Acute human cytomegalovirus infection among voluntary blood donors in the Lake Victoria zone blood transfusion centre: should it be considered in screening?

Background: Despite blood transfusion being a lifesaving option, it may be associated with blood borne infections including human cytomegalovirus(HCMV). The World Health Organization recommends screening of blood products for HCMV before transfusion to pregnant women, neonates and immunocompromised patients. However, this is not routinely practised in many resource limited countries.Objective: This study aimed at determining seroprevalence of specific HCMV IgM antibodies among volunteered blood donors at the Lake Victoria zone blood transfusion centreMethods: A total of 228 sera from volunteered blood donors were analyzed using HCMV IgM µ capture enzyme linked immunosorbent assay as per manufacturer’s instructions. Data were analyzed by STATA version 13Results: The median age of the study participants was 19 interquartile range (IQR): 18-23 years. The seroprevalence of specific HCMV IgM antibodies was found to be 23/228 (10.1%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 6-14. None of the factors was found to be associated with HCMV IgM seropositivity among blood donors.Conclusion: One out 10 blood donors in the Lake Victoria zone blood transfusion centre is acutely infected with HCMV. There is a need to consider screening of HCMV before blood transfusion particularly in resource limited countries where HCMV is endemic.Keywords: Human cytomegalovirus, Tanzania, blood transfusion.

Download Full-text

False negative HIV antibody test in HIV infected children who receive early antiretroviral treatment in a resource-limited setting

Infectious Disease Reports ◽

10.4081/idr.2012.3832 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 6 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gerardo Alvarez-Uria ◽

Praveen K. Naik ◽

Manoranjan Midde ◽

Shanmugamari Kannan ◽

Raghuprakash Reddy

Keyword(s):

False Negative ◽

Rapid Test ◽

Antibody Test ◽

Rural Setting ◽

World Health ◽

Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽

Resource Limited ◽

One Year ◽

Health Organization ◽

Early Antiretroviral Treatment

<p>With the implementation of 2010 World Health Organization guidelines, the number of infants from developing countries who will initiate antiretroviral therapy (ART) will increase considerably. In this study we describe the HIV antibody tests of 14 HIV infected children who initiated ART at age less than one year in a rural setting of India. The HIV rapid test was negative in seven and indeterminate in two cases, whereas the HIV enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) antibody test was negative in three and indeterminate in one case. In one child who had both negative HIV rapid test and ELISA initially, HIV serology turned positive after having a virological failure to ART, suggesting the possibility of utilizing HIV serology for monitoring ART effectiveness in children who experience HIV seroreversion. In conclusion, HIV seroreversion of children with early initiation of ART is common and should be considered for avoiding misdiagnosis of HIV infection.</p><p> </p>

Download Full-text

Diagnosis of Dengue Virus Infection by the Visual and Simple AuBioDOT Immunoglobulin M Capture System

Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology ◽

10.1128/cdli.10.6.1074-1077.2003 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 1074-1077 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Susana Vázquez ◽

Gilda Lemos ◽

Maritza Pupo ◽

Oscar Ganzón ◽

Daniel Palenzuela ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Virus Infection ◽

Dengue Virus ◽

Immunoglobulin M ◽

World Health ◽

Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽

Serum Samples ◽

Dengue Virus Infection ◽

Capture Elisa ◽

Igm Antibodies ◽

Health Organization

ABSTRACT The Dengue IgM Capture ELISA (MAC-ELISA) is the immunoenzymatic system recommended by the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization for the serological diagnosis of dengue virus infection due to its high sensitivity, ease of performance, and use of a single acute-phase serum sample. However, tests with this enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system are time-consuming and require equipment for washing, incubation, and reading of the results. AuBioDOT is a multistep visual diagnostic immunoassay that uses technology based on the immunoglobulin M (IgM) capture ELISA principle. This system uses white polyethylene opaque plates as the solid phase, colloidal gold as the marker, and silver ion amplification. It does not require special equipment, it is totally manually operated, and it can be performed in less than 1 h. The sensitivity and specificity of AuBioDOT for the detection of anti-dengue virus IgM antibodies were studied with a panel of 336 serum samples (150 serum samples from patients with suspected or serologically confirmed dengue virus infection, 186 serum samples from healthy blood donors and patients without dengue virus infection). The results were compared with those obtained by the MAC-ELISA. A sensitivity of 97.7% and a specificity of 97.1% were obtained. The concordance of the two tests was 97.3%, with a kappa index of 0.94. The application of AuBioDOT for the detection of anti-dengue virus IgM antibodies is recommended as an alternative method for the diagnosis of dengue virus infection, both for clinical diagnosis and for seroepidemiological surveillance. The system is useful under field conditions and in laboratories and requires little equipment.

