Status, quality and specific needs of Ebola virus diagnostic capacity and capability in laboratories of the two European preparedness laboratory networks EMERGE and EVD-LabNet.

From December 2013 to March 2016, West Africa experienced the largest Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreak to date, leading to a European-wide activation of laboratory preparedness and response. At the end of the outbreak, laboratories associated with the two European preparedness networks of expert laboratories EMERGE JA and EVD-LabNet were invited to participate in an assessment of the response of European laboratories to the EBOV outbreak, to identify learning points and training needs to strengthen future outbreak responses. Response aspects assessed included diagnostics, biorisk management and quality assurance. The overall coverage of EBOV diagnostics in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) was found to be adequate although some points for quality improvement were identified. These included the need for relevant International Organization for Standardization (ISO) accreditation, the provision of EBOV external quality assessments (EQA) in periods where there is no emergency, facilitating access to controls and knowledge, biorisk management without compromising biosafety and a rapid public health response, and the need for both sustained and contingency funding for preparedness and response activities.

Recurrent tuberculosis in Finland 1995-2013: a clinical and epidemiological cohort study.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the epidemiology and prevalence of potential risk factors of tuberculosis (TB) recurrence in a population-based registry cohort of 8084 TB cases between 1995 and 2013. METHODS: An episode of recurrent TB was defined as a case re-registered in the National Infectious Disease Register at least 360 days from the date of the initial registration. A regression model was used to estimate risk factors for recurrence in the national cohort. To describe the presence of known risk factors for recurrence, patient records of the recurrent cases were reviewed for TB diagnosis confirmation, potential factors affecting the risk of recurrence, the treatment regimens given and the outcomes of the TB episodes preceding the recurrence. RESULTS: TB registry data included 84 patients, for whom more than 1 TB episode had been registered. After a careful clinical review, 50 recurrent TB cases (0.6%) were identified. The overall incidence of recurrence was 113 cases per 100,000 person-years over a median follow up of 6.1 years. For the first 2 years, the incidence of recurrence was over 200/100000. In multivariate analysis of the national cohort, younger age remained an independent risk factor at all time points, and male gender and pulmonary TB at 18 years of follow-up. Among the 50 recurrent cases, 35 patients (70%) had received adequate treatment for the first episode; in 12 cases (24%) the treating physician and in two cases (4%) the patient had discontinued treatment prematurely. In one case (2%) the treatment outcome could not be assessed. CONCLUSIONS: In Finland, the rate of recurrent TB was low despite no systematic directly observed therapy. The first 2 years after a TB episode had the highest risk for recurrence. Among the recurrent cases, the observed premature discontinuation of treatment in the first episode in nearly one fourth of the recurrent cases calls for improved training of the physicians.

[Recurrent epidemics of gastroenteritis caused by norovirus GI.3 in a small hotel]. / Norovirus GI.3 aiheutti toistuvia vatsatautiepidemioita pienessä hotellissa kesälä 2013.

BACKGROUND: Recurrent cases of gastroenteritis occurred in a small hotel. The causative agent of disease could not be detected. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The cause and the source of the disease were established through epidemiological investigations and laboratory diagnosis. RESULTS: The causative agent of the disease was norovirus GI.3. Norovirus GI was detected in the water from the well and on surfaces at the hotel. CONCLUSIONS: Both epidemiological investigations and laboratory diagnostics are needed in resolving epidemics. Continuous development of laboratory methods is important.

The implementation of an external quality assurance method for point- of- care tests for HIV and syphilis in Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: External quality assurance (EQA) programmes, which are routinely used in laboratories, have not been widely implemented for point-of- care tests (POCTs). A study was performed in ten health centres in Tanzania, to implement the use of dried blood spots (DBS) as an EQA method for HIV and syphilis (POCTs). METHOD: DBS samples were collected for retesting at a reference laboratory and the results compared to the POCT results obtained at the clinic. In total, 2341 DBS samples were collected from 10 rural health facilities over a period of nine months, of which 92.5% were correctly collected and spotted. RESULTS: The EQA method was easily implemented by healthcare workers under routine conditions in Northern Tanzania. For HIV, 967 out of 972 samples (99.5%) were concordant between DBS and POCT results. For syphilis, the sensitivity of syphilis tests varied between clinics with a median of 96% (25th and 75th quartile; 95-98%). The specificity of syphilis POCT was consistent compared to laboratory based test using DBS, with a median of 96% (25th and 75th quartiles; 95-98%). CONCLUSION: Overall, the quality of testing varied at clinics and EQA results can be used to identify clinics where healthcare workers require remedial training, suggesting the necessity for stringent quality assurance programmes for POC testing. As Tanzania embarks on scaling up HIV and syphilis testing, DBS can be a useful and robust tool to monitor the quality of testing performed by healthcare workers and trigger corrective action to ensure accuracy of test results.

