Endocarditis and the impact of intravenous drug use: a cohort study.

Objectives: This cohort study is a comparison of infective endocarditis in intravenous drug users (IDUs) and non-IDUs within a single tertiary centre. We aim to quantify and describe the factors that influence prognosis and microbiological characteristics.

Method: All consecutive admissions to a tertiary referral hospital in the north of England with a diagnosis of endocarditis from April 2013 to January 2020 were identified.

Utility of Routine Laboratory Biomarkers to Detect COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

No routine laboratory biomarkers perform well enough in diagnosing COVID-19 in isolation for them to be used as a standalone diagnostic test or to help clinicians prioritize patients for treatment. Instead, other diagnostic tests are needed. The aim of this work was to statistically summarise routine laboratory biomarker measurements in COVID-19-positive and -negative patients to inform future work.

Active case detection of malaria in pregnancy using loop-mediated amplification (LAMP): a pilot outcomes study in South West Ethiopia.

Background: 125 million women are pregnant each year in malaria endemic areas and are, therefore, at risk of Malaria in Pregnancy (MiP). MiP is the direct consequence of Plasmodium infection during pregnancy. The sequestration of Plasmodium falciparum parasites in the placenta adversely affects fetal development and impacts newborn birth weight.

Risk of malaria associated with travel to malaria-endemic areas to visit friends and relatives: a population-based case-control study.

Background: Reports relying on population-based data and using epidemiologic methodologies such as case-control study designs for malaria in travellers and multivariable regression analysis of risk factors are rare. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiologic characteristics of travellers who tested positive for malaria after visiting friends and relatives in malaria-endemic areas to determine the risk of malaria associated with such travel.

Methods: Using routinely collected data from a population-based laboratory database, we conducted a case-control study of symptomatic people returning from travel to malaria-endemic areas who presented for malaria testing in Calgary from 2013 to 2017.

Asymptomatic malaria in the clinical and public health context.

: Historically, the global community has focused on the control of symptomatic malaria. However, interest in asymptomatic malaria has been growing, particularly in the context of malaria elimination.: We undertook a comprehensive PubMed literature review on asymptomatic malaria as it relates to detection and elimination with emphasis between 2014 and 2019.

The Impact of Malaria on Liver Enzymes: A Retrospective Cohort Study (2010-2017).

Background: It is unclear if malaria causes deranged liver enzymes. This has implications both in clinical practice and in research, particularly for antimalarial drug development.

Method: We performed a retrospective cohort study of returning travelers (n = 4548) who underwent a malaria test and had enzymes measured within 31 days in Calgary, Canada, from 2010 to 2017.

Prevalence and Epidemiological Characteristics of Asymptomatic Malaria Based on Ultrasensitive Diagnostics: A Cross-sectional Study.

Background: As the global public-health objectives for malaria evolve from malaria control towards malaria elimination, there is increasing interest in the significance of asymptomatic infections and the optimal diagnostic test to identify them.

Method: We conducted a cross-sectional study of asymptomatic individuals (N = 562) to determine the epidemiological characteristics associated with asymptomatic malaria. Participants were tested by rapid diagnostic tests (CareStart, Standard Diagnostics [SD] Bioline, and Alere ultrasensitive RDT [uRDT]), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to determine malaria positivity.

Clinical Validation of a Commercial LAMP Test for Ruling out Malaria in Returning Travelers: A Prospective Diagnostic Trial.

The mainstay of malaria diagnosis relies on rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and microscopy, both of which lack analytical sensitivity. This leads to repeat testing to rule out malaria. A prospective diagnostic trial of the Meridian Malaria assay (loop-mediated isothermal amplification [LAMP]) was conducted comparing it with reference microscopy and RDTs (BinaxNOW Malaria) in returning travelers between June 2017 and January 2018.