Download Full-text

A 3D-printed magnetic digital microfluidic diagnostic platform for rapid colorimetric sensing of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae

Microsystems & Nanoengineering ◽

10.1038/s41378-021-00276-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Pojchanun Kanitthamniyom ◽

Pei Yun Hon ◽

Aiwu Zhou ◽

Mohammad Yazid Abdad ◽

Zhi Yun Leow ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Point Of Care ◽

Resistance Mechanism ◽

Turnaround Time ◽

World Health ◽

Colorimetric Sensing ◽

Resource Limited ◽

Reaction Chambers ◽

Technological Platform ◽

Health Organization ◽

Digital Microfluidic

AbstractCarbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) are a group of drug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens that are classified as a critical threat by the World Health Organization (WHO). Conventional methods of detecting antibiotic-resistant pathogens do not assess the resistance mechanism and are often time-consuming and laborious. We have developed a magnetic digital microfluidic (MDM) platform, known as MDM Carba, for the identification of CPE by measuring their ability to hydrolyze carbapenem antibiotics. MDM Carba offers the ability to rapidly test CPE and reduce the amount of reagents used compared with conventional phenotypic testing. On the MDM Carba platform, tests are performed in droplets that function as reaction chambers, and fluidic operations are accomplished by manipulating these droplets with magnetic force. The simple droplet-based magnetic fluidic operation allows easy system automation and simplified hands-on operation. Because of the unique “power-free” operation of MDM technology, the MDM Carba platform can also be operated manually, showing great potential for point-of-care testing in resource-limited settings. We tested 27 bacterial isolates on the MDM Carba platform, and the results showed sensitivity and specificity that were comparable to those of the widely used Carba NP test. MDM Carba may shorten the overall turnaround time for CPE identification, thereby enabling more timely clinical decisions for better clinical outcomes. MDM Carba is a technological platform that can be further developed to improve diagnostics for other types of antibiotic resistance with minor modifications.

Download Full-text

Development and Validation of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Germophobia Questionnaire in Iran

Practice in Clinical Psychology ◽

10.32598/jpcp.8.4.695.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 307-316

Author(s):

Seyed Mohammadreza Alavizadeh ◽

◽

Mojgan Sepahmansour ◽

Somaye Entezari ◽

Mohammadreza Seirafi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emotion Regulation ◽

World Health ◽

Snowball Sampling ◽

Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽

Study Results ◽

The World ◽

Valid Instrument ◽

Regulation Strategies ◽

Health Organization ◽

Study Participants

Objective: The Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) has recently been identified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The outbreak of the disease has caused numerous individuals around the world to become extremely frightened and subsequently present the signs of phobia. Fear is the basic emotion of anxiety disorders and individuals cope with their emotions by different strategies. The present study aimed at developing and validating Emotion Regulation Strategies for Germophobia Questionnaire (ERS-GPQ). Methods: The study participants were 99 individuals (74 females) of the Iranian population with concerns about germs who were selected with the snowball sampling method. They completed the ERS-GPQ and GPQ in the Google Forms platform. Results: The present study results illustrated that the ERS-GPQ has acceptable internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (a=0.61), reliability coefficients with split-half (0.70), and one-week test-retest (0.92); the ERS-GPQ also presented a moderate positive correlation with the contamination obsessions checklist of GPQ (r=0.44) as the convergent coefficient. Besides, the confirmatory factor analysis indicated 2 factors of the ERS-GPQ. Finally, the ERS-GPQ has 2 components with good convergent and discriminate validities and composite reliability. Conclusion: Based on the current research findings, the ERS-GPQ has acceptable and good psychometric properties; researchers can use the ERS-GPQ as a reliable and valid instrument for assessing ER strategies concerning germophobia. Furthermore, it has some considerations for practitioners in epidemic and pandemic crises, like COVID-19.

Download Full-text

Increasing Seroprevalence of Hepatitis C Virus among Blood Donors - A 3 Year Study in North India

Journal of Evidence Based Medicine and Healthcare ◽

10.18410/jebmh/2021/74 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (07) ◽

pp. 379-383

Author(s):

Jagjeewan Ram ◽

Namrata Nigam ◽

Aparna Singh ◽

Lubna Khan

Keyword(s):

