PLoS ONE最新文献

{"title":"Evaluation of pre-Omicron population immunity for SARS-CoV-2 in the Household Influenza Vaccine Evaluation (HIVE) cohort.","authors":"Yangyupei Yang, Casey Juntila-Raymond, Amy Callear, Matthew Smith, Reilly K Atkinson, Yan Zhao, Ruhi Shah, Jefferson J S Santos, Scott E Hensley, Arnold S Monto, Emily T Martin","doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0360506","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pone.0360506","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Continued serosurvey for SARS-CoV-2 population immunity is critical for vaccine strain selection and identification of susceptible groups such as young children. We aim to evaluate the use of a high-throughput, low-volume assay to describe strain-specific IgG measurement in a longitudinally followed community based cohort.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The longitudinal Household Influenza Vaccine Evaluation study has observed around 300 households annually for acute respiratory illness. SARS-CoV-2 variant-specific IgG (including original, Delta, Beta, and Omicron variants) concentrations were measured using multiplex electrochemiluminescence (ECL), pseudoviral neutralization (PN), and ACE2 inhibition assays in participants who had serum samples drawn between July 1 and December 31, 2021. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient assessed correlation within and between ECL, ACE2, and PN assays. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis evaluated the performance of ECL and ACE2 assays. Generalized additive mixed models estimated population immunity by age against SARS-CoV-2 variants.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 156 serum samples from 117 participants were selected for this study. Most (65.8%) were from adults and a majority (77.8%) received vaccination during the analysis period. High correlations were observed within ECL IgG assays (0.95-1.00), within ACE2 inhibition assays (0.70-0.99), and between assay platforms, including ECL versus PN (0.81-0.83) and ACE2 versus PN (0.88-0.95). ROC analysis demonstrated strong discrimination of vaccination status by ECL IgG assays (AUC: 0.84-0.88; sensitivity: 0.88-0.91; specificity: 0.87-0.88). ACE2 inhibition assays showed more variable performance (AUC: 0.53-0.96; sensitivity: 0.17-0.93; specificity: 0.91-1.00), with lower performance observed for some BA.2-related antigens. SARS-CoV-2 IgG concentrations generally increased with age and appeared to plateau in early adulthood, although estimates were imprecise in younger age groups because of small sample sizes.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>We found a high correlation between ECL, ACE2, and PN across variants. Age-specific IgG quantities reflected behavior and infection histories collected by active surveillance.</p>","PeriodicalId":20189,"journal":{"name":"PLoS ONE","volume":"21 10","pages":"e0360506"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13671514/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149196137","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Healthy lifestyle as a protective factor against the risk of gastroesophageal reflux disease: Prospective population cohort analysis.","authors":"Lei Peng, Xueqin Li, Jinfeng Qi, Liming Zhang, Zhenqing Yang, Xucheng Wu, Xueqing Jia, George O Agogo, Guoju Liu, Kongxi Zhu, Zuyun Liu, Genxiang Mao, Honglei Wu","doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0360299","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pone.0360299","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Lifestyle modifications are recommended by American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) for managing gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a significant health issue; but evidence is scarce. This study aims to investigate the longitudinal association between healthy lifestyle behaviors and the risk of GERD.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We analyzed data from 306,543 participants aged between 38 and 73 years without GERD at baseline from the UK Biobank. A summarized healthy lifestyle score (range, 0-7) was calculated using seven items: never smoking, healthy sleep, moderate body mass index (BMI), regular physical exercise, moderate alcohol intake, healthy diet, and moderate tea/coffee intake. Multivariable Cox regression was performed to examine the associations.</p><p><strong>Result: </strong>During a mean follow-up of 12.7 years, 27,943 (9.1%) GERD cases were identified. Each healthy lifestyle, except for moderate alcohol intake (hazard ratios [HR], 1.00; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.98-1.03) was associated with a lower risk of GERD. Relative to participants with less than 2 of summarized healthy lifestyle score, those with 2, 3, 4, and 5-7 of this score showed a significantly lower risk of GERD, with the HR of 0.94 (95% CI: 0.90-0.98), 0.83 (0.80-0.86), 0.74 (0.71-0.77), 0.63 (0.60-0.66), respectively (P for trend <0.001). Stratified analysis shows that the above associations were more pronounced among participants who were younger (< 60 years), female and employed (all P for interaction <0.05). Sensitivity analyses demonstrated similar results.