Swab

Salmonella is considered one of the most common foodborne pathogens worldwide. The annual number of hospitalizations and deaths related to zoonotic salmonellosis, which is transmitted from animals to humans and infects poultry and meat, is expected to be significant. Hence, the primary aims of this research were to isolate and characterize Salmonella species obtained from an integrated poultry company and identify some virulence, and antimicrobial resistance, with a specific concern about colistin resistance genes...

Retrospective surveillance leveraging male rectal swab sample remnants from I Want The Kit from July 2021 through October 2023, identified one symptomatic and one asymptomatic mpox case at the peak of transmission in 2022. Although sporadic cases continue to be reported in Maryland, additional asymptomatic cases were not identified in this leveraged surveillance.

BACKGROUND: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common cause of upper and lower respiratory tract infections. This study aimed to explore the prevalence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other respiratory viruses in Bulgaria, characterize the genetic diversity of RSV strains, and perform amino acid sequence analyses of RSV surface and internal proteins. METHODS: Clinical and epidemiological data and nasopharyngeal swabs were prospectively collected from patients with acute respiratory infections between October 2020 and May 2023...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection usually affects the respiratory system; however, a number of atypical manifestations of this disease have also been reported, especially in children. The present study reports a case of a 12-year-old presenting with right unilateral parotitis and sialadenitis and SARS-CoV-2 infection. The young patient, after a 3-day history of fever, was brought to our clinic (Polyclinic University Hospital 'G. Rodolico', Catania, Italy) for the sudden onset of unilateral parotitis accompanied by sialadenitis and hyperaemia of the skin, which was tender to touch...

INTRODUCTION: Neonatal calf diarrhea (NCD) is one of the most common diseases in calves, causing huge economic and productivity losses to the bovine industry worldwide. The main pathogens include bovine rotavirus (BRV), bovine coronavirus (BCoV), and Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) K99. Since multiple infectious agents can be involved in calf diarrhea, detecting each causative agent by traditional methods is laborious and expensive. METHODS: In this study, we developed a one-step multiplex Real-Time PCR assay to simultaneously detect BRV, BCoV, and E...

The emerging monkeypox virus (MPXV) has raised global health concern, thereby highlighting the need for rapid, sensitive, and easy-to-use diagnostics. Here, we develop a single-step CRISPR-based diagnostic platform, termed SCOPE (Streamlined CRISPR On Pod Evaluation platform), for field-deployable ultrasensitive detection of MPXV in resource-limited settings. The viral nucleic acids are rapidly released from the rash fluid swab, oral swab, saliva, and urine samples in 2 min via a streamlined viral lysis protocol, followed by a 10-min single-step recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA)-CRISPR/Cas13a reaction...

INTRODUCTION: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a causative virus for the common cold worldwide and can result in hospitalisations and even death in patients with high-risk conditions and older adults. However, the relationship between RSV or other incidental respiratory infections and acute exacerbations of underlying conditions has not been well investigated. The primary objective of this study is to estimate RSV prevalence, risk factors for adverse outcomes or hospitalisation and their effect on the hospital course of patients with acute respiratory symptoms admitted from emergency departments...

Regular monitoring of bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics in clinical settings is key for ascertaining the current trends as well as re-establish empirical therapy. This study aimed to determine bacterial contaminants and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns from medical equipment, inanimate surfaces and clinical samples obtained from Thika Level V Hospital (TLVH), Thika, in Central Kenya. Three hundred and five samples were collected between the period of March 2021 to November 2021 and comprised urine, pus swabs, catheter swabs, stool, and environmental samples...

The ongoing multi-country outbreak of monkeypox virus (MPXV) has continuously attracted global attention, highlighting the critical need for timely and accurate methods to detect MPXV and differentiate its clades. Herein, we devised a novel multiplex ET-PCR (endonuclease restriction-mediated real-time PCR) assay that integrates PCR amplification, restriction endonuclease cleavage and real-time fluorescence detection to diagnose MPXV infection and distinguish the Congo Basin and West African MPXV strains. In the MPXV ET-PCR system, three sets of specific primers were designed for MPXV, Congo Basin and West African strains...

