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Review
. 2025 Jan 7;15(2):123.
doi: 10.3390/diagnostics15020123.

Impact of Point-of-Care Testing on Diagnosis, Treatment, and Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Viral Infections

Kirthika Lakshmanan  1 , Benjamin M Liu  2   3   4   5   6   7
Affiliations
Review

Impact of Point-of-Care Testing on Diagnosis, Treatment, and Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Viral Infections

Kirthika Lakshmanan et al. Diagnostics (Basel). .

Abstract

With the advent of a variety of vaccines against viral infections, there are multiple viruses that can be prevented via vaccination. However, breakthrough infections or uncovered strains can still cause vaccine-preventable viral infections (VPVIs). Therefore, timely diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance of these viruses is critical to patient care and public health. Point-of-care (POC) viral diagnostics tools have brought significant improvements in the detection and management of VPVIs. These cutting-edge technologies enable prompt and accurate results, enhancing patient care by facilitating timely treatment decisions. This review delves into the advancements in POC testing, including antigen/antibody detection and molecular assays, while focusing on their impact on the diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance of VPVIs such as mpox, viral hepatitis, influenza, flaviviruses (dengue, Zika, and yellow fever virus), and COVID-19. The role of POC tests in monitoring viral infection is crucial for tracking disease progression and managing outbreaks. Furthermore, the application of POC diagnostics has shown to be vital for public health strategies. In this review, we also highlight emerging POC technologies such as CRISPR-based diagnostics and smartphone-integrated POC devices, which have proven particularly beneficial in resource-limited settings. We underscore the importance of continued research to optimize these diagnostic tools for wider global use for mpox, viral hepatitis, influenza, dengue, and COVID-19, while also addressing current challenges related to their sensitivity, specificity, availability, efficiency, and more.

Keywords: CRISPR-Cas; HBV; dengue; influenza; mpox; mutations; point-of-care testing; resistance; respiratory viruses; vaccine-preventable infections; viral diseases; viral load.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Timeline of various point-of-care (POC) technologies. This timeline illustrates key advancements in POC testing technology in the past four decades. Each milestone represents a significant development in diagnostic tools and methods that has contributed to the increasing efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility of POC testing in various healthcare settings [11,12,13,17,18,19,20].
Figure 2
Figure 2
This chart compares the advantages and disadvantages of different point-of-care (POC) technologies used to detect VPVIs. Each technology has unique characteristics that make it suitable for specific applications in clinical and field settings [11,12,13,20,21,23].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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