{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]],"date-time":"2026-03-10T06:04:06Z","timestamp":1773122646419,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":10,"publisher":"BMJ","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773014400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001713","name":"European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["EDCTP-RIA2020I-3297-GIFT"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EDCTP-RIA2020I-3297-GIFT"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001713","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Sex Transm Infect"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Gaps in sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnosis hinder effective STI control particularly in low-resource settings where syndromic management is often the standard of care. Rapid and affordable point-of-care (POC) diagnostics for STIs such as\n                      <jats:italic>Chlamydia trachomatis (CT<\/jats:italic>\n                      ) and\n                      <jats:italic>Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG<\/jats:italic>\n                      ) are needed. This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of Eazyplex (a point-of-care test (POCT)) to screen CT and NG among sexually active women in Zimbabwe.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We enrolled 220 sexually active women aged 18\u201335 (median 28 years) years attending a family planning clinic in Zimbabwe. Samples collected from vaginal swabs were tested for CT and NG using Eazyplex, GeneXpert and PRESTO CT\/NG. Diagnostic performance metrics (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value) were calculated against GeneXpert, PRESTO CT\/NG and a GeneXpert+PRESTO CT\/NG combined reference standard. For the combined reference standard, a participant was categorised as having a positive result for CT or NG if either of the two tests yielded a positive result.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Overall, Eazyplex reported high specificity and low sensitivity. CT results demonstrated sensitivities of 60.9%, 76.2% and 64.0% compared with GeneXpert, PRESTO CT\/NG and GeneXpert+PRESTO CT\/NG combined, respectively. NG results demonstrated sensitivities of 57.1%, 66.7% and 66.7% compared with GeneXpert, PRESTO CT\/NG and GeneXpert+PRESTO CT\/NG combined, respectively. All results had specificity \u226598.5%.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Eazyplex was highly specific but moderately sensitive in detecting\n                      <jats:italic>NG<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic>CT<\/jats:italic>\n                      . While not suitable as a standalone screening tool, its rapid turnaround gives it potential for use as near POCT in low-resource settings.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/sextrans-2025-056793","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T17:20:20Z","timestamp":1773076820000},"page":"sextrans-2025-056793","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Evaluation of the diagnostic performance of the Eazyplex platform for detection of\n                    <i>Chlamydia trachomatis<\/i>\n                    and\n                    <i>Neisseria gonorrhoeae<\/i>\n                    among women in Zimbabwe"],"prefix":"10.1136","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-2377-6695","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Moira","family":"Majaha","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Research and Training Institute, Harare, Zimbabwe"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tinashe","family":"Mwaturura","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Research and Training Institute, Harare, Zimbabwe"},{"name":"MRC International Statistics & Epidemiology Group, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Farai","family":"Machinga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Research Department, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Brighton","family":"Samatanga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council, Harare, Zimbabwe"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Katharina","family":"Kranzer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Research and Training Institute, Harare, Zimbabwe"},{"name":"MRC International Statistics & Epidemiology Group, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK"},{"name":"The Biotech Institute, Harare, Zimbabwe"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chido","family":"Dziva Chikwari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MRC International Statistics & Epidemiology Group, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK"},{"name":"Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, University Hospital, Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026030910201112000_sextrans-2025-056793v1.1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (WHO) . Implementing the Global Health Sector Strategies on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections, 2022\u2013 2030. 2024. Available: https:\/\/iris.who.int"},{"key":"2026030910201112000_sextrans-2025-056793v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1002\/jia2.25343","article-title":"Diagnosing sexually transmitted infections in resource\u2010constrained settings: challenges and ways forward","volume":"22 Suppl 6","author":"Wi","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Intern AIDS Soc"},{"key":"2026030910201112000_sextrans-2025-056793v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2024-084918","article-title":"Novel point-of-care cytokine biomarker lateral flow test for the screening for sexually transmitted infections and bacterial vaginosis: study protocol of a multicentre multidisciplinary prospective observational clinical study to evaluate the performance and feasibility of the Genital InFlammation Test (GIFT)","volume":"14","author":"Ramboarina","year":"2024","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"2026030910201112000_sextrans-2025-056793v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pgph.0003839","article-title":"Evaluation of a novel point-of-care lateral flow assay screening for Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection among pregnant women in Zimbabwe","volume":"5","author":"Martin","year":"2025","journal-title":"PLOS Global Public Health"},{"key":"2026030910201112000_sextrans-2025-056793v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"657","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(23)02240-7","article-title":"Novel lateral flow assay for point-of-care detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection in syndromic management settings: a cross-sectional performance evaluation","volume":"403","author":"Peters","year":"2024","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"2026030910201112000_sextrans-2025-056793v1.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/sextrans-2016-053067"},{"key":"2026030910201112000_sextrans-2025-056793v1.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1141","DOI":"10.1007\/s15010-023-01981-5","article-title":"Rapid point of care testing for four bacterial sexually transmitted infections using the portable isothermal loop-mediated nucleic acid amplification eazyplex platform","volume":"51","author":"Esitgen Germaner","year":"2023","journal-title":"Infection"},{"key":"2026030910201112000_sextrans-2025-056793v1.8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1155\/2016\/4386127","article-title":"A Systematic Review of Point of Care Testing for Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Trichomonas vaginalis","volume":"2016","author":"Herbst de Cortina","year":"2016","journal-title":"Infect Dis Obstet Gynecol"},{"key":"2026030910201112000_sextrans-2025-056793v1.9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/JCM.05341-11"},{"key":"2026030910201112000_sextrans-2025-056793v1.10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chesson HW , Mayaud P , Aral SO . Sexually transmitted infections: impact and cost-effectiveness of prevention. In: Disease control priorities, third edition (volume 6): Major infectious diseases. 2017: 203\u201332.","DOI":"10.1596\/978-1-4648-0524-0_ch10"}],"container-title":["Sexually Transmitted Infections"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/sextrans-2025-056793","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T17:20:22Z","timestamp":1773076822000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/sti.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/sextrans-2025-056793"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]]},"references-count":10,"alternative-id":["10.1136\/sextrans-2025-056793"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/sextrans-2025-056793","relation":{},"ISSN":["1368-4973","1472-3263"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1368-4973","type":"print"},{"value":"1472-3263","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]]}}}