Roadmap to incorporating group A Streptococcus molecular point-of-care testing for remote Australia: a key activity to eliminate rheumatic heart disease

Summary

•The availability of molecular based point-of-care (POC) testing to diagnose group A streptococcal (Strep A) pharyngitis in remote Australian settings has the potential to revolutionise primary prevention strategies for acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD).
•Molecular based POC testing for Strep A pharyngitis used by primary care services could lead to considerable patient and health care system benefits by detecting mild and undiagnosed infection, facilitating early confirmation of Strep A pharyngitis by improving the turnaround time of test results and enabling clinicians to make accurate treatment decisions for their patients with minimal patient follow-up.
•This review describes the utility of Strep A molecular based POC testing in the Australian context, highlighting the benefits and challenges associated with its potential implementation in remote and regional health services by employing lessons learned from the rapid scale up of POC testing for SARS-CoV-2 and sexually transmitted infections.
•The rollout of Strep A molecular based POC tests in remote and regional settings has the potential to progress the fight to eliminate ARF and RHD in Australia and enhance public health surveillance systems to detect outbreaks and action a public health response in a timely manner.