International standards and reference materials for quantitative molecular infectious disease testing.
The utility of quantitative molecular diagnostics for patient management depends on the ability to relate patient results to prior results or to absolute values in clinical practice guidelines. To do this, those results need to be comparable across time and methods, either by producing the same value across methods and test versions or by using reliable and stable conversions. Universally available standards and reference materials specific to quantitative molecular technologies are critical to this process but are few in number. This review describes recent history in the establishment of international standards for nucleic acid test development, organizations involved in current efforts, and future issues and initiatives.
Madej
Roberta M
RM
Roche Molecular Diagnostics, Pleasanton, CA, USA. rmadej@tethysbio.com
Davis
Jack
J
Holden
Marcia J
MJ
Kwang
Stan
S
Labourier
Emmanuel
E
Schneider
George J
GJ
D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D055552:Infectious Disease Medicine / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D007391:International Cooperation; D057089:Pathology, Molecular / Q000592:standards*; D012015:Reference Standards; D014944:World Health Organization