POINT-OF-CARE TESTING FOR INFECTIOUS-DISEASE

Current trends toward cost effective medicine demonstrate the need for rapid diagnostic tests which can be performed during the patient visi t at the point-of-care (POC). The ability to rapidly and accurately de tect the presence of an infectious agent (bacterial or viral) provides valuable information to guide patient management. The usefulness of s uch a test must be balanced by its timeliness (immediacy of result), r eliability (test performance), cost (fiscal and medical) and staff imp act (test complexity) in a strict regulatory climate. Today, POC testi ng for infectious diseases can, in specific situations, improve not on ly the quality but also the cost-effectiveness of treatment. This arti cle briefly reviews the historical development of POC testing for infe ctious diseases and the technologies available, using specific example s to illustrate the need for such testing and identify factors critica l in its implementation.