The development and validation of dried blood spots for external quality assurance of syphilis serology.

BACKGROUND: Syphilis causes up to 1,500,000 congenital syphilis cases annually. These could be prevented if all pregnant women were screened, and those with syphilis treated with a single dose of penicillin before 28 weeks gestation. In recent years, rapid point-of-care tests have allowed greater access to syphilis screening, especially in rural or remote areas, but the lack of quality assurance of rapid testing has been a concern. We determined the feasibility of using dried blood spots (DBS) as specimens for quality assurance of syphilis serological assays. METHODS: We developed DBS extraction protocols for use with Treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay (TPPA), Treponema pallidum haemagglutination assay (TPHA) and an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and compared the results with those using matching plasma samples from the same patient. RESULTS: Since DBS samples showed poor performance with TPHA and EIA (TPHA sensitivity was 50.5% (95% confidence interval: 39.9-61.2%) and EIA specificity was 50.4% (95% CI: 43.7-57.1%), only the DBS TPPA was used in the final evaluation. DBS TPPA showed an sensitivity of 95.5% (95% CI: 91.3-98.0%) and a specificity of 99.0% (95% CI: 98.1-99.5%) compared to TPPA using plasma samples as a reference. CONCLUSION: DBS samples can be recommended for use with TPPA, and may be of value for external quality assurance of point-of-care syphilis testing.

An International External Quality Assessment Scheme to Assess the Diagnostic Performance of Polymerase Chain Reaction Detection of Acanthamoeba Keratitis.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the variation in methods and to determine whether an External Quality Assessment Scheme (EQAS) for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection of Acanthamoeba keratitis is valuable for the diagnostic process. METHODS: A multicenter EQAS was introduced, covering 16 diagnostic laboratories. Using Acanthamoeba castellanii ATCC strain 30010, 3 sets of samples were prepared, containing different amounts of DNA, cysts, or trophozoites. Samples were masked and sent to the participants with instructions for use and a questionnaire concerning the applied methodologies. Special attention in this questionnaire was given to the used pretreatment methods to assess existing variations in these procedures. RESULTS: A large variation in the methodologies and substantial differences in the diagnostic performance were found between participants. In contrast to the DNA samples where all participants had a perfect score, several false negative results were reported for the samples containing cysts or trophozoites. Only 9 participants had an optimal score, whereas one participant reported all samples as negative, one participant reported failures due to inhibition, and the other 5 reported in total 7 false negative results. A clear correlation was noticed between the PCR detection rate and the number of cysts or trophozoites in the sample. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that a pretreatment procedure can be a risky step in PCR-based detections of Acanthamoeba , but it improves the sensitivity and reliability, especially of samples containing cysts. Therefore, participation in an EQAS is informative for routine diagnostic laboratories and can assist in improving the laboratory procedures used for the diagnosis of Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Microarray-based identification of clinically relevant vaginal bacteria in relation to bacterial vaginosis.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to examine the use of a tailor-made DNA microarray containing probes representing the vaginal microbiota to examine bacterial vaginosis. STUDY DESIGN: One hundred one women attending a health center for HIV testing in South Africa were enrolled. Stained, liquid-based cytology slides were scored for bacterial vaginosis. An inventory of organisms was obtained using microarray technology, probing genera associated with bacterial vaginosis in more detail, namely Gardnerella, Atopobium, Dialister, Leptotrichia, Megasphaera, Mobiluncus, Peptostreptococcus, Prevotella, and Sneathia. RESULTS: Of 101 women, 34 were diagnosed positive for bacterial vaginosis. This condition was associated with an increased microbial diversity. It is no longer useful to base the diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis on Gardnerella alone. Rather, its presence with Leptotrichia and Prevotella species, and especially Atopobium was more indicative of an aberrant state of the vaginal flora. CONCLUSION: To understand the vaginal microbiota in more detail, microarray-based identification can be used after microscopic scoring.