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study highlights the importance of adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors in reducing the prevalence of GERD in the general population.</p>","PeriodicalId":20189,"journal":{"name":"PLoS ONE","volume":"21 10","pages":"e0360299"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13671543/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149196149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Expression of Concern: Promoting agricultural entrepreneurship through practical education in Chinese universities.","authors":"","doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0360711","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pone.0360711","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20189,"journal":{"name":"PLoS ONE","volume":"21 10","pages":"e0360711"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13671535/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149196162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lived experiences of post-traumatic growth in patients with acute type A aortic dissection: A qualitative study.","authors":"Ping Zhang, Chun Liu, Anni Hu, Di Wang, Xuerui Wang, Qing Zhou, Yunyan Su","doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0358013","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pone.0358013","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Acute type A aortic dissection is a life-threatening cardiovascular emergency characterized by sudden onset, severe pain, and high mortality, exerting profound physical and psychological burdens on affected individuals. While negative psychological sequelae predominate in most cases, a subset of patients demonstrates remarkable resilience, manifesting post-traumatic growth-a positive psychological transformation emerging in the aftermath of trauma. This qualitative study aimed to investigate the lived experiences of post-traumatic growth among Acute type A aortic dissection survivors, shedding light on this understudied dimension of their recovery trajectory.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A qualitative study was conducted using a phenomenological approach. Twenty patients diagnosed with Acute type A aortic dissection were recruited through purposive sampling from a tertiary hospital in China. Data were collected via in-depth, face-to-face semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi's seven-step method to extract key themes and sub-themes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Three overarching themes and eight sub-themes were identified, reflecting the multidimensional nature of post-traumatic growth in Acute type A aortic dissection patients: Reevaluating Life Priorities (reordering life priorities, valuing life), Behavioral Transformation (improving unhealthy habits, enhancing treatment adherence), and Enhanced Social Connections (strengthened family ties, gratitude for social support, reintegration into family and society, altruistic behavior).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study elucidates three core dimensions of post-traumatic growth in survivors of acute type A aortic dissection: life priority reassessment, adoption of positive health behaviors, and enhanced social connectedness. The findings underscore the critical role of guided self-reflection, supported behavior change, and robust family-social support systems in facilitating psychological recovery. We recommend integrating interventions focused on post-traumatic growth, such as psychological counseling and structured family support, into standard cardiac rehabilitation protocols to promote holistic recovery. Together, these insights provide a theoretical and practical foundation for developing tailored psychosocial interventions for this patient population.</p>","PeriodicalId":20189,"journal":{"name":"PLoS ONE","volume":"21 10","pages":"e0358013"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13671528/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149195478","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"MambaSeed: A lightweight Mamba-based hybrid vision network for tomato leaf disease recognition.","authors":"XueShen Wang, Heng Zhang, Yayong Chen, YunLong Li, YuJie Qin, ZhongYu Lv, XiangJuan Liu","doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0359350","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pone.0359350","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Crop diseases threaten agricultural productivity, creating a need for recognition models that combine accuracy, robustness, and computational efficiency. Existing CNN-, Transformer-, and state-space-based approaches can weaken fine-grained lesion edges and textures when emphasizing global context. We therefore propose MambaSeed, a lightweight hybrid network built on MambaVisionMixer and equipped with the Local Continuous Branch Injection mechanism, hereafter LCBI. This mechanism repeatedly introduces