Galactomannan detection for invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients.

Background: Invasive aspergillosis is the most common life-threatening opportunistic invasive mycosis in immunocompromised patients. A test for invasive aspergillosis should neither be too invasive nor too great a burden for the already weakened patient. The serum galactomannan enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) seems to have the potential to meet both requirements.

Chronic Q fever diagnosis— consensus guideline versus expert opinion.

Chronic Q fever, caused by Coxiella burnetii, has high mortality and morbidity rates if left untreated. Controversy about the diagnosis of this complex disease has emerged recently. We applied the guideline from the Dutch Q Fever Consensus Group and a set of diagnostic criteria proposed by Didier Raoult to all 284 chronic Q fever patients included in the Dutch National Chronic Q Fever Database during 2006–2012.

Immunogenicity of the Q fever skin test.

Objectives: The Q fever skin test is used to measure cell-mediated immunity to Coxiella burnetii in pre-vaccination screening to exclude individuals with pre-existing immunity. We investigated whether this in-vivo test influences subsequent measurements of immune response.

Methods: We assessed the humoral and cellular immune responses before, and 6 and 12 months after skin testing in 63 individuals who were not vaccinated because of either a positive skin test or positive serology in screening.

Limited humoral and cellular responses to Q fever vaccination in older adults with risk factors for chronic Q fever.

Objectives: In the Netherlands, people at risk for chronic Q fever were vaccinated against Coxiella burnetii with the inactivated whole cell vaccine Q-vax®. We aimed to measure the immune responses to C. burnetii six and twelve months after vaccination in this relevant population.

Diagnosis and management of Q fever--United States, 2013: recommendations from CDC and the Q Fever Working Group.

Q fever, a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Coxiella burnetii, can cause acute or chronic illness in humans. Transmission occurs primarily through inhalation of aerosols from contaminated soil or animal waste. No licensed vaccine is available in the United States.

Comparison of the performance of IFA, CFA, and ELISA assays for the serodiagnosis of acute Q fever by quality assessment.

The indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) is considered the reference method for diagnosing Q fever, but serology is also performed by complement fixation assay (CFA) or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). However, comparability between these assays is not clear, and therefore a quality assessment was performed. A total of 25 serum samples from negative controls, Q fever patients, and a serial diluted high-positive sample were analyzed in 10 Dutch laboratories.

[Laboratory diagnosis of acute Q fever].

In the Netherlands an increasing number of laboratories are involved in diagnosing acute Q-fever. More uniformity in diagnostics and interpretation is desirable. To enable this, a working group on diagnostics of acute Q-fever was created on the initiative of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and the Dutch Association for Medical Microbiology (NVMM).

Galactomannan detection for invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromized patients.

Background: Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is the most common life-threatening opportunistic invasive mycosis in immunocompromized patients. A test for IA needs to be not too invasive and not too big a burden for the already weakened patient. The serum galactomannan ELISA seems to have potential for both requirements.