INTRODUCTION: Proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use has been associated with an increased risk of gastrointestinal and upper respiratory infections in children. There are limited longitudinal data on the effect of PPI in children. The goal of this prospective observational study was to compare the stool and oropharyngeal microbiome of children before and after starting PPIs. METHODS: We prospectively recruited participants from a gastroenterology clinic. Consented pariticpants provided stool samples and oropharyngeal swabs at baseline and after eight weeks of PPI therapy...

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was a highly transmissible and pathogenic coronavirus and it emerged in late 2019. SARS-CoV-2 had caused a pandemic of acute respiratory disease and its name was coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It threatened human health and public safety. This study would analyze and evaluate two different kinds of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection reagents which could provide value for accurate detection. METHODS: 80 patients were randomly selected in the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University in December 2022 and 80 oropharyngeal swabs were collected...

INTRODUCTION: Endemic human coronaviruses (eHCoVs) are found worldwide and usually result in mild to moderate upper respiratory tract infections. They can lead to more severe illnesses such as croup, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia in vulnerable populations. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, information on HCoV prevalence and incidence and clinical impact of co-infections of HCoV with SARS-CoV-2 was lacking. OBJECTIVES: Thus, this study aimed to determine the prevalence and clinical significance of infections caused by eHCoVs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria...

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) strains, while falling under a single serotype, are classified into distinct genotypes. Genotype VII virulent NDVs pose a significant threat to poultry due to their association with high mortality rates and economic losses. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of three commercial live vaccines based on genotype II against genotype VII virulent NDV (vNDV) in specific pathogen-free (SPF) chickens. Forty one-day-old chickens were randomly divided into four groups ( n = 10) and inoculated with one dose of each ND pneumotropic vaccine-B1, Clone...

INTRODUCTION: Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the most frequent causes of respiratory infections in children under 5 years of age, but its socioeconomic impact and burden in primary care settings is still little studied. METHODS: During the 2022/2023 winter season, 55 pediatricians from five Italian regions participated in our community-based study. They collected a nasal swab for RSV molecular test from 650 patients under the age of 5 with acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and performed a baseline questionnaire...

BACKGROUND: Genital infection with Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) is a major public health issue worldwide. It can lead to cervicitis, urethritis, and infertility. This study was conducted to determine the characteristics of genital C. trachomatis infection among women attending to the infertility and gynecology clinics. METHODS: Endocervical swabs were collected from 8,221 women for C. trachomatis nucleotide screening and genotyping, while serum samples were collected for C...

INTRODUCTION: Despite their role being historically overlooked, environmental surfaces have been shown to play a key role in the transmission of pathogens causative of healthcare-associated infections (HCAI). To guide infection prevention and control (IPC) interventions and inform clinical risk assessments, more needs to be known about microbial surface bioburden. AIMS: To identify the trends in culturable bacterial contamination across communal touch sites over time in a hospital setting...

BACKGROUND: Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 from rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) can bolster viral genomic surveillance efforts; however, approaches to maximise and standardise pathogen genome recovery from RDTs remain underdeveloped. We aimed to systematically optimise the elution of genetic material from RDT components and to evaluate the efficacy of RDT sequencing for outbreak investigation. METHODS: In this laboratory and cohort-based study we seeded RDTs with inactivated SARS-CoV-2 to optimise the elution of genomic material from RDT lateral flow strips...

The sensitive detection of foodborne pathogenic and rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) is of great significance. This paper reports the enzyme-triggered in situ synthesis of yellow emitting silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) and the detection of Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 in food samples and the rapid AST. The rapid counting of E. coli O157:H7 has been achieved through direct visual observation, equipment detection, and smartphone digitalization. A simple detection platform based on smartphone senses and cotton swabs has been established...

The highly infectious characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), highlight the necessity of sensitive and rapid nucleocapsid (N) protein-based antigen testing for early triage and epidemic management. In this study, a colorimetric and photothermal dual-mode lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) platform for the rapid and sensitive detection of the SARS-CoV-2 N protein was developed based on gold nanorods (GNRs), which possessed tunable local surface plasma resonance (LSPR) absorption peaks from UV-visible to near-infrared (NIR)...

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of Group A streptococcus (GAS) carriage among adults is studied less than in children. The variability of reported carriage rates is considerably large and differs among diverse geographic areas and populations. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prevalence of GAS carriage among adults in Israel. METHODS: In this prospective study, conducted in a large healthcare maintenance organization in Israel, we obtained pharyngeal cultures from adults attending the clinic without upper respiratory tract complaints or fever...