Commentary on “Validation of COBAS Taqman CT for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in vulvo-vaginal swabs”
- C S Bradshaw1,2,
- C K Fairley1,3,
- S N Tabrizi4,5
- 1Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, The Alfred Hospital, Victoria, Australia
- 2Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
- 3School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- 4Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, The Royal Women’s Hospital, Victoria, Australia
- 5Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Christopher K Fairley, Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, 580 Swanston St, Carlton, 3053, Victoria, Australia; cfairley{at}unimelb.edu.au
- Accepted 10 March 2008
We would like to congratulate Skidmore et al1 for providing data to validate self-collected samples (SCS) for the detection of chlamydia. No doubt their study was undertaken within a busy and limited resourced genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic with little or no specific budget. They found that while there was a high (96%) concordance between specimens, SCS were significantly (12 vs 2, p = 0.004) more likely than endocervical samples to have unassessable results. As internal controls to assess the adequacy of collection of specimen were not reported, it was not possible to establish why unassessable results were more common in SCS. In general, studies show self-collected vaginal samples to have similar or lower numbers …
