Cytomegalovirus: a retrospective comparative analysis of fetal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging in predicting fetal outcome

status: publishe

Molecular detection of SARS-COV-2 in exhaled breath at the point-of-need

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has highlighted the need for improved technologies to help control the spread of contagious pathogens. While rapid point-of-need testing plays a key role in strategies to rapidly identify and isolate infectious patients, current test approaches have significant shortcomings related to assay limitations and sample type. Direct quantification of viral shedding in exhaled particles may offer a better rapid testing approach, since SARS-CoV-2 is believed to spread mainly by aerosols. It assesses contagiousness directly, the sample is easy and comfortable to obtain, sampling can be standardized, and the limited sample volume lends itself to a fast and sensitive analysis. In view of these benefits, we developed and tested an approach where exhaled particles are efficiently sampled using inertial impaction in a micromachined silicon chip, followed by an RT-qPCR molecular assay to detect SARS-CoV-2 shedding. Our portable, silicon impactor allowed for the efficient capture (>85%) of respiratory particles down to 300 nm without the need for additional equipment. We demonstrate using both conventional off-chip and in-situ PCR directly on the silicon chip that sampling subjects' breath in less than a minute yields sufficient viral RNA to detect infections as early as standard sampling methods. A longitudinal study revealed clear differences in the temporal dynamics of viral load for nasopharyngeal swab, saliva, breath, and antigen tests. Overall, after an infection, the breath-based test remains positive during the first week but is the first to consistently report a negative result, putatively signalling the end of contagiousness and further emphasizing the potential of this tool to help manage the spread of airborne respiratory infections

Cov-MS: a community-based template assay for mass-spectrometry-based protein detection in SARS-CoV-2 patients

Rising population density and global mobility are among the reasons why pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spread so rapidly across the globe. The policy response to such pandemics will always have to include accurate monitoring of the spread, as this provides one of the few alternatives to total lockdown. However, COVID-19 diagnosis is currently performed almost exclusively by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Although this is efficient, automatable, and acceptably cheap, reliance on one type of technology comes with serious caveats, as illustrated by recurring reagent and test shortages. We therefore developed an alternative diagnostic test that detects proteolytically digested SARS-CoV-2 proteins using mass spectrometry (MS). We established the Cov-MS consortium, consisting of 15 academic laboratories and several industrial partners to increase applicability, accessibility, sensitivity, and robustness of this kind of SARS-CoV-2 detection. This, in turn, gave rise to the Cov-MS Digital Incubator that allows other laboratories to join the effort, navigate, and share their optimizations and translate the assay into their clinic. As this test relies on viral proteins instead of RNA, it provides an orthogonal and complementary approach to RT-PCR using other reagents that are relatively inexpensive and widely available, as well as orthogonally skilled personnel and different instruments. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD022550.Analytical BioScience

Microbiological and clinical features of Corynebacterium urealyticum: urinary tract stones and genomics as the Rosetta Stone

Soriano F, Tauch A. Microbiological and clinical features of Corynebacterium urealyticum: urinary tract stones and genomics as the Rosetta Stone. CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTION. 2008;14(7):632-643.Corynebacterium urealyticum, formerly known as coryneform CDC group D2, was first recognized to be involved in human infections 30 years ago. It is a slow-growing, lipophilic, asaccharolytic and usually multidrug-resistant organism with potent urease activity. Its cell wall peptidoglycan, menaquinone, mycolic and cellular fatty acid composition is consistent with that of the genus Corynebacterium. DNA-DNA hybridization studies and 16S rDNA sequencing analysis have been used to determine the degree of relatedness of C. urealyticum to other corynebacterial species. The genome of the type strain consists of a circular chromosome with a size of 2 369 219 bp and a mean G + C content of 64.2%, and analysis of its genome explains the bacterium's lifestyle. C. urealyticum is a common skin colonizer of hospitalized elderly individuals who are receiving broad-spectrum antibiotics. It is an opportunistic pathogen causing mainly acute cystitis, pyelonephritis, encrusted cystitis, and encrusted pyelitis. More infrequently, it causes other infections, but mainly in patients with urological diseases. Infections are more common in males than in females, and treatment requires administration of antibiotics active against the organism in vitro, mainly glycopeptides, as well as surgical intervention, the latter mostly in cases of chronic infection. Mortality directly associated with infection by this organism is not frequent, but encrusted pyelitis in kidney-recipient patients may cause graft loss. The outcome of infection by this organism is reasonably good if the microbiological diagnosis is made and patients are treated appropriately

A Global Declaration on Appropriate Use of Antimicrobial Agents across the Surgical Pathway

This declaration, signed by an interdisciplinary task force of 234 experts from 83 different countries with different backgrounds, highlights the threat posed by antimicrobial resistance and the need for appropriate use of antibiotic agents and antifungal agents in hospitals worldwide especially focusing on surgical infections. As such, it is our intent to raise awareness among healthcare workers and improve antimicrobial prescribing. To facilitate its dissemination, the declaration was translated in different languages