Publications by authors named "Helen R Savage"
Background: Pulmonary tuberculosis due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis can be challenging to diagnose when sputum samples cannot be obtained, which is especially problematic in children and older people. We systematically appraised the performance characteristics and diagnostic accuracy of upper respiratory tract sampling for diagnosing active pulmonary tuberculosis.
Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Cinahl, Web of Science, Global Health, and Global Health Archive databases for studies published between database inception and Dec 6, 2022 that reported on the accuracy of upper respiratory tract sampling for tuberculosis diagnosis compared with microbiological testing of sputum or gastric aspirate reference standard.
Article Synopsis
- Rapid antibody testing can help assess immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 and identify eligible patients for certain therapies.
- The study evaluated eight different brands of lateral flow tests (LFTs) using blood samples from 95 vaccinated individuals to check their ability to detect vaccination-induced antibodies.
- All participants showed positive anti-spike antibodies after their second vaccine dose, with many LFTs showing increased sensitivity, making them a promising low-cost alternative to more complex testing methods.
Background: Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) developed for point of care detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigen are recommended by WHO to use trained health care workers to collect samples. We hypothesised that self-taken samples are non-inferior for use with RDTs to diagnose COVID-19. We designed a prospective diagnostic evaluation comparing self-taken and healthcare worker (HCW)-taken throat/nasal swabs to perform RDTs for SARS-CoV-2, and how these compare to RT-PCR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 develop neutralising antibodies. We investigated the proportion of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies after infection and how this proportion varies with selected covariates.
Methodology/principal Findings: This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the proportion of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibodies after infection and how these proportions vary with selected covariates.