Seegene, Rockville, Md, has introduced a new STD/HPV diagnostic test capable of simultaneously detecting the most common bacteria and viruses causing STDs.
The Seeplex STD/HPV test screens for chlamydia trachomatis (CT), neisseria gonorrhea (NG), 14 human papillomaviruses (HPV) high-risk types, and five HPV low-risk types in a single reaction tube, at the price point of a single pathogen test using the same sample.
Current clinical STD and HPV screening procedures use a separate test to detect each indication for CT, NG, HPV high-risk, and HPV low-risk. STD infections have a high co-infection rate (with afflicted individuals exhibiting more than one STD infection), and HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer.
According to a study in the February 28, 2007 issue of JAMA, approximately one in four US females between the ages of 14 and 59 is at risk for sexually transmitted infections, which typically exhibit no visible symptoms. High-risk HPV types are detected in 99% of cervical cancers, and HPV types 16 and 18 cause more than 70% of cervical cancers. Individuals diagnosed positive for HPV are on average infected with up to five different types of HPVs.
The Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) computer model of the cost of STD infections estimates that the 9.1 million new STD infections among 15- to 24-year-olds in the United States in 2000 cost $6.5 billion in direct medical costs.