local feature compensation during hierarchical modeling, preserving high-frequency cues while maintaining global dependency modeling. On the Tomato, Corn, and Potato datasets, MambaSeed achieved accuracies of 98.97%, 98.06%, and 95.87%, respectively, with 1.13M parameters and 0.240G MACs. In the batch-one FP32 GPU benchmark, its latency was 3.39 ms/image on an NVIDIA RTX 4090. Without a hardware accelerator, the median CPU latency was 25.35 ms/image with one thread and 15.61 ms/image with four threads. Ablation, cross-architecture frequency analysis, and controlled perturbation tests further showed that LCBI strengthens high-frequency feature retention and maintains stable recognition under visual degradation. Together, these results show that MambaSeed provides a compact balance of accuracy, efficiency, and robustness across both accelerator-based and CPU-only inference settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":20189,"journal":{"name":"PLoS ONE","volume":"21 10","pages":"e0359350"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13671571/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149195661","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Network pharmacology and machine learning reveal kit as a target of roburic acid in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma: Preliminary in vitro validation.","authors":"Foxing Tan, Haolin Du, Longcheng Deng, Yaping Shen, Yan Yang, Kun Mei, Zilu Chen, Yan Huang","doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0359087","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pone.0359087","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study aims to systematically explore the potential molecular mechanism of Roburic Acid (RBA) in the treatment of Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma (ATC) through the approaches of network pharmacology, machine learning and in vitro experiments. Public databases were used to retrieve the potential targets of RBA and disease-related targets of ATC. Intersection analysis was performed to identify the common targets, followed by the construction of a Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network for these common targets. Enrichment analyses, including GO functional and KEGG pathway analyses, were carried out for the targets. Core targets were further prioritized using SVM, LASSO and random forest machine learning algorithms. Validation of the binding affinity and stability of RBA with the core target was performed using molecular docking and dynamics simulations. Finally, in vitro experiments-including cell viability, scratch assay, apoptosis detection, and Western blot-were conducted using the ATC cell line KHM-5M to validate the therapeutic effect and underlying mechanism of RBA. A total of 401 RBA-associated targets and 2151 ATC-related targets were identified; their intersection yielded 173 shared targets. GO enrichment analysis indicated that these targets were mainly involved in responses to peptide hormones and nuclear receptor activity, among other biological functions. KEGG pathway analysis showed significant enrichment in cancer-related pathways, including the PI3K-Akt and MAPK signaling pathways. Using SVM, LASSO regression, and random forest models, KIT was consistently identified as the single core target. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated strong binding between RBA and c-KIT, characterized by low binding energy and the formation of a stable protein-ligand complex. In vitro, RBA significantly reduced KHM-5M cell viability and migration; the inhibitory effect on migration became pronounced at 24 h and was comparable to that of the positive control DOX. Furthermore, RBA promoted apoptosis and dose-dependently suppressed c-KIT phosphorylation. This study integrated network pharmacology, machine learning, and molecular simulations to identify KIT as a high-confidence core target of RBA in ATC. Preliminary in vitro validation demonstrated that RBA suppresses ATC cell viability and migration, induces apoptosis, and inhibits c-KIT phosphorylation in a dose-dependent manner.</p>","PeriodicalId":20189,"journal":{"name":"PLoS ONE","volume":"21 10","pages":"e0359087"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13671499/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149195936","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The ability of the commercial inertial measurement unit-based gait system in determining Parkinson's disease: A systematic review with meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies.","authors":"Jiahao Pan, Hui Tang","doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0360793","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pone.0360793","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The purpose of this study was to use the meta-analytic approach to investigate the ability of Inertial Measurement Unit-based commercial system measured gait variability and asymmetry in distinguishing individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) from healthy controls (HC). Cross-sectional studies included using