Technologies have improved to detect Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (CT/NG), two of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the United States. These advances, as well as updated testing algorithms, will be presented in AACC’s Dec. 10 webinar, “New Developments in CT/NG Testing.”

Serious health problems can result from contracting either of these sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) if they are diagnosed too late. The problem is that infected individuals often don’t present with symptoms until complications arise. “Gonococcal infections tend to cause a stronger inflammatory response than C. trachomatis, but are typically asymptomatic in women until complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease develop. In men, N. gonorrhoeae can cause urethral infections that lead to urethritis and other conditions,” according to an AACC summary of the webinar.

Max Chernesky, PhD, a professor emeritus at McMaster University and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, plans to discuss the newest assay technologies for CT/NG and provide highlights from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2015 STD guidelines concerning CT and NG testing.    

Other topics Chernesky plans to discuss during the 60-minute session include:

  1. Testing with nucleic acid amplification (NAATs) and the effectiveness of current NAATs on different types of genital specimens;
  2. Screening at-risk populations;
  3. Testing pregnant women;
  4. Testing from non-genital sites;
  5. Prompt, onsite treatment of CT-infected persons;
  6. Prompt, same-day, simultaneous treatment of NG-infected persons with azithromycin and ceftriaxone; and
  7. Comparison of automated testing instruments.

Chernesky also plans to address the need for testing using non-genital specimens from the rectum and throat, and whether time-to-results (TTR) has an impact on treatment.

Register online to attend this webinar, worth 1.0 ACCENT credit, on Dec. 10.