Frequently Asked Questions
Is it essential to sample with the Unipath Female Collection kit
for endocervical swabs?
Can female urine
samples or male urethral swabs be tested with Clearview Chlamydia
MF?
What
sort of transport media is required for the female endocervical
swabs?
Does
the male urine sample have to be a first catch urine?
Does
the male urine sample have to be diluted in D.H2O?
Can a water
bath be used instead of the Clearview Workstation?
Does
the sample extract have to be cooled before adding it to the
Clearview device?
How
long can the sample extract be stored?
Can
the kit be used directly from the fridge?
A
test line has appeared but it is fainter than the control line. How
should this result be interpreted?
How long after
treatment can an infected patient be tested for cure?
Can
Clearview Chlamydia MF detect the other Chlamydiae?
Is
it essential to sample with the Unipath Female Collection kit for
endocervical swabs?
Yes. There any many different compositions of swab type and some
ingredients may interfere with Clearview Chamydia MF giving false
positive results.
Can female urine samples or
male urethral swabs be tested with Clearview Chlamydia
MF?
No. The test has only been validated for female
endocervical swabs (using the female collection kit) and male urine
samples.
What sort of
transport media is required for the female endocervical
swabs?
The swab should be transported dry in the
transportation tube supplied. Clearview Chlamydia MF is an
antigen detection test for Chlamydia trachomatis so it is not
essential for the organisms to remain viable. Transport media may
interfere with the test so should not be used. If the
endocervical swab is not to be tested within 1 day it may be stored
at 2-8oC for up to 5 days but cannot be frozen.
Does
the male urine sample have to be a first catch
urine?
Yes. The first catch urine must be collected into a clean dry
container. The patients should be instructed not to urinate
for at least one hour prior to sample collection. If the urine
sample is not to be tested within 6 hours it may be stored at 2-8oC
for up to 5 days but cannot be frozen.
Does the male
urine sample have to be diluted in D.H2O?
Yes. The purpose of using a diluted urine sample is to ensure
all salts are dissolved before centrifugation so that only cellular
material is spun down on centrifugation. If the urine is not
diluted in D.H2O there will be a greater proportion of inhibitory
substances present, which may interfere with the test.
Can a water bath be used
instead of the Clearview Workstation?
Yes. The
use of a water bath is fine provided that the temperature of the
water can be maintained at 80oC+/- 2oC. The water bath should
ideally contain a circulating pump.
Does the sample
extract have to be cooled before adding it to the Clearview
device?
Yes, The sample extract must be cooled for a
minimum of 5 minutes at 18oC to 30oC before adding 5 drops to the
Clearview device.
How long can the
sample extract be stored?
The extract can be stored at 18oC to 30oC for a maximum of 3
hours.
Can
the kit be used directly from the fridge?
No. All components should be allowed to equilibrate at 18oC
to 30oC before use.
A test line has appeared but it is fainter than the control
line. How should this result be interpreted?
The presence of a test line (no matter what strength) is indicative
of a positive result providing that the test was read within the
specified time. The strength of the test line depends on the
amount of Chlamydia trachomatis antigen in the sample; hence
low-level antigen would result in a weak test line being
generated.
How long after treatment can an
infected patient be tested for cure?
As a guideline it is recommended that a patient be tested for cure
no earlier than two weeks after the beginning of treatment.
Testing before this period has elapsed may yield positive results
due to non-viable organism, which may not have cleared from the
body. Clearview Chlamydia MF is an antigen detection test for
Chlamydia trachomatis so will detect both viable and non-viable
organisms. This clearance will be host related so the
timescale is only a guideline.
Can
Clearview Chlamydia MF detect the other Chlamydiae?
The antibodies used in Clearview Chlamydia MF are directed against
the genus-specific lipopolysaccharide epitope of Chlamydia, so the
test will also detect Chlamydia psittaci, Chlamydia pneumoniae and
Chlamydia pecorum. However the test has only been validated for the
detection of Chamydia trachomatis infection from female
endocervical and male urine samples.