Green for go: UK-PHRST joins international teams to test-run co-deploying mobile lab equipment and expertise

The Rapid Response Mobile Lab (RRML) Network – a community of practice of lab specialists and experts created by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) – recently set about creating, testing and refining a common set of RRML Minimum Operational Standards. As a part of the RRML Network, the UK-Public Health Rapid Support Team took part in the first ever Interregional Field Simulation Exercise (IFX): a three-part exercise to review and test the proposed minimum standards across the whole RRML life cycle, from pre-deployment, during outbreak response and end-of-mission phases. Here are the highlights, challenges and learnings from the three-part exercise.

Infectious diseases and Microbiology videos

Four decades of transmission of a multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis outbreak strain

Neutrophils: Between Host Defence, Immune Modulation, and Tissue Injury

A Novel Host-Proteome Signature for Distinguishing between Acute Bacterial and Viral Infections

UNICEF Cholera Toolkit

Early Virus-Host Interactions Dictate the Course of a Persistent Infection

Comparison of Etests and Vitek 2® to broth microdilution for the susceptibility testing of Cryptococcus neoformans

Rapid and Inexpensive Detection of MDR Mycobacterium tuberculosis using a Resazurin Microtitreplate Assay in a High Burden Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory

The Clinical and Economic Impact of Point-of-Care CD4 Testing in Mozambique and Other Resource-Limited Settings: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.

Aging and HIV/AIDS: pathogenetic role of therapeutic side effects

Candida albicans Pathogenicity and Epithelial Immunity

Community-Based Interventions for the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases of Poverty

This thematic series of eight papers provides an overview on infectious diseases of poverty and integrated community-based interventions, describes the analytical framework and the methodology used to guide the systematic reviews, reports findings for the effectiveness of community-based interventions for the prevention and control of helminthic NTDs, non-helminthic NTDs, malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis and proposes a way forward. While previous reviews focus on process and effectiveness of integrated community-based interventions under real life field conditions, this series of papers evaluates the efficacy of such interventions with respect to disease or prevention outcomes.

An Integrated Lab-on-Chip for Rapid Identification and Simultaneous Differentiation of Tropical Pathogens

Aeromonas Infections

Antimicrobial Stewardship and Surveillance: Great Expectations

The attached article, published in Emergency Medicine Volume 3 Issue 6, discusses the frequent use of antimicrobials in the critically ill which has led to the rise in multidrug resistant organisms.

Microbiology Clinical Laboratory SOPs

New publication on rifampicin Mono-Resistance in TB

Evaluation of a Typhoid/Paratyphoid Diagnostic Assay (TPTest) Detecting Anti-Salmonella IgA in Secretions of Peripheral Blood in Lymphocytes in Patients in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Serious and Life-Threatening Pregnancy-Related Infections: Opportunities to Reduce the Global Burden

This Policy Forum article aims to highlight opportunities for screening and appropriate treatment of life-threatening pregnancy-related interventions.

Bug Challenge Number 2

Streptococcal Pharyngitis - 2012 IDSA Guidelines

Point of Care Testing for Infectious Diseases: Diversity, Complexity and Barriers in Low- and Middle Income Countries

The Future of Diagnostic Microbiology – whole genome sequencing?

Visceral leishmaniasis: what are the needs for diagnosis, treatment and control?

Diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis

Enteric fever diagnostics reviews

Mobile Phone Based Clinical Microscopy for Global Health Applications

Direct susceptibility testing for multi drug resistant tuberculosis: a meta-analysis

Tuberculosis Diagnostic Technology Landscape

Alternative methods of diagnosing drug resistance - What can they do for me?

Point-of-Care Tests to Strengthen Health Systems and Save Newborn Lives: The Case of Syphilis

Diagnostic Accuracy of Molecular Amplification Tests for Human African Trypanosomiasis—Systematic Review

Towards Point-of-Care Diagnostic and Staging Tools for Human African Trypanosomiaisis

Nucleic acid amplification testing for Neisseria gonorrhoeae: an ongoing challenge

Indian Bacterial Surveillance Study Shows High Number of Resistant Bacteria - Article of the Month, June 2012

  June’s article of the month features a paper from Infection and Drug Resistance called “High prevalence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing pathogens: results of a surveillance study in two hospitals in Ujjain, India”.

Bug Challenge

Our first "Bug Challenge" comes from Mahosot Hospital, Vientiane, Laos

Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health - Article of the Month, May 2012

May's article of the month features a supplement from Clinical Infectious Diseases on "Pneumonia Etiology Research for Clinical Health"

Rapid Syphilis Test Toolkit

Diagnostics to Reduce the Global Burden of Disease