Multiplex Molecular Point-of-Care Test for Syndromic Infectious Diseases

Point-of-care (POC) molecular diagnostics for clinical microbiology and virology has primarily focused on the detection of a single pathogen. More recently, it has transitioned into a comprehensive syndromic approach that employs multiplex capabilities, including the simultaneous detection of two or more pathogens. Multiplex POC tests provide higher accuracy to for actionable decisionmaking in critical care, which leads to pathogen-specific treatment and standardized usages of antibiotics that help prevent unnecessary processes. In addition, these tests can be simple enough to operate at the primary care level and in remote settings where there is no laboratory infrastructure. This review focuses on state-of-the-art multiplexed molecular point-of-care tests (POCT) for infectious diseases and efforts to overcome their limitations, especially related to inadequate throughput for the identification of syndromic diseases. We also discuss promising and imperative clinical POC approaches, as well as the possible hurdles of their practical applications as front-line diagnostic tests.