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Clinical/diagnostic microbiology portfolio equips laboratories to perform advanced diagnostics The incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is increasing rapidly. In the U.S.-which leads the industrialized world in STDs-five of the 10 leading reportable diseases are STDs. They are serious diseases with major health implications, but they are easily treated-if properly diagnosed.     The BD ProbeTec ET System not only provides accurate diagnosis for chlamydia and gonorrhea, its simple workflow and reagent design also permit labs to perform advanced clinical molecular diagnostics. For timely results, the system can complete an assay in just one hour. In terms of productivity and throughput, it can deliver up to 564 patient results per shift. And, with only one moving part, the BD ProbeTec ET System is a highly reliable design. It supports an everexpanding menu of clinically relevant assays, while additional capabilities save time and eliminate errors. To bring additional efficiency to the mid- to high-volume segments of STD testing, BD has introduced the BD Viper Sample Processor. The processor handles specimen pipetting for the BD ProbeTec ET System and has the capability to allow other automation features to be added over time.     The weakened immune systems of patients infected by HIV raise the specter of additional healthcare problems, including tuberculosis, which, if undetected, can easily spread to others. A line of defense is provided by BD BACTEC MGIT 960, the first automated system for high-volume mycobacteria growth, detection and susceptibility testing.     In support of all its instrument platforms, BD Diagnostic Systems recently introduced the BD EpiCenter Data Management System for interpretation of clinical data, statistical analyses and trend monitoring. The BD EpiCenter system provides simple specimen tracking along with a flexible and dynamic reporting method for more in-depth data management needs.

THE ISSUE "Each year, an estimated 154 million people contract chlamydia or gonorrhea worldwide. Bacterial STDs like these cause one out of four cases of infertility among women and may lead to problems in pregnancy, chronic pelvic pain and, in some cases, death." - Dr. Thomas C. Quinn, M.D. Professor of Medicine and Deputy Director, Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine OUR EXPERTISE BD Diagnostic Systems is well positioned to help meet all the needs of the clinical microbiology laboratory, including its role in diagnosing STDs. BD provides a full line of instruments, software and support for the analysis of STDs based on core competencies in system design and disease state knowledge. A staff of more than 200 scientists and close relationships with the research community keep BD on the leading edge. OUR CONTRIBUTION BD dramatically improved the odds that chlamydia or gonorrhea would be properly diagnosed when it introduced its clinical molecular diagnostics platform, the BD ProbeTec ET System. Using BD proprietary technology, Strand Displacement Amplification, the system offers real-time amplification with simultaneous detection; high throughput with reliable results; and a workflow procedure that is easily and quickly learned by staff. The BD ProbeTec ET System is one of several BD diagnostic platforms.