Hepatitis C Virus ◽

Hepatitis C ◽

Blood Transfusion ◽

Blood Donors ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

North India ◽

Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽

Care Hospital ◽

Hepatitis C Infection ◽

Case Volume

BACKGROUND The primary aspect of blood transfusion lies in the availability of blood and blood components which are tested and reported negative for transfusion transmitted infections (TTI’s). The increased seroprevalence of TTI’s indicate their prevalence in general public. The study was conducted to analyse the increasing seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) over a period of 3 years. The objectives of the study determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among the voluntary blood donors at a tertiary care hospital & associated blood bank. METHODS This cross-sectional study was done at the Department of Transfusion Medicine, GSVM Medical College, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, over a period of 3 years from July 2017 to June 2020. The samples collected were screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests. RESULTS A total of 69561 blood units were collected during this 3-year study from July 2017 to June 2020. Of all the blood bags screened, the highest prevalence was seen for HBV followed by HCV and HIV. 949 (1.4 %) were reactive for HBV, 75 (0.1 %) were reactive for HIV and 332 (0.5 %) were reactive for HCV. The results show a remarkable increase in the seropositivity for hepatitis C infection. CONCLUSIONS The seroprevalence of HCV has seen an increase in case load over the years as compared to HBV and HIV. This increase in case volume is indicative of impending liver diseases progressing to chronic stage over the years. Thus, it is imperative to create awareness in the general population to help reduce the risk factors responsible for HCV infection. KEYWORDS Blood Transfusion, Voluntary Donors, HCV, HBV, HIV, Seroprevalence, Transfusion Transmitted Infections (TTI’s)

Download Full-text

Advances in Diagnostic Methods for Zika Virus Infection

Journal of Medical Devices ◽

10.1115/1.4041086 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Carlos A. Herrada ◽

Md. Alamgir Kabir ◽

Rommel Altamirano ◽

Waseem Asghar

Keyword(s):

Reverse Transcription ◽

Zika Virus ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Genome Structure ◽

Diagnostic Methods ◽

World Health ◽

Health Concern ◽

Localized Surface Plasmon ◽

Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽

Health Organization

The Zika virus (ZIKV) is one of the most infamous mosquito-borne flavivirus on recent memory due to its potential association with high mortality rates in fetuses, microcephaly and neurological impairments in neonates, and autoimmune disorders. The severity of the disease, as well as its fast spread over several continents, has urged the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare ZIKV a global health concern. In consequence, over the past couple of years, there has been a significant effort for the development of ZIKV diagnostic methods, vaccine development, and prevention strategies. This review focuses on the most recent aspects of ZIKV research which includes the outbreaks, genome structure, multiplication and propagation of the virus, and more importantly, the development of serological and molecular detection tools such as Zika IgM antibody capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Zika MAC-ELISA), plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT), reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), reverse transcription-loop mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) biosensors, nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA), and recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA). Additionally, we discuss the limitations of currently available diagnostic methods, the potential of newly developed sensing technologies, and also provide insight into future areas of research.

Download Full-text

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis infection and disease in children: a review of new and repurposed drugs

Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease ◽

10.1177/2049936119864737 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 204993611986473 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Julie Huynh ◽

Ben J. Marais

Keyword(s):

Clinical Care ◽

Multidrug Resistant ◽

World Health ◽

Resistant Tuberculosis ◽

Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis ◽

Resource Limited ◽

Prevention And Treatment ◽

Mdr Tb ◽

Repurposed Drugs ◽

Health Organization

The World Health Organization estimates that 10 million new cases of tuberculosis (TB) occurred worldwide in 2017, of which 600,000 were rifampicin or multidrug-resistant (RR/MDR) TB. Modelling estimates suggest that 32,000 new cases of MDR-TB occur in children annually, but only a fraction of these are correctly diagnosed and treated. Accurately diagnosing TB in children, who usually have paucibacillary disease, and implementing effective TB prevention and treatment programmes in resource-limited settings remain major challenges. In light of the underappreciated RR/MDR-TB burden in children, and the lack of paediatric data on newer drugs for TB prevention and treatment, we present an overview of new and repurposed TB drugs, describing the available evidence for safety and efficacy in children to assist clinical care and decision-making.

Download Full-text

Development and Analytical Validation of an Immunoassay for Quantifying Serum Anti-Pertussis Toxin Antibodies Resulting from Bordetella pertussis Infection

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology ◽

10.1128/cvi.00248-09 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 16 (12) ◽

pp. 1781-1788 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Sandra L. Menzies ◽

Vijay Kadwad ◽

Lucia C. Pawloski ◽

Tsai-Lien Lin ◽

Andrew L. Baughman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pertussis Toxin ◽

