The current landscape of nucleic acid tests for filovirus detection.

Nucleic acid testing (NAT) for pathogenic filoviruses plays a key role in surveillance and to control the spread of infection. As they share clinical features with other pathogens, the initial spread of these viruses can be misdiagnosed. Tests that can identify a pathogen in the initial stages of infection are essential to control outbreaks.

Comparison of the Luminex NxTAG respiratory pathogen panel and a multiplex in-house real-time PCR panel for the detection of respiratory viruses in symptomatic patients.

To evaluate the Luminex NxTAG respiratory pathogen panel (NxTAG RPP) for the detection of respiratory viruses in clinical samples from patients with the symptoms of respiratory infection. The NxTAG RPP was compared to an in-house multiplex real-time PCR panel (LDT) for the detection of respiratory viruses in 314 clinical samples from patients with the symptoms of respiratory infection. Thirty-one samples were negative in both tests and 193 samples contained a single virus that was detected in both tests.

Shigatoxin encoding Bacteriophage ϕ24 modulates bacterial metabolism to raise antimicrobial tolerance.

How temperate bacteriophages play a role in microbial infection and disease progression is not fully understood. They do this in part by carrying genes that promote positive evolutionary selection for the lysogen. Using Biolog phenotype microarrays and comparative metabolite profiling we demonstrate the impact of the well-characterised Shiga toxin-prophage ϕ24 on its Escherichia coli host MC1061.

Dental and microbiological risk factors for hospital-acquired pneumonia in non-ventilated older patients.

Methods: We obtained a time series of tongue/throat swabs from 90 patients with lower limb fracture, aged 65-101 in a general hospital in the North East of England between April 2009-July 2010. We used novel real-time multiplex PCR assays to detect S. aureus, MRSA, E.

Identifying areas and risk groups with localised Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission in northern England from 2010 to 2012: spatiotemporal analysis incorporating highly discriminatory genotyping data.

Background: Information on geographical variation in localised transmission of TB can inform targeting of disease control activities. The aim of this study was to estimate the proportion of TB attributable to localised transmission for the period 2010-2012 in northern England and to identify case characteristics associated with spatiotemporal-genotypical clusters.

Methods: We combined genotyping data with spatiotemporal scan statistics to define an indicator of localised TB transmission and identified factors associated with localised TB transmission thus defined in a multivariable logistics regression model.