Enteric pathogen infection and consequences for child growth in young Aboriginal Australian children: a cross-sectional study.

Background: To determine the prevalence of enteric infections in Aboriginal children aged 0-2 years using conventional and molecular diagnostic techniques and to explore associations between the presence of pathogens and child growth.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of Aboriginal children (n = 62) residing in a remote community in Northern Australia, conducted from July 24th - October 30th 2017. Stool samples were analysed for organisms by microscopy (directly in the field and following fixation and storage in sodium-acetate formalin), and by qualitative PCR for viruses, bacteria and parasites and serology for Strongyloides-specific IgG.

Practical Guidance for Clinical Microbiology Laboratories: Laboratory Diagnosis of Parasites from the Gastrointestinal Tract.

This Practical Guidance for Clinical Microbiology document on the laboratory diagnosis of parasites from the gastrointestinal tract provides practical information for the recovery and identification of relevant human parasites. The document is based on a comprehensive literature review and expert consensus on relevant diagnostic methods. However, it does not include didactic information on human parasite life cycles, organism morphology, clinical disease, pathogenesis, treatment, or epidemiology and prevention.

The impact of anti-tuberculous antibiotics and corticosteroids on cytokine production in QuantiFERON-TB Gold In Tube assays.

Introduction: The ability to monitor and confirm adequate treatment of latent TB infection (LTBI) would be a major advance. The potential immunomodulatory effects of anti-tuberculous drugs and steroids need to be considered in assessing the utility of cytokine-based assays for this purpose.

Methods: We determined whether anti-tuberculous antibiotics or dexamethasone affect the production of IFN-γ and other potential cytokine biomarkers (TNF-α, IL-1ra, IL-2, IL-10, IL-13, IP-10, MIP-1β) in the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-IT) assay.

Latent Tuberculosis screening using interferon-gamma release assays in an Australian HIV-infected cohort: is routine testing worthwhile?

Background: There are limited data from high-income countries on the performance of interferon-gamma release assays in screening for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). We analyzed the routine application of the Quantiferon-TB Gold (QFT-G) assay to detect and predict latent and active TB among HIV-infected patients in Australia.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study included all HIV-infected patients attending the Melbourne Sexual Health Service between March 2003 and February 2011 who were screened for LTBI using QFT-G.

Molecular subtyping of Treponema pallidum during a local syphilis epidemic in men who have sex with men in Melbourne, Australia.

Treponema pallidum is the causative agent of syphilis, a sexually transmitted infection of significant public health importance. Since 2000 there has been a marked increase in the number of cases of syphilis infections notified in Victoria, Australia, with the majority of cases occurring in men who have sex with men (MSM) and the highest incidence being in HIV-infected MSM. The molecular subtyping method described by Pillay et al.

Undiagnosed and potentially lethal parasite infections among immigrants and refugees in Australia.

Intestinal parasite infections are a major cause of ill health in many resource-poor countries. This study compares the types and rates of these infections and their risk factors in recently arrived and long-term immigrants in Australia. Cross-sectional surveys of 127 East African and 234 Cambodian immigrants and refugees were undertaken in 2000 and 2002, respectively, to assess the burden of intestinal parasites and collect demographic information.

An outbreak of Legionnaires' disease at the Melbourne Aquarium, April 2000: investigation and case-control studies.

Objective: To investigate the source and risk factors associated with Australia's largest outbreak of Legionnaires' disease.

Design And Setting: Epidemiological and environmental investigation of cases of Legionnaires' disease associated with visits to the Melbourne Aquarium; two case-control studies to confirm the outbreak source and to investigate risk factors for infection, respectively.

Participants: Patients with confirmed Legionnaires' disease who visited the Melbourne Aquarium between 11 and 27 April 2000 were compared (i) with control participants from the community, and (ii) with control participants selected from other visitors to the Aquarium during this period.

An assessment of the Roche Amplicor Chlamydia trachomatis/Neisseria gonorrhoeae multiplex PCR assay in routine diagnostic use on a variety of specimen types.

The Roche Cobas Amplicor Chlamydia trachomatis/Neisseria gonorrhoeae polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay can simultaneously detect both C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae, and has been cleared by United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the testing of endocervical and urethral swabs and urine specimens.