A two minute liquid based sample preparation for rapid SARS-CoV2 real-time PCR screening: A multicentre evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Apart from major health concerns associated to the SARS-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, also the diagnostic workflow encountered serious problems. Limited availability of kit components, buffers and even plastics has resulted in suboptimal testing procedures worldwide. Alternative workflows have been implemented to overcome these difficulties. Recently a liquid based sample prep has been launched as solution to overcome limitations in relation to nucleic acid extraction. OBJECTIVE: Multicenter evaluation of the QIAprep& Viral RNA UM kit (QIA P&A) for rapid sample preparation and real-time PCR detection of SARS-CoV-2 in comparison to standardized laboratory testing methods. STUDY DESIGN: Selected samples of the routine diagnostic workflow at Clinical Microbiology Laboratories of four Dutch hospitals have been subjected to the rapid QIA P&A protocol and the results have been compared to routine diagnostic data. RESULTS: Combining results of manual and automated procedures, a total of 377 clinical samples of which 202 had been tested positive with a wide range of CT values, showed almost complete concordance in the QIA P&A assay for samples up to CT values of 33 with one exception of CT 31. Prospectively 60 samples were tested and also showed 100 % concordance with 5 positives. The method has been automated by two centres. CONCLUSIONS: Despite an input of only 8 µL of clinical sample, the QIA P&A kit showed good performance for sample preparation and amplification of SARS-CoV-2 and can contribute as a rapid molecular testing strategy in managing the CoV-2 pandemic.

Causes of fever in primary care in Southeast Asia and the performance of C-reactive protein in discriminating bacterial from viral pathogens.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated causes of fever in the primary levels of care in Southeast Asia, and evaluated whether C-reactive protein (CRP) could distinguish bacterial from viral pathogens. METHODS: Blood and nasopharyngeal swab specimens were taken from children and adults with fever (>37.5 °C) or history of fever (<14 days) in Thailand and Myanmar. RESULTS: Of 773 patients with at least one blood or nasopharyngeal swab specimen collected, 227 (29.4%) had a target organism detected. Influenza virus type A was detected in 85/227 cases (37.5%), followed by dengue virus (30 cases, 13.2%), respiratory syncytial virus (24 cases, 10.6%) and Leptospira spp. (nine cases, 4.0%). Clinical outcomes were similar between patients with a bacterial or a viral organism, regardless of antibiotic prescription. CRP was higher among patients with a bacterial organism compared with those with a viral organism (median 18 mg/L, interquartile range [10-49] versus 10 mg/L [≤8-22], p = 0.003), with an area under the curve of 0.65 (95% CI 0.55-0.75). CONCLUSIONS: Serious bacterial infections requiring antibiotics are an exception rather than the rule in the first line of care. CRP testing could assist in ruling out such cases in settings where diagnostic uncertainty is high and routine antibiotic prescription is common. The original CRP randomised controlled trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02758821.

Dried fluid spots for HIV type-1 viral load and resistance genotyping: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Dried spots on filter paper made of whole blood (dried blood spots; DBS), plasma (dried plasma spots; DPS) or serum (dried serum spots) hold promise as an affordable and practical alternative specimen source to liquid plasma for HIV type-1 (HIV-1) viral load determination and drug resistance genotyping in the context of the rapidly expanding access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-1-infected individuals in low- and middle-income countries. This report reviews the current evidence for their utility. METHODS: We systematically searched the English language literature published before 2009 on Medline, the websites of the World Health Organization and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, abstracts presented at relevant international conferences and references from relevant articles. RESULTS: Data indicate that HIV-1 viral load determination and resistance genotyping from DBS and DPS is feasible, yielding comparable test performances, even after storage. Limitations include reduced analytical sensitivity resulting from small analyte volumes (approximately 3.5 log(10) copies/ml at 50 microl sample volume), nucleic acid degradation under extreme environmental conditions, impaired efficiency of nucleic acid extraction, potential interference of archived proviral DNA in genotypes obtained from DBS and the excision of spots from the filters in high-volume testing. CONCLUSIONS: This technology offers the advantages of a stable specimen matrix, ease of sample collection and shipment. The current sensitivity in drug resistance testing is appropriate for public health surveillance among pretreatment populations. However, consistently improved analytical sensitivity is needed for their routine application in the therapeutic monitoring of individuals receiving ART, particularly at the onset of treatment failure.

Comparison of collection methods for molecular detection of α-herpes viruses and Treponema pallidum, including evaluation of critical transportation conditions.