commercial IMU-based systems measuring gait variability or asymmetry at any stage of PD patients and healthy adults were included. Studies were determined by searching for four electronic databases and cross-referencing. Dual selection and data abstraction of studies were conducted. Hedges' g standardized mean difference was calculated for each variable and pooled using inverse heterogeneity mode. Statistically significant was determined by two tailed z-alpha values ≤0.05 and non-overlapping 95% CI. Heterogeneity was estimated using Q and I2 with alpha values ≤0.10 for Q considered statistically significant. Small-study effects were examined using doi plots and LFK index. A total of 1,725 studies were screened. Eventually, 9 studies representing up to 571 PD patients and 470 HC met the inclusion criteria. Overall gait variability was significantly greater in individuals with PD than in HC (Hedges' g = 0.368, 95% CI 0.139-0.597). The multi-IMU subgroup also showed significantly greater gait variability (Hedges' g = 0.397, 95% CI 0.221-0.574), whereas the one-IMU subgroup did not. However, the between-subgroup difference was not statistically significant, and the multi-IMU prediction interval included null. The primary analysis detected no statistically significant overall difference in gait asymmetry (Hedges' g = 0.180, 95% CI -0.012-0.373). These findings provide preliminary evidence of an average group-level difference in gait variability but hard to establish individual-level discrimination, clinical utility, or the superiority of multi-IMU systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":20189,"journal":{"name":"PLoS ONE","volume":"21 10","pages":"e0360793"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13671562/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149196025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Role of regular preventive dental visits in moderating lifestyle-related disease medical expenditures among employed adults.","authors":"Wakana Oyoshi, Terumitsu Murakami, Hiraki Tsushima, Kazue Kawamoto, Akinori Igarashi, Shintaro Yamaoka, Hiroshi Fukuda","doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0358693","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pone.0358693","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study aimed to elucidate the impact of preventive dental visits (PDVs) over a 9-year follow-up period on cumulative medical expenditures (MEs) related to lifestyle-related diseases. To this end, the study included 1,891 full-time employees (1,478 males and 413 females), aged 19-57 years, of a manufacturing company in Japan over a 9-year period. This historical cohort study was conducted from 2015 to 2023. The year 2015 served as the baseline, with the subsequent 8 years (2016-2023) used for follow-up. Based on an 8-year dental check-up follow-up survey from 2016 to 2023, participants were classified into two groups, those who reported PDVs in ≥87.5% of the years they answered the survey (regular PDVs) and those who reported PDVs in <12.5% of those years (irregular PDVs). Using 2015 as the baseline, adjustments were made for sex, age, division, Community Periodontal Index, oral health literacy, number of outpatient visits, annual MEs, annual lifestyle-related diseases medical expenditures (LDMEs), lifestyle habits, and health risks. Cumulative LDMEs per capita from 2016 onwards were examined in each group classified as with or without regular PDVs. To adjust for confounding variables between the two groups, we performed a propensity score matching. Although no significant differences in the proportion of individuals incurring LDMEs between the groups with and without regular PDVs, the LDMEs per capita among those who incurred expenditures were significantly lower in the group with regular PDVs. In sensitivity analysis, the threshold for group classification was changed. Specifically, the analysis was conducted with participants who had PDVs in ≥50% vs. those who had PDVs in <50% yielded similar findings as those obtained in the main model. Our results suggest that regular PDVs are associated with moderating LDMEs. These findings may serve as a motivation for promoting preventive dentistry in both corporate and public health initiatives.</p>","PeriodicalId":20189,"journal":{"name":"PLoS ONE","volume":"21 10","pages":"e0358693"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13671501/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149196077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of microtrauma on joint structural changes in the Curdlan-injected SKG mouse model of ankylosing spondylitis.","authors":"Seung Hoon Lee, Dongju Kim, Chanhyeok Jeon, Hye-Ryeong Jo, Jeehee Youn, Sungsin Jo, Tae-Hwan Kim","doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0360912","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pone.0360912","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although microtrauma is considered a potential environmental factor in the development of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), there is a lack of experimental research