Nucleic Acid Amplification Test How It Works

A positive naa test result does not differentiate between the species of mtbc or determine the presence of other mycobacteria species.

Nucleic acid amplification test how it works. The nucleic acid test nat system can detect the presence of bacteria and viruses e g. They can therefore be used to identify bacteria viruses and other pathogens even when the material of interest is present in very small amounts. Human immunodeficiency virus hiv and hepatitis c virus hcv in blood using a semi automated system and further ensures the safety of blood products including fresh frozen plasma red cells and platelets by permitting earlier detection of infections in donors. It s important to obtain the best possible specimens so covid 19 nasal swab testing that includes nucleic acid testing which is what we do for our patients here at md anderson remains the best option.

Nats differ from other tests in that they detect genetic materials rna or dna rather than antigens or antibodies. So while a positive antigen test is informative a negative result would need to be confirmed by the more sensitive nucleic acid test. Nucleic acid amplification tests also known as naats are used to identify small amounts of dna or rna in test samples. Nucleic acid amplification tests such as ligase chain reaction and polymerase chain reaction offer potential advantages of speed simplicity and accuracy in the detection of genitourinary tract infection with neisseria gonorrhoeae and chlamydia trachomatis.

Covid 19 rapid tests. Nucleic acid tests such as polymerase chain reaction pcr are new generation technologies that have higher sensitivity than blood cultures and better specificity than serologic tests. Although the covid 19 situation is gradually abating in china nucleic acid tests are becoming a larger part of people s daily lives as the country has been conducting widspread testing to ensure. Their appropriate use in pediatric emer.

How do they work. Dongyou liu in molecular medical microbiology second edition 2015. Covid 19 rapid tests cut down time and costs by avoiding the need for the cutting and amplification of nucleic acid samples. Useful targets include insertion sequences is 6501 or is711 the bcsp31 gene coding for a 31 kda immunogenic outer.

Naats can even detect a variety of different sexually transmitted diseases stds. Instead of looking for specific viral genes these rapid tests look for igm the first antibodies our body makes to fight a new infection.