TEMPORAL EFFICACY AND STERILITY TESTING OF POVIDONE-IODINE FROM AN OPEN BOTTLE.

Purpose: To investigate the temporal efficacy and sterility of povidone-iodine (PI) against bacteria associated with postinjection endophthalmitis in an in vitro study.

Methods: A single PI bottle was opened and tested for sterility and antibacterial efficacy. Povidone-iodine from the open bottle was inoculated onto a blood agar plate and evaluated for growth 24 hours later to test sterility; this was repeated for five consecutive days.

Multicenter Evaluation of the Cepheid Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2/Flu/RSV Test.

With the approach of respiratory virus season in the Northern Hemisphere, clinical microbiology and public health laboratories will need rapid diagnostic assays to distinguish severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections for diagnosis and surveillance. In this study, the clinical performance of the Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2/Flu/RSV test (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) for nasopharyngeal swab specimens was evaluated in four centers: Johns Hopkins Medical Microbiology Laboratory, Northwell Health Laboratories, NYC Public Health Laboratory, and Los Angeles County/University of Southern California (LAC+USC) Medical Center. A total of 319 nasopharyngeal swab specimens, positive for SARS-CoV-2 ( = 75), influenza A virus ( = 65), influenza B virus ( = 50), or RSV ( = 38) or negative ( = 91) by the standard-of-care nucleic acid amplification tests at each site, were tested using the Cepheid panel test.