Diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) has significantly improved in recent years by the application of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT). In addition to detection of infectious agents, molecular methods were also used for characterization of pathogens (typing, genotypic resistance testing). In contrast to conventional Sanger sequencing of amplicons, new sequencing technologies (next generation sequencing) are able to identify resistant variants that represent only small minorities in a heterogeneous population. NAATs are also available as fully automated closed systems that can be run independently of centralized laboratories and will become increasingly important for point-of-care testing.
Keywords: Drug resistance; High-throughput nucleotide sequencing; Nucleic acid amplification techniques; Point of care; Typing.