The aim of this study was to examine the sensitivity of pooled samples for detecting chlamydia and gonorrhoea in asymptomatic men who have sex with men using a nucleic acid amplification test.
Asymptomatic MSM who tested positive for chlamydia or gonorrhoea were invited to participate.
Using the pooled samples, 22 infections (15 chlamydia and 7 gonorrhoea) would be missed. Most of the infections were from one site. The number of positive tests lost by pooled samples being tested for chlamydia is about 10% from MSM without symptoms. The loss was not seen in gonorrhoea tests.
Publications
Pooling pharyngeal, anorectal and urogenital samples for screening asymptomatic men who have sex with men for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoea
Durukan D, Read TRH, Bradshaw CS, Fairley CK, Williamson D, De Petra V, Maddaford K, Wigan R, Chen MY, Tran A, Chow EPF
(2020), Journal of Clinical Microbiology,
DOI: 10.1128/JCM.01969-19