Diagnostic Kits: Uses & Future Trends In Kenya

What Are Diagnostic Kits?

A diagnostic test is a medical test that is performed to diagnose or detect a specific disease or condition. This is in contrast to prognostic tests that predicts the likelihood of developing a disease or specific likely events happening during the course of that disease. These tests often come as pre-packaged test kits, which typically contain reagents and other items necessary to conduct the test to detect the presence of or to measure the levels of a given biomarker. These kits can also provide genetic information regarding mutations, deletions, and other abnormalities. Kits that test for genetic markers are often designed based on a newly discovered link between a patient genotype and the disease phenotype. Companies like Labsoko and Bridgewell Scientific are some of the leaders in the diagnostic kit market in Kenya.

Kits serve a variety of purposes and provide clinicians with a wide range of information, including the likelihood of a patient developing a complex disease over time, such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. In effect, these kits allow the physician to advise practical changes in lifestyle that may minimize future health risks or maximize preventative medical care. In addition to diagnosing disease, testing can also help determine the optimal course of treatment, specific to the patient in question. This includes more comprehensive diagnostic tests that can evaluate samples on the genomic level and can be used to analyze multiple genetic factors.

As such, diagnostic kits can serve various purposes:

• Diagnostic: These tests are used to confirm when a person has signs or symptoms of a genetic disease.
• Predictive: A predictive test is used to search for genetic mutations linked with a specific condition, and indicates a person’s propensity to develop a disease before any symptoms are present. Moreover, complementary predictive diagnostic testing may provide information about how useful a therapeutic treatment may be in treating disease, but is not required to prescribe the drug, whereas companion testing is needed to prescribe it.
• Presymptomatic: Presymptomatic tests are similar to predictive tests. These tests are used to determine risk for genetic conditions already known to be present in their family but show no symptoms.
• Pharmacogenomic: Pharmacogenomic screening is a type of genetic test that may indicate a person’s response to certain types of drug treatment. This is still only available for a limited number of drugs, including Warfarin and Tamoxifen.