The “3 in 1” Study: Pooling Self-Taken Pharyngeal, Urethral, and Rectal Samples into a Single Sample for Analysis for Detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis in Men Who Have Sex with Men

What is it about?

Pooling of urine, rectal and pharyngeal samples from one patient to tests for gonorrhea and chlamydia infections, using self-taken samples from men who have sex with men. We jnow that by testsing all three sites (throat, rectum and urine) we will increase the rate of detection of infection, but it is expensive to do this. The study shows this pooling of three samples is a valid way to test for these infections, with significant cost savings, enabling more people to be tested within the same budgets and also allowing for home testing.

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Why is it important?

Allow clinics to test more people for sexually transmitted infections, as it reduces the cost of testing by one third. Therefore allowing greater number of tests to be done, and increased detection of infection within the same budget constraints. Thereby reducing the burden of these infections, and potentially having an effect on reducing HIV transmission, as we know the risk is increased in the presence of a sexually transmitted infection.

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