Performance of the Cue COVID-19 point-of-care molecular test: insights from a multi-site clinic service model.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical need for rapid and accurate molecular diagnostic testing. The Cue COVID-19 Point-of-Care Test (Cue POCT) is a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), authorized by Health Canada and FDA as a POCT for SARS-CoV-2 detection. Cue POCT was deployed at a network of clinics in Ontario, Canada with = 13,848 patrons tested between 17 July 2021 and 31 January 2022.

Tolerance to different toilet paper preparations: toxicological and allergological aspects.

Background And Design: A controlled open trial was performed in 40 individuals suffering from chronic perianal eczema. Various toilet paper preparations representing the conventional type made of pure cellulose, the recycled and the moist type were investigated using the patch test as were allergens possibly related to toilet paper. In addition, a chronic use test and a repeated rubbing test were performed with a conventional and a recycled toilet paper preparation.

A new combined diagnostic approach to clinically and microscopically suspected onychomycosis unproven by culture.

In clinical practice the suspicion of onychomycosis in a diseased nail plate is not infrequently substantiated by microscopic evaluation of scrapings using a KOH preparation but not by culture. As this may be partly due to inadequate sampling an alternative sampling method may in principle be beneficial. Based on good anecdotal reports of high-speed fraising this method was used in 24 patients.

Dermatophytes on the feet of HIV-infected patients: frequency, species distribution, localization and antimicrobial susceptibility.

Skin scrapings from the toe clefts, soles and nail plates of 138 HIV-infected patients at various stages were examined for the presence of dermatophytes using both microscopy and culture. Dermatophytes, in particular Trichophyton rubrum, could be grown in 58 cases (42%). Although cultures were more often positive in late stages of disease, there was no close correlation with the clinical stage or the T4/T8 ratio.