The detection of herpes simplex viruses and Treponemal pallidum from genital lesions requires efficient sampling of genetic material for a reliable molecular diagnosis. From 460 patients attending the Public Health clinic, two swabs (dry cotton swabs and Eswabs) per patient were collected in alternating order from the same lesion. Additionally, three storage conditions of Eswabs up to 28 days were evaluated to assess the stability of DNA over time. Out of the 830 PCRs performed, 20 (2.4%) PCRs were discordant between the two swabs. No significant differences were observed between the two sample types. HSV1 and HSV2 could be reliably detected from Eswabs up to 28 days when kept at room temperature. A single swab from a genital lesion is sufficient for reliable diagnosis of α-herpes viruses and Treponemal pallidum, for which both a dry cotton swab or Eswab could be used.

Effect of point-of-care C-reactive protein testing on antibiotic prescription in febrile patients attending primary care in Thailand and Myanmar: an open-label, randomised, controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: In southeast Asia, antibiotic prescription in febrile patients attending primary care is common, and a probable contributor to the high burden of antimicrobial resistance. The objective of this trial was to explore whether C-reactive protein (CRP) testing at point of care could rationalise antibiotic prescription in primary care, comparing two proposed thresholds to classify CRP concentrations as low or high to guide antibiotic treatment. METHODS: We did a multicentre, open-label, randomised, controlled trial in participants aged at least 1 year with a documented fever or a chief complaint of fever (regardless of previous antibiotic intake and comorbidities other than malignancies) recruited from six public primary care units in Thailand and three primary care clinics and one outpatient department in Myanmar. Individuals were randomly assigned using a computer-based randomisation system at a ratio of 1:1:1 to either the control group or one of two CRP testing groups, which used thresholds of 20 mg/L (group A) or 40 mg/L CRP (group B) to guide antibiotic prescription. Health-care providers were masked to allocation between the two intervention groups but not to the control group. The primary outcome was the prescription of any antibiotic from day 0 to day 5 and the proportion of patients who were prescribed an antibiotic when CRP concentrations were above and below the 20 mg/L or 40 mg/L thresholds. The primary outcome was analysed in the intention-to-treat and per-protocol populations. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02758821, and is now completed. FINDINGS: Between June 8, 2016, and Aug 25, 2017, we recruited 2410 patients, of whom 803 patients were randomly assigned to CRP group A, 800 to CRP group B, and 807 to the control group. 598 patients in CRP group A, 593 in CRP group B, and 767 in the control group had follow-up data for both day 5 and day 14 and had been prescribed antibiotics (or not) in accordance with test results (per-protocol population). During the trial, 318 (39%) of 807 patients in the control group were prescribed an antibiotic by day 5, compared with 290 (36%) of 803 patients in CRP group A and 275 (34%) of 800 in CRP group B. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 0·80 (95% CI 0·65-0·98) and risk difference of -5·0 percentage points (95% CI -9·7 to -0·3) between group B and the control group were significant, although lower than anticipated, whereas the reduction in prescribing in group A compared with the control group was not significant (aOR 0·86 [0·70-1·06]; risk difference -3·3 percentage points [-8·0 to 1·4]). Patients with high CRP concentrations in both intervention groups were more likely to be prescribed an antibiotic than in the control group (CRP ≥20 mg/L: group A vs control group, p<0·0001; CRP ≥40 mg/L: group B vs control group, p<0·0001), and those with low CRP concentrations were more likely to have an antibiotic withheld (CRP <20 mg/L: group A vs control group, p<0·0001; CRP <40 mg/L: group B vs control group, p<0·0001). 24 serious adverse events were recorded, consisting of 23 hospital admissions and one death, which occurred in CRP group A. Only one serious adverse event was thought to be possibly related to the study (a hospital admission in CRP group A). INTERPRETATION: In febrile patients attending primary care, testing for CRP at point of care with a threshold of 40 mg/L resulted in a modest but significant reduction in antibiotic prescribing, with patients with high CRP being more likely to be prescribed an antibiotic, and no evidence of a difference in clinical outcomes. This study extends the evidence base from lower-income settings supporting the use of CRP tests to rationalise antibiotic use in primary care patients with an acute febrile illness. A key limitation of this study is the individual rather than cluster randomised study design which might have resulted in contamination between the study groups, reducing the effect size of the intervention. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund grant (105605/Z/14/Z) and Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) funding from the Australian Government.

Positive experiences of volunteers working in deployable laboratories in West Africa during the Ebola outbreak.

