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Because of the rapidly emerging SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and its wide public health challenges, rapid diagnosis is essential to decrease the spread. Antigen-based rapid detection tests are available; however, insufficient data about their performance are available.

The lateral-flow immunochromatographic BIOCREDIT COVID-19 antigen test was evaluated using nasopharyngeal swabs in a viral transport medium from patients with confirmed infection, contacts, and exposed healthcare professionals at Fayoum University Hospital in Egypt. Test performance was determined in comparison to the SARS-CoV-2 real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.

Three hundred ten specimens from 3 categories-patients with confirmed diagnoses of COVID-19, contacts, and exposed healthcare professionals-were included; 188 specimens were RT-PCR-positive, from which 81 were detected by rapid antigen test. Overall sensitivity was 43.1%. Sensitivity was significantly higher in specimens with high viral loads.

Poor sensitivity of the BIOCREDIT COVID-19 test does not permit its use for diagnosis, and it can only be used in conjunction with RT-PCR for screening.

Poor sensitivity of the BIOCREDIT COVID-19 test does not permit its use for diagnosis, and it can only be used in conjunction with RT-PCR for screening.

Neurological complications of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) often lead to raised intracranial pressure (ICP) resulting in high morbidity and mortality. Measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) by point-of-care ultrasound may aid in the identification and management of raised ICP in TBM.

From June 2017 to December 2019, 107 Vietnamese adults with TBM, enrolled in the ACT HIV or LAST ACT trials (NCT03092817; NCT03100786), underwent ONSD ultrasound at one or more of days 0,3,7,14,21 +/-30 after enrolment. Demographic data, TBM severity grade, HIV co-infection status, and clinical endpoints by 3 months were recorded. ONSD values were correlated with disease severity, baseline brain magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography imaging, cerebrospinal fluid parameters and clinical endpoints.

267 ONSD ultrasound scans were performed in 107 participants over the first 30 days of treatment, with measurements from 0.38-0.74cm. selleckchem Paired baseline ONSD and brain imaging were performed in 63 participants. Higher baseline ONSD was associated with more severe disease and abnormal brain imaging (abnormal imaging 0.55cm vs 0.50cm normal imaging, p=0.01). Baseline median ONSD was significantly higher in participants who died by 3 months (0.56cm [15/72]) vs. participants who survived by 3 months (0.52cm [57/72]), p=0.02. Median ONSD was higher at all follow up time points in participants who died by 3 months.

Higher ONSD was associated with increased disease severity, brain imaging abnormalities, and increased death by 3 months. ONSD ultrasound has a potential role as a non-invasive and affordable bedside tool for predicting brain pathology and death in TBM.

Higher ONSD was associated with increased disease severity, brain imaging abnormalities, and increased death by 3 months. ONSD ultrasound has a potential role as a non-invasive and affordable bedside tool for predicting brain pathology and death in TBM.Human mitoribosomes are macromolecular complexes essential for translation of 11 mitochondrial mRNAs. The large and the small mitoribosomal subunits undergo a multistep maturation process that requires the involvement of several factors. Among these factors, GTP-binding proteins (GTPBPs) play an important role as GTP hydrolysis can provide energy throughout the assembly stages. In bacteria, many GTPBPs are needed for the maturation of ribosome subunits and, of particular interest for this study, ObgE has been shown to assist in the 50S subunit assembly. Here, we characterize the role of a related human Obg-family member, GTPBP5. We show that GTPBP5 interacts specifically with the large mitoribosomal subunit (mt-LSU) proteins and several late-stage mitoribosome assembly factors, including MTERF4NSUN4 complex, MRM2 methyltransferase, MALSU1 and MTG1. Interestingly, we find that interaction of GTPBP5 with the mt-LSU is compromised in the presence of a non-hydrolysable analogue of GTP, implying a different mechanism of action of this protein in contrast to that of other Obg-family GTPBPs. GTPBP5 ablation leads to severe impairment in the oxidative phosphorylation system, concurrent with a decrease in mitochondrial translation and reduced monosome formation. Overall, our data indicate an important role of GTPBP5 in mitochondrial function and suggest its involvement in the late-stage of mt-LSU maturation.

New, sensitive diagnostic tests facilitate identification and investigation of milder forms of tuberculosis (TB) disease. We used community-based TB testing with Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra (“Ultra”) to characterize individuals with previously-undiagnosed TB and compare to those from the same community who were diagnosed with TB through routine care.

We offered community-based sputum Ultra testing to adult residents of a well-defined area (population 34,000 adults) in Kampala, Uganda via door-to-door screening and venue-based testing, then used detailed interview and laboratory testing to characterize TB-positive individuals. We compared these individuals to residents diagnosed with -pulmonary TB at local health facilities and a representative sample of residents without TB (“controls”).

Of 12,032 residents with interpretable Ultra results, 113 (940 per 100,000; 95% confidence interval 780-1130 per 100,000) tested positive, including 71 (63%) positive at the lowest (“trace”) level. A spectrum of TB disease was

We implemented front-line loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)-based malaria screening in our nonendemic multicenter health region to reduce reliance on microscopy without sacrificing diagnostic efficiency. We aimed to evaluate changes in test volumes, positivity rates, turnaround times, and approximate labor time savings resulting from implementation of LAMP-based malaria testing to assess the efficacy of the novel testing algorithm in our regional hub-and-spoke testing model.

We reviewed data generated from institutional malaria testing between 2016 and 2019, having implemented LAMP in October 2018 as a front-line screening test for all malaria investigations from our hub facility and investigations from satellite facilities with negative rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and microscopy.

Blood film microscopy and RDT workloads decreased substantially in the year following LAMP implementation (by 90% and 46%, respectively,) despite similar numbers of patients tested and positivity rates for malaria compared with historical data.