Point Of Care: Infectious Diseases Testing

Blinded Diagnostics specializes in the application of point-of-care diagnostic platforms for testing patients enrolled in clinical trials.

Single use disposable point of care tests are available for a wide variety of infectious diseases including C. diff, CMV, HIV, HSV and Lymes disease. Most tests use a small whole blood sample and are CLIA-waived. See an expanded list of POC tests at www.pointofcaresearch.com

POCT infectious disease diagnostic tests can provide results for over 75 types of infectious diseases across a variety of testing platforms and include advanced technology lab equipment as well as rapid diagnostic tests that can provide individual patient test results in as little as 5 minutes.

These infectious disease monitoring tools assist clinicians for the following diseases:

C. difficile
The C. difficile bacterium is responsible for the most common form of hospital-acquired diarrhea and antibiotic-associated colitis.

Cytomegalovirus
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common infection that is usually harmless, but can cause disease in people with weakened immune system or birth defects if the pregnant mother is infected.

Dengue Fever
Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease caused by the dengue viruses. There are four distinct but related virus serotypes all of which can cause dengue fever or the more serious forms of the disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS).

Enterics
Enteric pathogens cause symptoms ranging from mild gastroenteritis to life-threatening systemic infections and severe diarrhea.

Epstein Barr Virus (EBV)
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a member of the Herpes virus family and one of the most common human viruses and it the etiological agent for infectious mononucleosis.

Giardiasis
Giardiasis is an acute form of gastroenteritis caused by the protozoan parasite, Giardia lamblia. Giardiasis outbreaks can occur in communities in both developed and developing countries.

Herpes Simplex Virus
Herpes simplex viruses (HSV) are ubiquitous among humans and are classified type 1 or 2. Type 1 is generally associated with oral cold sores while type 2 tends to be genital herpes. Once acquired, the virus remains in the body for life.

HIV
HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is the virus that causes AIDS. According to the WHO, there were 33.4 million people that were HIV positive in 2008. In that year, 2 million people died and an additional 2.7 million became infected.

Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is caused by the bacteria Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii primarily in Europe, and Borrelia burgdorferi primarily in North America, and is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected deer tick. Typically, the first symptom of Lyme disease is a rash that starts as a small red spot at the site of the tick bite and gets larger; the rash may look like a bull's eye— a red ring around a clear area with a red center.

Malaria
Malaria is a parasitic disease that is transmitted by infected Anopheles mosquitoes. It is also possible to pass the disease via blood transfusions and congenitally. According to the CDC, approximately 200-300 million cases each year with 1 million deaths.

Measles
Measles is a very contagious illness caused by the rubeola virus and is spread by contact with droplets from the nose, mouth, or throat of an infected person.

Mononucleosis
Infectious mononucleosis is caused by Epstein-Barr virus and is common in adolescents and children.

MRSA
MRSA is a group of strains of Staphylococcus aureus that has resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics; such as penicillin, methicillin, dicloxacillin, nafcillin, oxacillin, etc. and the cephalosporins, making it difficult to treat.

Mumps
Mumps is a contagious disease caused by a virus that leads to painful swelling of the salivary glands. Potential complications include inflammation of the testes, ovaries, and brain.

Rubella
Rubella is a contagious virus that is the etiological agent for German measles.

S. aureus
S. aureus is the etiological agent for a host of diseases including wound infections, pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis. People can be carriers of this bacteria in the nose or skin without any disease.

Syphilis
Syphilis is caused by the organism Treponema pallidum and is usually transmitted via sexual contact. It can also be transmitted from mother to child (congenital syphilis).

Toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by a parasite found in cat feces, soils, and in undercooked infected meat. It is a significant concern in pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems.

Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by M. tuberculosis and is one of the deadliest diseases in the world.

Varicella zoster
Varicella zoster is the etiological agent for chicken pox and shingles.

West Nile Virus
The West Nile virus is a type of virus known as a flavivirus. Researchers believe West Nile virus is spread when a mosquito bites an infected bird and then bites a person.

Other Infectious Disease
Infectious diseases are caused by microorganisms that are spread by touching, eating, drinking, or breathing something that contains the microbe.

See an expanded list of POC tests at www.pointofcaresearch.com