Low-Threshold Testing for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in Long-Term Care Facilities Early in the First Pandemic Wave, the Twente Region, the Netherlands: A Possible Factor in Reducing Morbidity and Mortality.

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shortage of SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests, and testing patients with mild symptoms (low-threshold testing) was not recommended in the Netherlands. Despite these guidelines, to protect those who were most at risk, low-threshold testing was advocated and offered to the majority of long-term care institutions in the region. In this manner, 144 healthcare workers and 96 residents tested SARS-CoV-2-positive and were isolated before the same service was provided nationwide by public health services.

Defining a risk area for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in a country where TBE is emerging, the Netherlands, July 2016-October 2020.

TBE is an emerging infectious disease in the Netherlands since July 2016, and risk areas have not been defined yet. Until October 2020 twelve autochthonous cases of TBE have been identified. In six of these cases transmission of TBE virus likely occurred in the Twente region, which therefore is the region with the highest case number and risk of contracting the disease.

A Case of Hypercalcemia in an Immunocompetent Patient with Disseminated Infection with a Rain Barrel as the Most Likely Primary Source.

Unlabelled: Infection with is common in fish, and so human infection usually arises from contact with contaminated water or fish. A solitary papulonodular lesion on a finger or hand is the typical presentation. Disseminated infections are rare and mostly seen in immunocompromised patients.

Correction: Variability and cost implications of three generations of the Roche LightCycler® 480.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Variability and cost implications of three generations of the Roche LightCycler® 480.

Real time PCR has become a dominant method for the highly sensitive detection of pathogens in clinical material. Real time PCR can generate a fluorescence signal by using fluorescence labelled probes, allowing us to detect and semi quantify the amount of amplified DNA. Here we test the variability of the detection system and cost implications of three different versions of the LightCycler® 480 (LC480), focusing on the intensity of fluorescence and Cq in monoplex and multiplex rtPCRs.

Enrichment broth improved detection of extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase-producing bacteria in throat and rectal surveillance cultures of samples from patients in intensive care units.

We evaluated the use of a trypticase soy broth (TSB) for improving detection of extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase-producing (ESBL(+)) bacteria. Preenrichment of throat and rectal swabs in TSB prior to inoculation on solid medium doubled the number of ESBL(+) bacteria detected in samples obtained from patients in our intensive care unit.