Nucleic Acid Amplification Test

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.

Nucleic acid amplification test. Guidelines for the use of nucleic acid amplification naa tests for the diagnosis of tuberculosis tb were published in 1996 1 and updated in 2000 2. Added guidance for covid testing of patients without covid 19 symptoms. Authorized assays for viral testing include those that detect sars cov 2 nucleic acid or antigen. Lower respiratory secretions such as sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid are also used if a patient has pneumonia or lung involvement with infection.

Polymerase chain reaction pcr including nested n quantitative q or real time reverse transcription rt pcr loop mediated isothermal amplification lamp and quantitative nucleic acid sequence based amplification qt nasba are among the key naats that have been developed to detect. Nats differ from other tests in that they detect genetic materials rna or dna rather than antigens or antibodies. Since then naa testing has become a routine procedure in many institutions for the diagnosis of tb because naa tests can rapidly and reliably detect mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria directly in a specimen one or more weeks earlier than. Nasopharyngeal swabs are most commonly used.

Naats can even detect a variety of different sexually transmitted diseases stds. Types of nucleic acid amplification tests. Covid 19 testing guidance nucleic acid amplification pcr testing 6 5 2020 updates from prior version 1. Nucleic acid extraction amplification and amplicon detection.

Viral nucleic acid or antigen tests check samples from the respiratory system such as nasal or oral swabs or saliva to determine whether an infection with sars cov 2 the virus that causes covid 19 is present. Nucleic acid amplification naa test is a rapid molecular technique that can detect small quantities of an organism s genetic material in a given specimen. Their appropriate use in pediatric emer. Testing may be considered for asymptomatic close contacts of persons with covid 19.

They can therefore be used to identify bacteria viruses and other pathogens even when the material of interest is present in very small amounts. Nucleic acid amplification testing requires respiratory samples from the patient because sars cov 2 is a respiratory virus. The commonest technique employed is pcr such as is used in the xpert. Among these steps nucleic acid extraction is the first step of sample preparation which remains one of the main challenges when converting laboratory molecular assays into poc tests.