An Optimal Transport Medium for SARS-CoV-2 Detection in the Direct Method of Rapid Microfluidic PCR System.

Background: Recently developed rapid real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) systems adopting microfluidic thermal cycling technology are ideal for point-of-care (POC) testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Because the RNA extraction step before real-time RT-PCR is rate-limiting, a direct RNA extraction method (direct method) that adopts chemical viral lysis and eliminates RNA purification steps is preferable for rapid real-time RT-PCR. In the direct method, selecting the transport medium is essential because it may be introduced into subsequent real-time RT-PCR steps, but might inhibit PCR.

[A case of lung abscess due to Aspergillus viridinutans in a patient with aplastic anemia].

A 75-year-old woman with aplastic anemia was admitted to our university hospital because of a dry cough that had persisted for a month. Chest computed tomography showed a mass shadow with a central low attenuation area in the lower lobe of the left lung. Filamentous fungus resembling Aspergillus fumigatus was cultured from the specimens obtained by transthoracic needle aspiration biopsy and bronchoalveolar lavage.

Bloodstream infection caused by Campylobacter lari.

We describe a case of bloodstream infection (BSI) caused by Campylobacter lari in a 58-year-old man diagnosed with lumbar pyogenic spondylitis. Anaerobic blood cultures, taken on the day of admission and on hospital day 4, were positive after 30 h of incubation, although no bacteria were detected by Gram staining. After subculture on 5 % sheep blood agar for 2 days at 35 °C in a 5 % CO2 environment, capnophilic, curved, gram-negative bacteria were recovered.