Prevalence of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in elective surgical patients in Australia: a prospective surveillance study.

Background: The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of active or previous SARS-CoV-2 infection in asymptomatic adults admitted for elective surgery in Australian hospitals. This surveillance activity was established as part of the National Pandemic Health Intelligence Plan.

Methods: Participants (n = 3037) were recruited from 11 public and private hospitals in four states (NSW, Vic, SA and WA) between 2 June and 17 July 2020, with an overall 66% participation rate.

Does Lyme disease exist in Australia?

There is no convincing evidence that classic Lyme disease occurs in Australia, nor is there evidence that the causative agent, Borrelia burgdorferi, is found in Australian animals or ticks. Lyme disease, however, can be acquired overseas but diagnosed in Australia; most people presenting with laboratory-confirmed Lyme disease in Australia were infected in Europe. Despite the lack of evidence that Lyme disease can be acquired in Australia, growing numbers of patients, their supporters, and some politicians demand diagnoses and treatment according to the protocols of the "chronic Lyme disease" school of thought.

Efficacy and safety of clopidogrel in children with diarrhea associated hemolytic uremic syndrome.

Introduction: Hemolytic uremic syndrome is a thrombotic microangiopathy. Clopidogrel, a recently developed platelet aggregation inhibitor, has not been previously reported as a treatment for this illness. Our study's objective was to explore the efficacy and safety of clopidogrel in children with diarrhea associated hemolytic uremic syndrome.

Successful utilization of high-flux hemodialysis for treatment of vancomycin toxicity in a child.

Vancomycin is routinely used for empiric antibiotic therapy in children. Higher-serum-concentration targets for serious infections are now being recommended. This recommendation may result in aggressive dosing with increased potential for toxicity.

Establishment of a surveillance system (utilising Midwifes Data Collection Systems) for monitoring the impact of hepatitis B vaccination on the population prevalence of chronic hepatitis B virus infection in Australia.

Objective: To examine how routine hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) testing of antenatal women (as identified on the NT Midwifes Data Collection System) can be used to track the impact of hepatitis B (HBV) vaccination on the prevalence of chronic HBV infection in the Northern Territory (NT).

Methods: Women who gave birth between 01 July 2002 and 30 June 2004 were identified from the NT Midwives Data Collection System (MDCS). For each woman, the unique hospital record number (HRN) was linked to the information system of the NT Government pathology service to obtain the results of serological tests for hepatitis B.

Exploring 'best practice' for nucleic acid detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Nucleic acid detection tests (NADT) have considerable benefits for the detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC), including high sensitivity across a range of specimen types and use under widely differing settings and conditions. However, sexual health practitioners and others who use data generated by NADT for GC should be aware of some important limitations of these tests. False-positive results caused by cross reaction with commensal Neisseria species have been observed in many assays, and have lead to unacceptably low positive-predictive values in some patient populations.

Evidence that the gonococcal porA pseudogene is present in a broad range of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains; suitability as a diagnostic target.

Aims: The primary aim of the study was to determine if the gonococcal porA pseudogene is a stable sequence target for the detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae by PCR.

Methods: A total of 240 gonococcal strains from various geographic locations were tested by porA pseudogene PCR. In addition, porA pseudogene PCR positivity rates were compared with established gonococcal assays in three Australian states.

Indirect hemagglutination assay in patients with melioidosis in northern Australia.

Melioidosis is caused by the saprophytic organism Burkholderia pseudomallei. The use of the indirect hemagglutination assay (IHA) has found widespread use in areas endemic for this disease. Using this assay, we explored the serologic profile of 275 patients with culture-confirmed melioidosis in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of nucleic acid detection tests for Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Australia: a position paper on behalf of the Public Health Laboratory Network.

The Public Health Laboratory Network (PHLN) convened a workshop of Australian experts in Melbourne on 23 March 2005 to identify laboratory issues of relevance and suggest guidelines for use of nucleic acid detection tests (NADT) for diagnosis of gonorrhoea in Australia. The proceedings of that meeting were endorsed by the members of the PHLN and the Communicable Diseases Network of Australia. Given the present state of knowledge and experience of conditions currently existing in Australia, the following recommendations were made: Recommendation 1: Assays using detection of the cppB gene should not be used for either screening or supplemental assays.

Peritonitis due to Cunninghamella bertholletiae in a patient undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

Peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis due to fungi of the class Zygomycetes occurs very rarely. A case of fungal continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis peritonitis due to Cunninghamella bertholletiae is reported in a 39-year-old Aboriginal woman with end-stage renal failure and diabetes mellitus. This isolate was found to be resistant in vitro to amphotericin B, 5-fluorocytosine, fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole and voriconazole.

Community-onset methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia in Northern Australia.

Background: Community-onset infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (COMRSA) are being increasingly reported worldwide.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed of 14 patients with 15 episodes of COMRSA bacteremia (COMRSAB) admitted to the Royal Darwin Hospital, Northern Territory, Australia from 1998 to 2001. Isolates from COMRSAB episodes underwent extended susceptibility testing and molecular typing by pulsed field gel electrophoresis and allotyping of the staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) region by polymerase chain reaction.

Epidemiology of community-acquired and nosocomial bloodstream infections in tropical Australia: a 12-month prospective study.

Objectives: To define the relative incidence of organisms causing blood stream infections in a tropical setting with a very low prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus infection (<1%).

Methods: A 12-month prospective study of blood stream infections in 2000 at Royal Darwin Hospital in the tropical north of Australia.

Results: Significant isolates were grown from 257 sets of blood cultures.

Further evaluation of a rapid diagnostic test for melioidosis in an area of endemicity.

Immunochromatographic test (ICT) kits for the rapid detection of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM antibodies to Burkholderia pseudomallei were compared to the indirect hemagglutination (IHA) assay. In 138 culture-confirmed melioidosis cases, sensitivities were 80, 77, and 88% for IHA, ICT IgG, and ICT IgM, respectively. In a prospective study of 160 consecutive sera samples sent for melioidosis serology, respective specificities were 91, 90, and 69, positive predictive values were 41, 32, and 18, and negative predictive values were 99, 98, and 100%.

"Flush before fill" in children receiving automated peritoneal dialysis.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of the "flush before fill" technique on the frequency of peritonitis in children receiving automated peritoneal dialysis (APD).

Design: Randomized prospective multicenter study.

Setting: Participating pediatric dialysis programs of the Pediatric Peritoneal Dialysis Study Consortium.

Characterization of a novicida-like subspecies of Francisella tularensis isolated in Australia.

Francisella tularensis is found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, where it is associated with the disease of tularaemia in animals and humans. The isolation and identification is reported of a novicida-like subspecies of F. tularensis from a foot wound sustained in brackish water in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Studies of measles viruses circulating in Australia between 1999 and 2001 reveals a new genotype.

Nineteen distinct measles virus (MV) strains associated with nine different genotypes were identified in five Australian states (Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia) between 1999 and 2001. One of the strains identified is likely to represent a new genotype within the clade D viruses (proposed to be d9). No evidence for an indigenous MV strain was found.