 10.21767/2471-8084-C1-003