A reagent intended to be used in combination with sequence-specific primers, probes and/or controls to facilitate the amplification of a target nucleic acid sequence [i.e., deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA)} in a clinical specimen, using a nucleic acid amplification technique (e.g., polymerase chain reaction (PCR), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)].