Immunoglobulin A Vasculitis Associated With COVID-19 Infection Successfully Treated With Corticosteroid Regimen Without Relapse.

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) vasculitis is an autoimmune disease associated with bacterial and viral infections that typically presents with palpable purpura, arthralgia, abdominal pain, and renal involvement. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection has been found to trigger numerous autoimmune and rheumatologic conditions, including IgA vasculitis. We report a patient who had a COVID-19 infection and then two weeks later developed severe abdominal pain, nausea, emesis, diarrhea, hematochezia, palpable purpura, and arthralgia.

Accuracy of the tuberculosis point-of-care Alere determine lipoarabinomannan antigen diagnostic test using α-mannosidase treated and untreated urine in a cohort of people living with HIV in Guatemala.

Background: Improved point-of-care diagnostic tests for tuberculosis (TB) in severe immune suppressed people living with HIV (PLWH) are needed to decrease morbidity and mortality outcomes. The aim of the study is to evaluate the performance of the lipoarabinomannan antigen test (LAM-test) with and without α-mannosidase pre-treated urine in a cohort of PLWH in primary care clinics in Guatemala. We further determined TB incidence, and mortality rates and its risk factors in PLWH with TB symptoms.

Accuracy of Two Point-of-Care Tests for Rapid Diagnosis of Bovine Tuberculosis at Animal Level using Non-Invasive Specimens.

Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) testing in cattle requires a significant investment of time, equipment, and labor. Novel, rapid, cheaper and accurate methods are needed. The Alere Determine TB lipoarabinomannan antigen (LAM-test) is a World Health Organization-endorsed point-of-care urine test designed to detect active TB disease in humans.

Improved Alere Determine Lipoarabinomannan Antigen Detection Test for the Diagnosis of Human and Bovine Tuberculosis by Manipulating Urine and Milk.

Tuberculosis (TB) disease still kills 1-person every 21-seconds. Few TB diagnostic tests are considered truly appropriate for point of care settings. The WHO-endorsed immunodiagnostic Alere Determine Lipoarabinomannan Ag-test (LAM-test) detects Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex LAM in urine, and its use is recommended for TB diagnosis among HIV co-infected individuals with low CD4 T-cell counts.

Evaluation of the tuberculosis culture color plate test for rapid detection of drug susceptible and drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a resource-limited setting, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Timely diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) is limited in Ethiopia. We evaluated the performance of a low technology, thin layer agar, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) culture color plate (TB-CX) test with concurrent drug susceptibility testing (DST) to isoniazid (INH), rifampin (RIF), and pyrazinamide (PZA) directly from sputum specimens.

Selective delipidation of Mycobacterium bovis BCG enables direct pulmonary vaccination and enhances protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), is the leading killer due to an infectious organism. Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the only vaccine approved against TB, however, its efficacy against pulmonary TB is poor.

A Study of the Use and Outcomes From Respiratory Viral Testing at a Mid-Sized Children's Hospital.

This study was a retrospective analysis of inpatient and emergency department (ED) data on respiratory pathogen panel (RPP) testing between December 16, 2013, and December 15, 2015, at a mid-sized children's hospital. We assessed whether RPP decreases antibiotic days of therapy and length of hospital stay for pediatric patients with acute respiratory infections. In the inpatient population, patients testing positive with RPP were given fewer antibiotic days of therapy (2.

Low-cost diagnostic test for susceptible and drug-resistant tuberculosis in rural Malawi.

Background: Rural settings where molecular tuberculosis diagnostics are not currently available need easy-to-use tests that do not require additional processing or equipment. While acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear is the most common and often only tuberculosis diagnosis test performed in rural settings, it is labour intensive, has less-than-ideal sensitivity, and cannot assess tuberculosis drug susceptibility patterns.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of a multidrug-resistant (MDR) or extensively drug-resistant (XDR)-tuberculosis coloured agar-based culture test (tuberculosis CX-test), which can detect growth and evaluate for drug susceptibility to isoniazid, rifampicin and a fluoroquinolone (i.

Molecular composition of the alveolar lining fluid in the aging lung.

As we age, there is an increased risk for the development of pulmonary diseases, including infections, but few studies have considered changes in lung surfactant and components of the innate immune system as contributing factors to the increased susceptibility of the elderly to succumb to infections. We and others have demonstrated that human alveolar lining fluid (ALF) components, such as surfactant protein (SP)-A, SP-D, complement protein C3, and alveolar hydrolases, play a significant innate immune role in controlling microbial infections. However, there is a lack of information regarding the effect of increasing age on the level and function of ALF components in the lung.