The Use of Dried Blood Spots: A Potential Tool for the Introduction of a Neonatal Screening Program for Sickle Cell Anemia in Zambia.

Context: Sickle cell disease is a group of hemoglobin (Hb) disorders resulting from the inheritance of the sickle β-globin gene. It is the most common pathological Hb mutation worldwide with 75% being born in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Aims: This study aims to determine if dried blood spots (DBSs) can be used for diagnosis of sickle cell in newborns.

Laboratory-based clinical audit as a tool for continual improvement: an example from CSF chemistry turnaround time audit in a South-African teaching hospital.

Introduction: Timeliness of laboratory results is crucial to patient care and outcome. Monitoring turnaround times (TAT), especially for emergency tests, is important to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of laboratory services. Laboratory-based clinical audits reveal opportunities for improving quality.

Differential changes in expression of intestinal antimicrobial peptide genes during Ascaris lumbricoides infection in Zambian adults do not respond to helminth eradication.

Background: Intestinal helminthiasis modulates immune responses to vaccines and environmental allergens. To explore the impact on intestinal host defense, we assessed expression of antimicrobial peptide genes, together with T cell subset markers and cytokines, in patients with ascariasis before and after treatment.

Methods: Case patients (n = 27) and control subjects (n = 44) underwent enteroscopy for collection of jejunal biopsy specimens, which were used in quantitative, real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction for a range of host defense genes; blood samples were also analyzed simultaneously.