Infectious Disease Testing at the Point-of-Care

Point-of-care (POC) testing plays an essential role in the diagnosis of infectious disease in diverse settings, from the pediatrician's office to the obstetrics ward. The faster turnaround times afforded by POC tests have many potential clinical benefits, including the prompter initiation of directed antimicrobial therapy and the more efficient triage of patients. In addition, the menu of available POC tests for infectious diseases continues to expand, creating new opportunities for POC microbiology to improve operations in a variety of care settings. This review covers selected US Food and Drug Administration-approved POC tests used to diagnose common bacterial and viral infections in outpatient and acute care settings in the United States.