scholarly journals Use of rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests for the elimination of congenital syphilis: what is the evidence?

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ranmini Kularatne
Keyword(s):  
Congenital Syphilis ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
Clinic Visit ◽  
World Health ◽  
Technical Specifications ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy ◽  
Maternal Syphilis ◽  
Point Of Care Tests

Congenital syphilis constitutes a major preventable public health problem, that has been targeted for elimination by the World Health Organisation. Adverse pregnancy outcomes occur in upto 80% of untreated maternal syphilis. National impact targets for elimination include 95% syphilis testing and treatment coverage for pregnant women. Screening and treatment of maternal syphilis should ideally happen at the first ante-natal clinic visit. This may be facilitated by the use of rapid point-of-care tests (POCTs), especially for healthcare centres with limited laboratory access. There are several commercial syphilis POCTs, some of which also screen for HIV infection. These have different technical specifications, and their performance characteristics vary when capillary fingerprick whole blood is used for testing in a clinic setting. Syphilis POCT implementation in ante-natal care is affordable and rational in resource-constrained settings; however, managers and policy makers should be aware of the various programmatic issues that need to be addressed in the preimplementation phase and monitored over time.

scholarly journals Latent Tuberculosis Infection

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre Zellweger ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Latent Tuberculosis ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
Pulmonary Involvement ◽  
World Health ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Expert Interview ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Latent Tb ◽  
Latent Tb Infection

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major global public health problem and is the leading cause of death linked to a single pathogen, ranking above human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).1 Clinically, TB has been categorised as active disease (patients who are generally symptomatic and may be infectious if pulmonary involvement is present) and latent infection (asymptomatic and not infectious, but at variable risk for progression to active TB disease). It is increasingly being recognised that latent TB infection (LTBI) reflects diverse responses to infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and may lead to heterogeneous clinical outcomes. In an expert interview, Jean-Pierre Zellweger discusses the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines on the management of LTBI.

scholarly journals Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification as Point-of-Care Diagnosis for Neglected Parasitic Infections

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (21) ◽  
pp. 7981
Author(s):  
Catalina Avendaño ◽  
Manuel Alfonso Patarroyo
Keyword(s):  
Neglected Tropical Diseases ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
High Specificity ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
Isothermal Amplification ◽  
World Health ◽  
Parasitic Infections ◽  
River Blindness ◽  
Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has placed twenty diseases into a group known as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), twelve of them being parasitic diseases: Chagas’ disease, cysticercosis/taeniasis, echinococcosis, food-borne trematodiasis, human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), leishmaniasis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis (river blindness), schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis (ascariasis, hookworm, trichuriasis), guinea-worm and scabies. Such diseases affect millions of people in developing countries where one of the main problems concerning the control of these diseases is diagnosis-based due to the most affected areas usually being far from laboratories having suitable infrastructure and/or being equipped with sophisticated equipment. Advances have been made during the last two decades regarding standardising and introducing techniques enabling diagnoses to be made in remote places, i.e., the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technique. This technique’s advantages include being able to perform it using simple equipment, diagnosis made directly in the field, low cost of each test and the technique’s high specificity. Using this technique could thus contribute toward neglected parasite infection (NPI) control and eradication programmes. This review describes the advances made to date regarding LAMP tests, as it has been found that even though several studies have been conducted concerning most NPI, information is scarce for others.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN LABORATORY DIAGNOSIS OF COVID-19 INFECTION- AN UPDATE

2021 ◽  
pp. 58-60
Author(s):  
Ivneet Kour ◽  
Lipika Singhal ◽  
Varsha Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Point Of Care ◽  
Laboratory Diagnosis ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
World Health ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Testing Strategies ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Point Of Care Tests

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China, in December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) initially declared COVID19 as the global public health emergency on 30th January 2020 and subsequently a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Besides availability of RT-PCR there is need for development of rapid point of care tests with better sensitivity and specicity which helps in early and accurate diagnosis and also aids in containing the spread . This review summarizes various molecular diagnostics methods, technical guidelines, and advanced testing strategies adopted in India for laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19.

scholarly journals Diagnosis of Cryptococcosis and Prevention of Cryptococcal Meningitis Using a Novel Point-of-Care Lateral Flow Assay

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashar Dhana
Keyword(s):  
Cryptococcal Meningitis ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
Lateral Flow ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
First Case ◽  
Lateral Flow Dipstick ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Sub Saharan

