Conference Abstract | Volume 9 (ConfPro8): Abstract 94 | Published: 12 Oct 2026
Golda Ataa Akuffo1,&, Paul Owusu Oduro1, Nutifafa Senaya1, Jasmine Danyo1, Henry Tornyi1, Christopher Amaleyele Anyebem1, Pearl Afriyie1, Ethel Klu1, Derrick Akpalu1
1Revna Biosciences, Accra, Ghana
&Corresponding author: Golda Ataa Akuffo, Revna Biosciences, Accra, Ghana, Email: goldaakuffo@gmail.com, gakuffo@revnabio.com, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5788-1224
Received: 11 Mar 2026, Accepted: 30 Aug 2026, Published: 12 Oct 2026
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Molecular epidemiology, sexually transmitted infection, multi-plex testing, Diagnostics, LMIC
©Golda Ataa Akuffo et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Golda Ataa Akuffo et al., Burden and coinfection patterns of sexually transmitted infections in a Ghanaian clinical cohort: A multiplex diagnostic study. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2026;9(ConfPro8):94 .https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO8-0094
Sexually transmitted infections (STI) management in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remain largely dependent on syndromic procedures and single pathogen diagnostic testing. These approaches are limited in capturing asymptomatic infections and polymicrobial co-infections that sustain transmission. Multiplex molecular diagnostics offer a more comprehensive alternative, enabling simultaneous detection of multiple pathogens, characterization of co-infection dynamics, and strengthening of STI surveillance systems. In this study, we employed a multiplex real-time PCR to assess the molecular prevalence and co-infection patterns of STIs in a Ghanaian cohort.
A retrospective analysis was conducted using STI panel testing data from patients who self-presented to Revna Biosciences requesting routine STI panel evaluation between 2023 and 2025. Urine samples were tested for 15 STI-associated pathogens using the RevoDx STI Pathogen Detection Kit (Idil Biotech, Kocaeli, Turkey), a multiplex real-time PCR-based assay. Data were analyzed descriptively using R (Version 2026.09.0+174); proportions are reported with 95% confidence intervals.
Among 65 patients tested for 15 pathogens, 50.8% were female, with a mean age of 30.4 years; males were significantly older than females (33.7 vs 26.8 years; p < 0.001). Overall, 20.0% tested negative, 13.8% had single infections, and 66.2% had multiple infections, with a mean of 2.06 pathogens per patient. The prevalence of at least one STI was 80% (95% CI: 68.7–87.9), and coinfection rate was 66.2% (95% CI: 54.0–76.5). Gardnerella vaginalis was most prevalent overall (52.3%), while Neisseria gonorrhoeae predominated in males (37.5%).
High coinfection rates reveal a major diagnostic gap: single-pathogen testing misses most co-infections, underestimating disease burden and compromising patient care and surveillance. Multiplex real-time PCR enables comprehensive, scalable STI detection. Integrating these platforms into national surveillance systems in low- and middle-income countries could significantly improve diagnosis, treatment, and public health monitoring.
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