Bordetella Pertussis ◽

Collaborative Study ◽

World Health ◽

Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽

Analytical Validation ◽

Igg Antibody ◽

Pertussis Infection ◽

Validation Parameters ◽

Health Organization

ABSTRACT Adequately sensitive and specific methods to diagnose pertussis in adolescents and adults are not widely available. Currently, no Food and Drug Administration-approved diagnostic assays are available for the serodiagnosis of Bordetella pertussis. Since concentrations of B. pertussis-specific antibodies tend to be high during the later phases of disease, a simple, rapid, easily transferable serodiagnostic test was developed. This article describes test development, initial evaluation of a prototype kit enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in an interlaboratory collaborative study, and analytical validation. The data presented here demonstrate that the kit met all prespecified criteria for precision, linearity, and accuracy for samples with anti-pertussis toxin (PT) immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody concentrations in the range of 50 to 150 ELISA units (EU)/ml, the range believed to be most relevant for serodiagnosis. The assay met the precision and linearity criteria for a wider range, namely, from 50 to 200 EU/ml; however, the accuracy criterion was not met at 200 EU/ml. When the newly adopted World Health Organization International Standard for pertussis antiserum (human) reference reagent was used to evaluate accuracy, the accuracy criteria were met from 50 to 200 international units/ml. In conclusion, the IgG anti-PT ELISA met all assay validation parameters within the range considered most relevant for serodiagnosis. This ELISA was developed and analytically validated as a user-friendly kit that can be used in both qualitative and quantitative formats. The technology for producing the kit is transferable to public health laboratories.

Download Full-text

A Model of Tuberculosis Screening for Pregnant Women in Resource-Limited Settings Using Xpert MTB/RIF

Journal of Pregnancy ◽

10.1155/2012/565049 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-5 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Eleanor R. Turnbull ◽

Nzali G. Kancheya ◽

Jennifer B. Harris ◽

Stephanie M. Topp ◽

German Henostroza ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pregnant Women ◽

World Health ◽

Diagnostic Tools ◽

Tuberculosis Screening ◽

Pilot Studies ◽

Resource Limited ◽

Highly Sensitive ◽

Mother And Child ◽

Health Organization ◽

Diagnostic Technologies

Timely diagnosis and treatment of maternal tuberculosis (TB) is important to reduce morbidity and mortality for both the mother and child, particularly in women who are coinfected with HIV. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the integration of TB/HIV screening into antenatal services but available diagnostic tools are slow and insensitive, resulting in delays in treatment initiation. Recently the WHO endorsed Xpert MTB/RIF, a highly sensitive, real-time PCR assay forMycobacterium tuberculosisthat simultaneously detects rifampicin resistance directly from sputum and provides results within 100 minutes. We propose a model for same-day TB screening and diagnosis of all pregnant women at antenatal care using Xpert MTB/RIF. Pilot studies are urgently required to evaluate strategies for the integration of TB screening into antenatal clinics using new diagnostic technologies.

Download Full-text

Comparison of Western Immunobloting to an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for the Determination of Anti-Bordetella pertussis Antibodies

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology ◽

10.1128/cvi.00450-10 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 615-620 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Stephen D. Merrigan ◽

Ryan J. Welch ◽

Christine M. Litwin

Keyword(s):

Immunosorbent Assay ◽

Bordetella Pertussis ◽

World Health ◽

Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽

Recent Infection ◽

Content Type ◽

Igm Elisa ◽

Iga Antibodies ◽

Health Organization

ABSTRACTDuringBordetella pertussisinfection, it has been established that an increase of anti-pertussis toxin (PT) and anti-filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) antibodies occurs. Immunoblots from two manufacturers using FHA and PT antigens were compared with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that used both FHA and PT. One manufacturer used two concentrations of PT bands for the IgG immunoblot, calibrated to the World Health Organization standard for PT in international units (IU/ml), 100 IU/ml (PT-100) and 8 IU/ml (PT). The second immunoblot kit measured antibodies to a single calibrated PT band. Both kits measured IgA antibodies, and one additionally measured IgM antibodies. Two of 41 (5%) ELISA IgM positives were confirmed positive by IgM immunoblotting, suggesting poor specificity of the IgM ELISA. The agreements of the IgG and IgA immunoblots with the ELISA ranged from 72.5% to 85.3%, with only 38 to 51% of IgA positives confirmed by immunoblotting and only 61 to 68% of IgG positives confirmed by immunoblotting. The two immunoblots correlated well with each other, with 91.7% and 94.3% agreement for IgG and IgA, respectively. When the FHA band was used with the PT band as the criterion for positivity, significant differences existed in specificity compared to the ELISA (IgG, 84.1% versus 33.3%; IgA, 82.4% versus 71.0%). When the positive IgA immunoblots (evidence of natural recent infection) were compared to the positive PT-100 IgG immunoblots (evidence of recent infection or vaccination), the PT-100 blot showed a 71% sensitivity in detecting natural recent infection.B. pertussisimmunoblots, alone or in combination with ELISAs, can aid in the diagnosis ofB. pertussisinfection.

Download Full-text