Assessing an Adaptation of the Universal Parasite Diagnostic Assay for Bloodborne Parasites in a US State Public Health Laboratory.

For complex clinical cases where a parasitic infection is suspected, it can be difficult for clinicians to recommend an appropriate laboratory test. These tests are usually pathogen-specific and require a certain degree of suspicion for the precise etiology. A recently described assay, the universal parasite diagnostic (UPDx) can potentially provide a diagnosis of any parasite present in a specimen.

Carriage of Neisseria meningitidis in Men Who Have Sex With Men Presenting to Public Sexual Health Clinics, New York City.

Background: We conducted a Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) carriage study among men who have sex with men (MSM) to explore possible sexual transmission.

Methods: We paired information on patient characteristics with oropharyngeal, rectal, and urethral Nm culture results to assess associations with Nm carriage among 706 MSM at New York City sexual health clinics. The Nm isolates were characterized by whole genome sequencing.

Neonatal Conjunctivitis Caused by Neisseria meningitidis US Urethritis Clade, New York, USA, August 2017.

We characterized a case of neonatal conjunctivitis in New York, USA, caused by Neisseria meningitidis by using whole-genome sequencing. The case was a rare occurrence, and the isolate obtained belonged to an emerging clade (N. meningitidis US nongroupable urethritis) associated with an increase in cases of urethritis since 2015.