Has the HCV cascade of care changed among people who inject drugs in England since the introduction of direct-acting antivirals?

Background: In England, over 80 % of those with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have injected drugs. We quantified the HCV cascade of care (CoC) among people who inject drugs (PWID) in England and determined whether this improved after direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) were introduced.

Methods: We analysed data from nine rounds of national annual cross-sectional surveys of PWID recruited from drug services (2011-2019; N = 12,320).

A Rapid Drug Resistance Genotyping Workflow for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Using Targeted Isothermal Amplification and Nanopore Sequencing.

Phenotypic drug susceptibility testing (DST) for tuberculosis (TB) requires weeks to yield results. Although molecular tests rapidly detect drug resistance-associated mutations (DRMs), they are not scalable to cover the full genome and the many DRMs that can predict resistance. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) methods are scalable, but if conducted directly on sputum, typically require a target enrichment step, such as nucleic acid amplification.

Spin-enhanced nanodiamond biosensing for ultrasensitive diagnostics.

The quantum spin properties of nitrogen-vacancy defects in diamond enable diverse applications in quantum computing and communications. However, fluorescent nanodiamonds also have attractive properties for in vitro biosensing, including brightness, low cost and selective manipulation of their emission. Nanoparticle-based biosensors are essential for the early detection of disease, but they often lack the required sensitivity.

A sputum sample processing method for community and mobile tuberculosis diagnosis using the Xpert MTB/RIF assay.

http://ow.ly/HOA130mS6LG.

Clinic-based evaluation study of the diagnostic accuracy of a dual rapid test for the screening of HIV and syphilis in pregnant women in Nigeria.

Background: Screening pregnant women for HIV and syphilis is recommended by WHO in order to reduce mother-to-child transmission. We evaluated the field performance, feasibility, and acceptability of a dual rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for HIV and syphilis test in antenatal clinic settings in Nigeria.

Methods And Findings: Participants were recruited at 12 antenatal clinic sites in three states of Nigeria.

Genome-wide host RNA signatures of infectious diseases: discovery and clinical translation.

The use of whole blood gene expression to derive diagnostic biomarkers capable of distinguishing between phenotypically similar diseases holds great promise but remains a challenge. Differential gene expression analysis is used to identify the key genes that undergo changes in expression relative to healthy individuals, as well as to patients with other diseases. These key genes can act as diagnostic, prognostic and predictive markers of disease.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies evaluating the performance and operational characteristics of dual point-of-care tests for HIV and syphilis.

Background: Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of syphilis and HIV continue to be important yet preventable causes of perinatal and infant morbidity and mortality.

Objectives: To systematically review, critically appraise and perform a meta-analysis to evaluate the operational characteristics of dual rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for HIV/syphilis and evaluate whether they are cost effective, acceptable and easy to use.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

A nucleic acid strand displacement system for the multiplexed detection of tuberculosis-specific mRNA using quantum dots.

The development of rapid, robust and high performance point-of-care diagnostics relies on the advancement and combination of various areas of research. We have developed an assay for the detection of multiple mRNA molecules that combines DNA nanotechnology with fluorescent nanomaterials. The core switching mechanism is toehold-mediated strand displacement.