regarding its precise contribution to disease pathogenesis. To induce physiological microtrauma, the right ankles of SKG mice were immobilized for a week using surgical plaster and a pipette tip to stimulate compensatory mechanical overload in the contralateral limb. Following the removal of the immobilization, the mice were intraperitoneally injected with 3 mg of Curdlan. In this model, the non-immobilized left ankle served as the microtraumatized group, while the immobilized right ankle served as the internal control. Arthritis severity was clinically scored weekly for 5 weeks. At 6 weeks, ankle, hip, and sacroiliac (SI) joint changes were evaluated using histological and micro-CT analyses. The microtraumatized (left) ankles of Curdlan-injected SKG mice exhibited exacerbated arthritis severity, synovitis, and enthesitis compared with the control ankles. Micro-CT analysis revealed a significantly elevated inflamed bone volume in the microtraumatized ankles. Immunohistochemistry showed markedly higher expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) in the synovium and enthesis of the microtraumatized ankles. Notably, distant pathological changes, including proteoglycan loss and joint space narrowing, were also observed in the left hip joints. Collectively, these findings indicate that compensatory microtrauma significantly exacerbates joint inflammation and pathological bone destruction in the Curdlan-injected SKG mouse model, highlighting mechanical stress as a critical aggravating factor in AS progression.</p>","PeriodicalId":20189,"journal":{"name":"PLoS ONE","volume":"21 10","pages":"e0360912"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13671563/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149196139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Client, health care provider, and policymaker perspectives on point-of-care/near-point-of-care testing for sexually transmitted infections in community pharmacies in Uganda.","authors":"Annet A Onzia, Adelline Twimukye, Johan H Melendez, Matthew M Hamill, Peter Kyambadde, Agnes Kiragga, Yukari C Manabe, Rosalind Parkes-Ratanshi","doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0347364","DOIUrl":"10.1371/journal.pone.0347364","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Point-of-care or near-point-of-care (POC/near-POC) tests for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are often unavailable and unaffordable in low-resource settings, despite the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommendation that such testing be offered, leading to empiric treatment. Private community pharmacies (CPs) are often the first point of contact for people with symptoms of STIs, where pharmacists dispense treatment without diagnostic testing or prescriptions. This study evaluated clients,' providers,' and policymakers' perspectives on POC/near-POC STI testing in community pharmacies for targeted management.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Between June and September 2022, we nested a qualitative study into a prospective cohort of clients seeking both STI and non-STI treatments in community pharmacies in Kampala and Wakiso districts in Uganda. They were tested for HIV, syphilis, trichomonas, chlamydia, and gonorrhea using POC/near-POC tests. A purposive sample of 50 participants consented to participate in in-depth and key informant interviews. Data were analyzed thematically using NVivo version 14 with an inductive approach, with results reported according to the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Clients (n = 35), health care providers (n = 9), and policymakers (n = 6) described the benefits of POC/near-POC tests for HIV/STIs at community pharmacies, citing affordability, accessibility, and convenience. Participants noted that such testing could promote behavioral change, shorten turnaround time for results, speed access to treatment relative to conventional laboratory methods, and support sustainable antimicrobial resistance control. Reported barriers included limited awareness among clients and health workers, inadequate privacy and space, long waiting times, unclear self-sample collection instructions, stigma around HIV testing, and reluctance to test for non-HIV STIs. Participants recommended raising STI awareness, offering clearer explanations of test results, expanding test access, reducing stigma, provider training, and ensuring a sustainable supply chain for testing kits.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>POC/near-POC testing for HIV/STIs was highly acceptable to both pharmacy clients and providers in this study. Integrating such testing into community pharmacy settings could strengthen national HIV/STI management programs, and addressing the identified barriers could improve access to HIV/STI diagnostics and strengthen linkage to care.</p>","PeriodicalId":20189,"journal":{"name":"PLoS ONE","volume":"21 10","pages":"e0347364"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13671497/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149195914","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}