Clinical utility of a cytomegalovirus-specific T cell assay in assessing the risk of post-prophylaxis cytomegalovirus infection and post-treatment relapse.

Introduction: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) causes significant morbidity in solid organ transplant recipients (SOTR). Measuring cell-mediated immunity (CMI) may inform the risk of CMV infection after antiviral prophylaxis and predict relapse after CMV treatment.

Methods: We serially assessed CMV CMI using the QuantiFERON-CMV assay (QF-CMV; Qiagen, Germantown, MD) in two cohorts of SOTRs: during valganciclovir prophylaxis and during treatment of CMV viremia.

Serologic Testing for Zika Virus: Comparison of Three Zika Virus IgM-Screening Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays and Initial Laboratory Experiences.

Serologic evaluation for Zika virus (ZIKV) infection currently includes an initial screen using an anti-ZIKV IgM antibody capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (MAC-ELISA) followed by supplemental testing of specimens with nonnegative results by a plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT). We compared the performance characteristics of three ELISAs for the detection of IgM class antibodies to ZIKV, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Zika MAC-ELISA, the InBios ZIKV MAC-ELISA, and the Euroimmun anti-Zika Virus IgM ELISA. Additionally, we present our initial experiences with ZIKV serologic testing from a national reference laboratory perspective.

Detection of (1, 3)-β-D-glucan in bronchoalveolar lavage and serum samples collected from immunocompromised hosts.

The incidence of invasive fungal infections (IFI) has increased in recent years, especially among immunocompromised hosts (ICH). In 2003, the Fungitell(®) assay received FDA clearance for the presumptive diagnosis of IFI using serum and detects (1-3)-β-D-glucan, which is a major cell wall component of certain fungi (e.g.