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Lower genital tract infections caused by both sexually and not-sexually transmitted pathogens in women are a key public health priority worldwide, especially in developing countries. Since standard analyses are time-consuming, appropriate therapeutic intervention is often neglected or delayed. Lab-on-chips and biosensors open new perspectives and offer innovative tools to simplify the diagnosis by medical staff, especially in countries with inadequate resources. Here we report a biosensing platform based on Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) that allows multiplexed detection of Candida albicans, Streptococcus agalactiae and Chlamydia trachomatis with a single biochip, enabling a quick screening thanks to the presence of different immobilized antibodies, each specific for one of the different target pathogens.

Foodborne illnesses caused by the ingestion of foods contaminated with pathogens and/or their toxins are still one of the major public health threats worldwide. Disposable devices, allowing the on-site, early and multiplexed quantitative detection of pathogenic bacteria are therefore highly sought. Herein, we report biochips that are able to quantitatively detect two of the most common food-associated pathogens, namely Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus from the suspensions of bacteria stationary-phase broth culture. With a detection limit as low as 5.00 CFU ml(-1) for L. monocytogenes and 1.26 CFU ml(-1) for S. aureus, our platform may be a promising point-of-care device not only for clinical and food diagnostics but also for biosecurity purposes.