Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico - Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) constitute a major burden on global health, ranking among the top five disease categories for which adults seek healthcare.

More than one million people acquire a STD every day and thus the implementation of new molecular tools with the ability to detect these disease-causing pathogens rapidly and efficiently remains a significant public health challenge.

With new equipment as part of the IMPREP project sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), SETAC opens its doors to a number of alternatives in detecting and treating sexually transmitted infections in a timely and immediate manner.

STD Direct Flow Chip is an in vitro diagnostic kit for detecting pathogenic organisms that cause sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in humans. The organisms that cause these infections are often difficult to identify and include viruses, bacteria or parasites, and cases of co-infections are frequent. The methods currently used for diagnosis are very laborious and do not always show a specificity of 100%.

The STD Direct Flow Chip Kit allows the simultaneous detection of 12 pathogens: Chlamydia trachomatis, Haemophilus ducreyi, single herpes virus 1 and herpes virus simplex 2, Mycoplasma genitallium, Mycoplasma hominis, Neisseria Gonorrhoeae, Treponema pallidum, Trichomonas Vaginalis and Ureplasma (Urealyticum/parvum).

The STD Direct Flow Chip Kit allows the identification of these infectious agents from different types of clinical specimens (urine, semen, and urethral, endocervical or pharyngeal swabs) directly without DNA extraction, as well as from purified DNA from this type of clinical specimen. It is based on a methodology consisting of simultaneous amplification of bacterial, viral and protozoa DNA through multiple PCR in a single step directly from cellular extracts, followed by membrane hybridization with specific DNA probes through the DNA-Flow technology for HybriSpot platforms, both automatic and manual.

To SETAC the importance of this state-of-the-art equipment is that people will be able to receive their diagnosis in a period of five hours and start treatment as soon as possible. This will help prevent the infections from becoming resistant or propagating, thereby reducing the chain of infection in the population.

Located at Aldanaca 178 4A & 4B, in the Colonia Versalles of neighborhood of Puerto Vallarta, SETAC is a non-profit community and wellness center whose mission is to reduce HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in the greater Banderas Bay region through education, detection and prevention. Free counseling, testing, treatments and referrals for HIV and other sexual transmitted illness are just some of the free services SETAC provides to the entire population, without prejudice or discrimination. For more information, follow SETAC on Facebook, visit the website, call (322) 224-1974 or email contacto(at)setac.com.mx.