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Dried blood spot testing: an alternative to point-of-care testing in public venues?
  1. Sophie Flavell1,
  2. Clare Davison1,
  3. Natasha Anderson1,
  4. Nigel Burbidge1,
  5. Sowsan Atabani2,
  6. Steve Taylor1,
  7. David White1
  1. 1 Department of GUM/HIV, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham, UK
  2. 2 Public Health England, Birmingham Laboratory, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Sophie Flavell, Mortimer Market Centre, Capper Street, London WC1E 6JB, UK; sophie.flavell{at}nhs.net

https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2014-051684

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    In considering targeting of HIV testing, National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance pinpoints men who have sex with men and Black minority ethnic (BME) communities.1–3 In particular, it has been recommended that testing be taken out to these communities to help overcome barriers to testing. Venepuncture is difficult in community settings, and point-of-care testing (POCT) is seen as a more viable alternative, but both require skill either in the procedure or delivering a result. Dried blood spot (DBS) sampling offers an alternative method to venepuncture and POCT and has …

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors DW had the idea for the project. All authors were responsible for the writing of the protocol, reviewing and editing this. SF, CD, NA and DW trained the testers. ST and SF produced a training video for future testers. NB and SF provided testing at PRIDE, and NA organised testing at the Handsworth Carnival. SF, NB and NA data collected and SF and NA performed the analysis. SF wrote the manuscript and all authors edited and reviewed the final version of the manuscript. DW had overall responsibility for the project.

    • Competing interests None.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.