A multicentre verification study of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus assay.

Objectives: The aim of this verification study was to compare the QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus) to the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In Tube (QFT-GIT). The new QFT-Plus test contains an extra antigen tube which, according to the manufacturer additionally elicits a CD8 T-cell response above the CD4 T-cell response. We assessed the value of this tube in detecting recent latent tuberculosis infections.

[An outbreak of respiratory tract infections in an institution: combating Mycoplasma pneumoniae in mentally disabled persons].

Background: In October 2013, the Municipal Health Service, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, was notified of an outbreak of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in an institution for mentally disabled persons.

Case Description: A total of 58 potential infections were identified, of which 12 were confirmed in the laboratory, 5 with PCR testing on throat swabs, 3 by an increased IgM value in the serum, 2 via IgM seroconversion and 2 with an increased IgG titer in consecutive serum samples. To combat the outbreak, measures were taken in collaboration with the municipal health service.

September through October 2010 multi-centre study in the Netherlands examining laboratory ability to detect enterovirus 68, an emerging respiratory pathogen.

During September and October 2010, the Dutch Public Health Institute detected an enterovirus (EV) 68 (EV68) epidemic in the Netherlands through general practitioner-based surveillance of acute respiratory infections. EV68 shares phenotypic and genotypic properties with human rhinovirus (HRV). Despite increased EV and HRV detections, Dutch clinical laboratories did not identify EV68.

Reciprocal changes of naïve and effector/memory CD8+ T lymphocytes in chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

Persistent viruses, such as cytomegalovirus or human immunodeficiency virus, cause major perturbations of CD8+ T-lymphocyte subpopulations. To test whether chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) could also be responsible for such modifications, we analyzed the expression of CD27, CD28, CCR7, and perforin in blood CD8+ T lymphocytes. In comparison to healthy subjects and patients recovering from acute hepatitis B, chronic hepatitis B patients showed higher percentages of naïve CD8+ T lymphocytes (CD45RA+CD27+CD28+), and lower percentages of intermediately-differentiated CD27+CD28⁻CD8+ T cells.

In vitro use of autologous dendritic cells improves detection of T cell responses to hepatitis B virus (HBV) antigens.

T lymphocyte responses to hepatitis B virus (HBV) core antigen (HBcAg) are vigorous and easily detectable in vitro during recovery from acute hepatitis B but significantly weaker in patients with chronic HBV infection. In contrast, T cell responses to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) are almost undetectable during infection and even in a substantial fraction of subjects receiving vaccination with HBsAg. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the use of dendritic cells (DCs) in an in vitro assay could increase the detection of HBV-specific T cells in these conditions.