Sputum culture contamination and associated characteristics in a diagnostic clinical trial, Papua New Guinea.

Setting: Papua New Guinea is a high-burden multidrug-resistant TB (MDR/RR-TB) country that reports low rates of bacteriological confirmation. Sputum drug susceptibility testing for second-line drugs is important. Access to culture is limited.

New insights into lipid and fatty acid metabolism from Raman spectroscopy.

One of the challenges facing biology is to understand metabolic events at a single cellular level. While approaches to examine dynamics of protein distribution or report on spatiotemporal location of signalling molecules are well-established, tools for the dissection of metabolism in single living cells are less common. Advances in Raman spectroscopy, such as stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), are beginning to offer new insights into metabolic events in a range of experimental systems, including model organisms and clinical samples, and across a range of disciplines.

TB burden and diagnostic challenges at Sandaun Provincial Hospital in West Sepik Province of PNG, 2016-2021.

Setting: Bacteriological confirmation of TB diagnosis remains a key operational challenge in Papua New Guinea. Sandaun Provincial Hospital (SPH) is the main TB diagnostic and treatment centre of West Sepik Province.

Objective: To evaluate TB caseload, patient characteristics, and quality of diagnosis at SPH between 2016 and 2021.

High rates of unfavourable TB treatment outcomes observed in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea.

Setting: Madang Province is located on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG), a critical mixing point between the populous highlands and more remote regions. Madang Province faces challenges with limited capacity to diagnose and treat TB.

Objective: To describe the TB caseload and investigate factors associated with known unfavourable treatment outcomes.