Performance of TaqMan probes for the detection of sexually transmitted infections in South African women

Nireshni Mitchev; Ravesh Singh; Nigel Garrett; Veron Ramsuran; Abraham J Niehaus; Koleka P Mlisana

doi:10.4102/ajlm.v10i1.1124

Performance of TaqMan probes for the detection of sexually transmitted infections in South African women

Afr J Lab Med. 2021 Mar 31;10(1):1124. doi: 10.4102/ajlm.v10i1.1124. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Nireshni Mitchev¹, Ravesh Singh^{1

2}, Nigel Garrett^{3

4}, Veron Ramsuran⁵, Abraham J Niehaus^{1

2}, Koleka P Mlisana^{1

3

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
² Department of Medical Microbiology, National Health Laboratory Service, Durban, South Africa.
³ Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa, Durban, South Africa.
⁴ Discipline of Public Health Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
⁵ KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
⁶ Department of Academic Affairs, Research and Quality Assurance, National Health Laboratory Service, Durban, South Africa.

Abstract

Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Trichomonas vaginalis and Mycoplasma genitalium are the four main aetiologies of sexually transmitted infections responsible for vaginal discharge syndrome (VDS). Commercially available multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays are expensive and generally not customisable. We evaluated a highly customisable singleplex PCR approach by testing it in parallel with the Anyplex™ II STI-7 detection assay in a cohort of South African women that presented with VDS between May 2016 and January 2017. Our multiple singleplex PCR strategy proved to be a simple, accurate, rapid, affordable and scalable option for diagnosing VDS.

Keywords: TaqMan; molecular diagnostics; sexually transmitted infections; vaginal discharge syndrome; validation.