A profile of the cobas® TV/MG test for the detection of Trichomonas vaginalis and Mycoplasma genitalium

Introduction: Trichomonas vaginalis and Mycoplasma genitalium are highly prevalent sexually transmitted pathogens that may be asymptomatic or may cause cervicitis and pelvic inflammatory disease in women and urethritis in men. Our limited understanding of the epidemiology of these infections has been hampered by a lack of diagnostic capacity, but the new cobas (R) TV/MG assay runs on the cobas (R) 6800/8800 platform offers a solution to this gap in our current diagnostic capacity. Areas covered: This article will describe what we know about the epidemiology and impact of untreated infections with these organisms as well as current recommendations for testing. The features and performance of the cobas 6800/8800 and the TV/MG assay will be described based on the emerging data related to this assay. Expert commentary: Molecular diagnostics for trichomonas and mycoplasma that can be performed on a high-throughput system with the flexibility to order only those tests required are needed in order to reduce the burden of disease and of consequences of undiagnosed infections caused by these pathogens. As a result of the complexities in the needs for testing in different populations, sample-specific flexibility in test ordering is an absolute need in the molecular laboratory.