The largest outbreak of Ebola virus disease ever started in West Africa in December 2013; it created a pressing need to expand the workforce dealing with it. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the experiences of volunteers from the European Union who worked in deployable laboratories in West Africa during the outbreak. This study is part of the EMERGE project. We assessed the experiences of 251 volunteers with a 19-item online questionnaire. The questions asked about positive aspects of volunteering such as learning new skills, establishing a new path in life, and changing life values. Other questionnaire subjects were the compliance to follow-up measures, the extent to which volunteers felt these measures restricted their daily activities, the fear of stigmatization, and worries about becoming infected or infecting their families. The volunteers reported positive effects that reached far beyond their daily work, such as changes in life priorities and a greater appreciation of the value of their own lives. Although the volunteers did not feel that temperature monitoring restricted their daily activities, full compliance to temperature monitoring and reporting it to the authorities was low. The volunteers did not fear Ebola infection for themselves or their families and were not afraid of stigmatization. With respect to the burden on the families, 50% reported that their family members were worried that the volunteer would be infected with Ebola virus. Altogether, the positive experiences of the volunteers in this study far outweigh the negative implications and constitute an important argument for inspiring people who intend to join such missions and for motivating the hesitant ones.

Transmission Dynamics of Hyper-Endemic Multi-Drug Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in a Southeast Asian Neonatal Unit: A Longitudinal Study With Whole Genome Sequencing.

Background:Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important and increasing cause of life-threatening disease in hospitalized neonates. Third generation cephalosporin resistance (3GC-R) is frequently a marker of multi-drug resistance, and can complicate management of infections. 3GC-R K. pneumoniae is hyper-endemic in many developing country settings, but its epidemiology is poorly understood and prospective studies of endemic transmission are lacking. We aimed to determine the transmission dynamics of 3GC-R K. pneumoniae in a newly opened neonatal unit (NU) in Cambodia and to address the following questions: what is the diversity of 3GC-R K. pneumoniae both within- and between-host; to what extent is high carriage prevalence driven by ward-based transmission; and to what extent can environmental contamination explain patterns of patient acquisition. Methods: We performed a prospective longitudinal study between September and November 2013. Rectal swabs from consented patients were collected upon NU admission and every 3 days thereafter. Morphologically different colonies from swabs growing cefpodoxime-resistant K. pneumoniae were selected for whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Results: One hundred and fifty-eight samples from 37 patients and 7 environmental sites were collected. 32/37 (86%) patients screened positive for 3GC-R K. pneumoniae and 93 colonies from 119 swabs were successfully sequenced. Isolates were resistant to a median of six (range 3-9) antimicrobials. WGS revealed high diversity; pairwise distances between isolates from the same patient were either 0-1 SNV or >1,000 SNVs; 19/32 colonized patients harbored K. pneumoniae colonies differing by >1000 SNVs. Diverse lineages accounted for 18 probable importations to the NU and nine probable transmission clusters involving 19/37 (51%) of screened patients. Median cluster size was five patients (range 3-9). Seven out of 46 environmental swabs (15%) were positive for 3GC-R K. pneumoniae. Environmental sources were plausible sources for acquisitions in 2/9 transmission clusters, though in both cases other patients were also plausible sources. Conclusion: The epidemiology of 3GC-R K. pneumoniae was characterized by multiple introductions, high within- and between host diversity and a dense network of cross-infection, with half of screened neonates part of a transmission cluster. We found no evidence to suggest that environmental contamination was playing a dominant role in transmission.

An overview of the clinical use of filter paper in the diagnosis of tropical diseases.

Tropical infectious diseases diagnosis and surveillance are often hampered by difficulties of sample collection and transportation. Filter paper potentially provides a useful medium to help overcome such problems. We reviewed the literature on the use of filter paper, focusing on the evaluation of nucleic acid and serological assays for diagnosis of infectious diseases using dried blood spots (DBS) compared with recognized gold standards. We reviewed 296 eligible studies and included 101 studies evaluating DBS and 192 studies on other aspects of filter paper use. We also discuss the use of filter paper with other body fluids and for tropical veterinary medicine. In general, DBS perform with sensitivities and specificities similar or only slightly inferior to gold standard sample types. However, important problems were revealed with the uncritical use of DBS, inappropriate statistical analysis, and lack of standardized methodology. DBS have great potential to empower healthcare workers by making laboratory-based diagnostic tests more readily accessible, but additional and more rigorous research is needed.

Systematic review of the performance of HIV viral load technologies on plasma samples.

