The Central Public Health Laboratory of the State of Piauí (Lassen) has expanded testing for STDs. Since the beginning of June, the laboratory has started testing for gonorrhea and chlamydia in urine samples from patients. Tests are performed using new devices obtained by the laboratory through the Molecular Biology Network of the Ministry of Health.

Previously, Lacen only detected HIV and hepatitis. With the new equipment, Lacen expands its test-solving capability in performing tests, as well as improving the time-to-results of analyzed samples.

“Now, in addition to detecting HIV and hepatitis, we have expanded our scope to include qualitative detection for chlamydia and gonorrhea. With other methodologies, these tests would take more than a week to give us results, since the new equipment gives us those results faster,” she explains. Kristian Pringle, biochemist in the viral load sector at Lacen.

The new device has the capacity to perform up to 96 tests per day and can detect the presence of the disease even if the infection is small in the analyzed DNA samples.

“The laboratory team has undergone training over the past week in handling the equipment,” says Leila Santos, primary care supervisor at Sesabe.

The device uses PCR methodology on urine samples (a technique that identifies the genetic material of a pathogen) and can detect infection even in samples where the concentration is very low.

“This ability allows us to provide accurate diagnoses faster, which helps residents seek medical help as quickly as possible, and begin their treatment,” Christian explains.