Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak on a Merchant Vessel, Indian Ocean, Australia, 2015.

Two cases of Legionnaires' disease and 1 of Pontiac fever occurred among the crew of a merchant ship operating off the shores of Australia. PCR assays identified potential sources in the ship's cabins. Modification of maritime regulations for Legionnaires' disease prevention in commercial vessels is needed for nonpassenger merchant ships.

Diagnosis of pertussis using nasopharyngeal IgA and polymerase chain reaction in specimens from outpatients in Australia.

We assessed IgA antibodies and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for diagnosis of pertussis in nasopharyngeal aspiration (NPA) samples from outpatients in Australia.   A total of 1700 patients (849 adults, 851 children) from Western Australia and the Northern Territory fulfilled the laboratory case definition for pertussis between 2004 and 2013: 732 specimens were positive by NPA IgA alone, 559 by PCR alone, and 409 by both tests. Overall, 968 cases (56.

Intussusception is associated with the detection of adenovirus C, enterovirus B and rotavirus in a rotavirus vaccinated population.

Background: Intussusception, a condition where one segment of intestine invaginates into another, occurs predominantly in infants and young children. A number of potential causes have been identified including infectious agents and rotavirus vaccination. Following the introduction of rotavirus vaccination of infants in Western Australia, a laboratory surveillance programme testing notified intussusception cases for infectious agents was commenced.

Real-time PCR assay for detection of blaZ genes in Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates.

The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute recommends consideration of blaZ gene testing for cases of serious Staphylococcus aureus infection. Conventional PCR methods have demonstrated superior sensitivity and specificity to phenotypic tests. To our knowledge, this is the first description of real-time PCR detection of the blaZ gene.

A prolonged mumps outbreak among highly vaccinated Aboriginal people in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Objective: To describe a prolonged outbreak of mumps in the Kimberley region of Western Australia in 2007-2008.

Design: Descriptive analysis of all mumps cases notified to the WA Notifiable Infectious Diseases Database for the period 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008.

Main Outcome Measures: Notified cases of mumps by patients' place of residence, age, Indigenous or non-Indigenous ethnicity, vaccination status and method of diagnosis.

Melioidosis risk in a tropical industrial environment.

An investigation into the risk of occupationally acquired melioidosis at a mine site in northern Australia found that 45 (13%) of 345 staff had serologic evidence of exposure and 14 (4%) had recent exposure to Burkholderia pseudomallei or closely related bacteria. There was only one culture-confirmed case of melioidosis in mine staff during the study period. The lack of overt infection directly attributable to work activities despite detectable B.

Expanded range of Burkholderia species in Australia.

This study describes the isolation and characterization of several Burkholderia species from soil in northern Australia. Phenotypic and molecular tests indicate that these isolates belong to the species Burkholderia thailandensis and Burkholderia ubonensis. These observations significantly extend our knowledge of the geographic distribution of these 2 species.

A hospital-wide study of the impact of introducing a personal data assistant-augmented blood culture round.

Blood culture is the cornerstone of an established aetiological diagnosis of septicaemia. The automated blood culture systems used for this purpose have changed little in the last decade, and the clinical value of results depends on a variety of factors, including pre- and post-analytical variables. Growing scepticism over the value of blood culture results and pressure for the introduction of molecular detection systems have prompted a critical path analysis of pre-, peri- and post-analytical stages in the generation of positive blood culture results.