Despite access to antiretroviral therapy, mortality from cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is high among persons with advanced HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa. Cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) is present several weeks to months before the onset of symptoms of meningitis and can be screened to prevent life threatening meningitis. Recently, the World Health Organisation recommended that a new rapid CrAg lateral flow ‘‘dipstick’’ assay (LFA) is to be used to screen HIV-infected persons with CD4 counts of less than 100 cells/µL. In this paper, we describe two cases of cryptococcosis with differing outcomes. In the first case, the new CrAg LFA was used as part of a screen and preemptive treatment strategy to prevent CM. In the second case, our patient had no access to the CrAg LFA and subsequently developed life threatening meningitis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of cryptococcosis diagnosed using this novel assay.

scholarly journals Lipoarabinomannan as a Point-of-Care Assay for Diagnosis of Tuberculosis: How Far Are We to Use It?

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julio Flores ◽  
Juan Carlos Cancino ◽  
Leslie Chavez-Galan
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Tests ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Diagnostic Testing ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Etiologic Agent ◽  
Diagnostic Methods ◽  
World Health ◽  
Soluble Form ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Low Sensitivity

Tuberculosis (TB) is still a severe public health problem; the current diagnostic tests have limitations that delay treatment onset. Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) is a glycolipid that is a component of the cell wall of the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the etiologic agent of TB. This glycolipid is excreted as a soluble form in urine. The World Health Organization has established that the design of new TB diagnostic methods is one of the priorities within the EndTB Strategy. LAM has been suggested as a biomarker to develop diagnostic tests based on its identification in urine, and it is one of the most prominent candidates to develop point-of-care diagnostic test because urine samples can be easily collected. Moreover, LAM can regulate the immune response in the host and can be found in the serum of TB patients, where it probably affects a wide variety of host cell populations, consequently influencing the quality of both innate and adaptive immune responses during TB infection. Here, we revised the evidence that supports that LAM could be used as a tool for the development of new point-of-care tests for TB diagnosis, and we discussed the mechanisms that could contribute to the low sensitivity of diagnostic testing.

scholarly journals Current and emerging diagnostic tests available for the novel COVID-19 global pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Mboowa
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Tests ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Status ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Point Of Care Tests

On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) upgraded the status of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak from epidemic to a global pandemic. This infection is caused by a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Several rapid diagnostic tests have been developed at an astonishing pace; however, COVID-19 requires more highly specific rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests. This review describes the currently available testing approaches, as well as the available test assays including the Xpert® Xpress SARS-CoV-2 test (takes ~45 min) and Abbott ID COVID-19 test (5 min) as easy to use point-of-care tests for diagnosis of novel COVID-19 that have so far received the US Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorizations clearance. This review is correct as of the date published and will be updated as more diagnostic tests come to light.

A Human Rights-Based Emotional and Safety Skills Programme for Children in Finland

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 687-704
Author(s):  
Riitta Ala-Luhtala ◽  
llsa Lottes ◽  
Sirpa Valkama ◽  
Leena Liimatainen
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Major Public Health Problem ◽  
Safety Skills ◽  
Public Health Programmes ◽  
Health Programmes

According to research reviewed by the World Health Organisation and the Council of Europe, child abuse and maltreatment are both violations of human rights and a major public health problem. In the last couple of decades there has also been a movement to integrate human rights principles into public health programmes and health system analyses. Rights-based approaches put responsibility and accountability components into health promotion for countries whose governments have accepted human rights principles. The purpose of this paper is to describe a human-rights-based emotional and safety skills programme developed in Finland; the goal of this programme is to train health and social work professionals, child care workers and child educators to help children learn and apply emotional and safety skills. The programme integrates the protection, provision and participation characteristics of human rights with active learning techniques. The programme was positively evaluated by its participants. The paper concludes with recommendations for human rights education so others may integrate rights-based approaches for health promotion and public health programmes.

scholarly journals Epidemic Profile of Maternal Syphilis in China in 2013

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lixia Dou ◽  
Xiaoyan Wang ◽  
Fang Wang ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
Yaping Qiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Pregnancy Outcomes ◽  
Congenital Syphilis ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes ◽  
Syphilis Infection ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Late Treatment ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy ◽  
Maternal Syphilis ◽  
Epidemiological Characteristics