BACKGROUND: Viral load (VL) monitoring is the standard of care in developing country settings for detecting HIV treatment failure. Since 2010 the World Health Organization has recommended a phase-in approach to VL monitoring in resource-limited settings. We conducted a systematic review of the accuracy and precision of HIV VL technologies for treatment monitoring. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A search of Medline and Embase was conducted for studies evaluating the accuracy or reproducibility of commercially available HIV VL assays. 37 studies were included for review including evaluations of the Amplicor Monitor HIV-1 v1.5 (n = 25), Cobas TaqMan v2.0 (n = 11), Abbott RealTime HIV-1 (n = 23), Versant HIV-1 RNA bDNA 3.0 (n = 15), Versant HIV-1 RNA kPCR 1.0 (n = 2), ExaVir Load v3 (n = 2), and NucliSens EasyQ v2.0 (n = 1). All currently available HIV VL assays are of sufficient sensitivity to detect plasma virus levels at a lower detection limit of 1,000 copies/mL. Bias data comparing the Abbott RealTime HIV-1, TaqMan v2.0 to the Amplicor Monitor v1.5 showed a tendency of the Abbott RealTime HIV-1 to under-estimate results while the TaqMan v2.0 overestimated VL counts. Compared to the Amplicor Monitor v1.5, 2-26% and 9-70% of results from the Versant bDNA 3.0 and Abbott RealTime HIV-1 differed by greater than 0.5log10. The average intra and inter-assay variation of the Abbott RealTime HIV-1 were 2.95% (range 2.0-5.1%) and 5.44% (range 1.17-30.00%) across the range of VL counts (2log10-7log10). CONCLUSIONS: This review found that all currently available HIV VL assays are of sufficient sensitivity to detect plasma VL of 1,000 copies/mL as a threshold to initiate investigations of treatment adherence or possible treatment failure. Sources of variability between VL assays include differences in technology platform, plasma input volume, and ability to detect HIV-1 subtypes. Monitoring of individual patients should be performed on the same technology platform to ensure appropriate interpretation of changes in VL. Prospero registration # CD42013003603.

Systematic review of the use of dried blood spots for monitoring HIV viral load and for early infant diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: Dried blood spots (DBS) have been used as alternative specimens to plasma to increase access to HIV viral load (VL) monitoring and early infant diagnosis (EID) in remote settings. We systematically reviewed evidence on the performance of DBS compared to plasma for VL monitoring and EID. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Thirteen peer reviewed HIV VL publications and five HIV EID papers were included. Depending on the technology and the viral load distribution in the study population, the percentage of DBS samples that are within 0.5 log of VL in plasma ranged from 52-100%. Because the input sample volume is much smaller in a blood spot, there is a risk of false negatives with DBS. Sensitivity of DBS VL was found to be 78-100% compared to plasma at VL below 1000 copies/ml, but this increased to 100% at a threshold of 5000 copies/ml. Unlike a plasma VL test which measures only cell free HIV RNA, a DBS VL also measures proviral DNA as well as cell-associated RNA, potentially leading to false positive results when using DBS. The systematic review showed that specificity was close to 100% at DBS VL above 5000 copies/ml, and this threshold would be the most reliable for predicting true virologic failure using DBS. For early infant diagnosis, DBS has a sensitivity of 100% compared to fresh whole blood or plasma in all studies. CONCLUSIONS: Although limited data are available for EID, DBS offer a highly sensitive and specific sampling strategy to make viral load monitoring and early infant diagnosis more accessible in remote settings. A standardized approach for sampling, storing, and processing DBS samples would be essential to allow successful implementation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO Registration #: CRD42013003621.

Dried blood spots for qPCR diagnosis of acute Bartonella bacilliformis infection.

Bartonella bacilliformis is the etiological agent of a life-threatening illness. Thin blood smear is the most common diagnostic method for acute infection in endemic areas of Peru but remains of limited value because of low sensitivity. The aim of this study was to adapt a B. bacilliformis-specific real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for use with dried blood spots (DBS) as a sampling method and assess its performance and use for the diagnosis and surveillance of acute Bartonella infection. Only two of 65 children (3%) that participated in this study had positive blood smears for B. bacilliformis, whereas 16 (including these two) were positive by PCR performed on DBS samples (24.6%). The use of DBS in combination with B. bacilliformis-specific PCR could be a useful tool for public health in identifying and monitoring outbreaks of infection and designing control programs to reduce the burden of this life-threatening illness.