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiological characteristics and adverse pregnancy outcomes of pregnant women with syphilis infection in China.Methods. Data were from China’s Information System of Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of Syphilis Management. Women who were registered in the system and delivered in 2013 were included in the analysis.Results. A total of 15884 pregnant women with syphilis infection delivered in China in 2013. 79.1% of infected women attended antenatal care at or before 37 gestational weeks; however, 55.4% received no treatment or initiated the treatment after 37 gestational weeks. 14.0% of women suffered serious adverse pregnancy outcomes including stillbirth/neonatal death, preterm delivery/low birth weight, or congenital syphilis in newborns. High maternal titer (≥1 : 64) and late treatment (>37 gestational weeks)/nontreatment were significantly associated with increased risk of congenital syphilis and the adjusted ORs were 1.88 (95% CI 1.27 to 2.80) and 3.70 (95% CI 2.36 to 5.80), respectively.Conclusion. Syphilis affects a great number of pregnant women in China. Large proportions of women are not detected and treated at an early pregnancy stage. Burden of adverse pregnancy outcomes is high among infected women. Comprehensive interventions still need to be strengthened to improve uptake of screening and treatment for maternal syphilis.

scholarly journals Ultrasound of bone fractures

Ultrasound ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-123
Author(s):  
Hammad Qadi ◽  
Juliet Davidson ◽  
Michael Trauer ◽  
Richard Beese
Keyword(s):  
Bone Fractures ◽  
Tissue Injury ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Soft Tissue Injury ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Point Of Care Ultrasound ◽  
Pictorial Review ◽  
Bone Injury ◽  
Local Access

The World Health Organisation estimates only 33% of the world's population has local access to diagnostic imaging. Doctors operating in austere locations in Canada and Australia are using point-of-care ultrasound to differentiate between bone injury and soft tissue injury. Studies have demonstrated ultrasound to be a highly sensitive diagnostic tool for bone fracture. We present an ultrasound pictorial review of various bone fractures to demonstrate its value as an extension of the clinical examination in identifying fracture and to support the need for further imaging. Innovative and affordable ultrasound devices have been developed, which will improve accessibility to imaging.

scholarly journals Achieving the Endgame: Integrated NTD Case Searches

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Buyon ◽  
Randall Slaven ◽  
Paul M. Emerson ◽  
Jonathan King ◽  
Oscar Debrah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Management ◽  
Neglected Tropical Diseases ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
World Health ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Guinea Worm ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

AbstractTrachoma and Guinea Worm Disease (GWD) are neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) slated for elimination as a public health problem and eradication respectively by the World Health Organization. As these programs wind down, uncovering the last remaining cases becomes an urgent priority. In 2010, The Ghana Health Service, along with The Carter Center, Sightsavers, and other partners, conducted integrated case search for cases of both GWD and the last stage of trachoma disease, trachomatous trichiasis (TT), as well as providing treatment for trachoma to meet elimination and eradication targets. House to house case search for both diseases was conducted and two case management strategies were explored: a centralized referral to services method and a Point of Care (POC) delivery method. 835 suspected TT cases were discovered in the centralized method, of which 554 accepted surgery. 482 suspected TT cases were discovered in the POC method and all TT cases accepted surgery in the POC searches. The cost per TT case examined was lower in the POC searches compared to the centralized searches ($19.97 in the POC searches and $20.85 in the centralized searches). Both strategies resulted in high surgical uptake for TT surgery, with average uptakes of 72.4% and 83.9% for the centralized and POC searches respectively. We present here that house to house case search offering services at POC are feasible and a potential tool for elimination and eradication programs nearing their end.Author SummaryTrachoma and Guinea Worm Disease (GWD) are neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) slated for elimination as a public health problem and eradication respectively by the World Health Organization. As these programs wind down, uncovering the last remaining cases becomes an urgent priority in order to confirm that eradiation/elimination targets have been reached. Active case searches are one method of finding these last vestiges of disease. Searches for that look for multiple diseases are referred to as integrated searches. We piloted here integrated case searches for GWD and Trachoma with two case management strategies, a referral approach to a central location, and point of care approach (POC). POC approaches can difficult to implement in low resource settings because they require extensive personnel, financial, and logistical, support. However, POC approaches remove one of the biggest barriers to treatment, time spent traveling to a health center, and thus can improve treatment uptake. We found here that integrated active cases searches with a POC case management approach can be implemented in a low resource setting; and improve acceptance and uptake of trachoma examination and trichiasis surgery respectively without costing much more than the referral case management approach.

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