Cost-benefit analysis of serological and nucleic acid testing for hepatitis B virus in blood donors in southern China.

BACKGROUND: Most Chinese blood centers have implemented mini pool (MP) HBV nucleic acid testing (NAT) together with HBsAg ELISA in routine blood donor screening for HBV infection since 2015, and a few centers upgraded MP to individual donation (ID) NAT screening recently, raising urgent need for cost-benefit analysis of different screening strategies. In an effort to prevent transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) for HBV, cost-benefit analyses of three different screening strategies: HBsAg alone, HBsAg plus MP NAT and HBsAg plus ID NAT were performed in blood donors from southern China where HBV infection was endemic. METHODS: MP-6 HBV NAT and ID NAT were adopted in parallel to screen blood donors for further comparative analysis. On the basis of screening data and the documented parameters, the number of window period (WP) infection, HBV acute infection, chronic hepatitis B infection (CHB) and occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) was evaluated, and the potential prevented HBV TTIs and benefits of these three strategies were predicted based on cost-benefit analysis by an estimation model. RESULTS: Of 132,323 donations, the yield rate for HBsAg-/DNA + screened by ID NAT (0.12%) was significantly higher than that by MP NAT (0.058%, P < 0.05). Furthermore, the predicted transfusion-transmitted HBV cases prevented was 1.25 times more by ID NAT compared to MP-6 NAT. The cost-benefit ratio of the universal HBsAg screening, HBsAg plus ID NAT and HBsAg plus MP NAT were 1:58, 1:27 and 1:22, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Universal HBsAg ELISA screening in combination with HBV ID NAT or MP-6 NAT strategies was highly cost effective in China. To further improve blood safety, HBsAg plus HBV DNA ID NAT screening should be considered in HBV endemic regions/countries.

Rapid, sensitive and cost-effective determination of immune checkpoint inhibitor activity using a magnetic bead-based binding assay.

Immune checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs) are effective immunno-therapeutic agents for cancer. Rapid and sensitive determination of the blocking activity of ICIs is important for ICIs development and immunological research. Among various immune checkpoint (IC) binding assays, cell-based binding assays are widely regarded, and the functional ELISA is a convenient alternative. However, these methodologies are limited by time-consuming preparation of cell lines stably expressing IC molecules, or long turnaround time with high cost. In this study, two magnetic bead based binding assays were developed to evaluate activity of ICIs, which was determined by a soluble ligand/bead immobilized receptor based binding assay (sL/bR binding assay) that assessed efficacy to block binding of one soluble IC ligand on its cognate receptor immobilized beads, or by a soluble receptor/bead immobilized ligand based binding assay (sR/bL binding assay) that assessed efficacy to block binding of soluble IC receptor on its cognate ligand immobilized beads. Half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of ICIs were calculated to determine ICIs activity. The sL/bR binding assay accurately determined the activity of two TIGIT blocking antibodies, since the relative blocking activity of two TIGIT antibodies determined by the sL/bR binding assay established in this study and that by the cell based binding assay were almost identical. In contrast, the sR/bL binding assay showed significantly improved sensitivity to determine activity of two PD-1 blocking antibodies than the sL/bR binding assay that was tested in this study and previous reports. Moreover, both amount of the used recombinant protein of ICI receptor/ligand and turnaround time of the two binding assays were more than 10 times less than those of the functional ELISA. These data indicate that the two magnetic bead based binding assays are sensitive, rapid and cost-effective methods to determine blocking activity of ICIs.

Detección de trazas de soja y de leche en productos libres de gluten: desarrollo de dos enzimoinmunoensayos competitivos / Detection of traces of soy and milk in gluten-free products: development of two competitive enzyme immunoassays / Detecção de vestígios de soja e leite em produtos livres de glúten: desenvolvimento de dois enzimoimunoensaios competitivos

Resumen El objetivo del presente trabajo fue el desarrollo de dos enzimoinmunoensayos competitivos (EIC) para la detección de trazas de soja y de leche en productos libres de gluten. Como anticuerpos primarios se utilizaron antisueros policlonales de conejo específicos contra proteínas de soja o de leche. Se determinaron las concentraciones óptimas de antígenos a inmovilizar en la placa y las concentraciones de anticuerpos primarios a utilizar en la competencia. Las curvas de calibración se ajustaron utilizando concentraciones crecientes de un extracto de producto de soja y de un extracto de leche descremada en polvo. El producto de soja y la leche descremada se extrajeron con buffer Tris-HCl 0,0625 M con dodecilsulfato de sodio al 3% y sulfito de sodio 0,1 M al 2%. Se evaluaron los parámetros de validación: linealidad, límites de detección y de cuantificación, recuperación y precisión en el día y entre días, los cuales resultaron adecuados. Se analizaron 9 productos libres de gluten con los EIC desarrollados y con kits de ELISA comerciales. Ambos EIC se comportaron de manera similar con respecto a los kits comerciales. Los EIC permitieron confirmar la presencia de leche en las muestras que la declaraban. En algunas muestras que no declaraban ni leche ni soja, ambos EIC detectaron su presencia (resultados confirmados con los kits comerciales). Los EIC desarrollados poseen menor costo que los kits y, por lo tanto, éstos podrían utilizarse como métodos de screening. Cuando esta metodología resulte negativa, debe confirmarse con un método más sensible (comercial) para garantizar la ausencia de proteínas de soja o de leche.

Abstract The aim of this study was to develop two competitive enzyme immunoassays (CEI) to detect the presence of traces of soy and milk in gluten-free products. Specific rabbit polyclonal antiserums against soy protein and other against elemilk protein were used as primary antibodies. Optimal antigen concentrations to be immobilized on the plate and primary antibody concentrations to be used in competition were determined. The calibration curves were fitted using increasing concentrations of an extract of soy product and of defatted milk powder. The soy product and the defatted milk were extracted with Tris-HCl buffer 0,0625 M with 3% sodium dodecyl sulfate and 2% sodium sulfite 0.1 M. The validation parameters were evaluated: linearity, limit of detection and quantification, recovery and precision on the day and in between days. They were appropriate. Nine commercial samples of gluten-free products were analyzed with these developed CEI and commercial ELISA kits. It was observed that both CEI behaved similarly with respect to the commercial kits. The enzyme immunoassays confirmed the presence of milk in samples that declared it. In some samples that did not declare the presence of milk or soy, both enzyme immunoassays detected their presence -these results were confirmed using commercial kits. The developed CEI have a lower cost than the commercial kits, so these could be used as screening methods. When this methodology is negative, it should be confirmed with a more sensitive (commercial) method to ensure the absence of soy or milk protein.

Resumo O objetivo do presente trabalho foi o desenvolvimento de dois enzimoimunoensaios competitivos (EIC), para a detecção de vestígios de soja e leite em produtos livres de glúten. Antissoros policlonais de coelho específicos contra proteínas de soja ou de leite foram utilizados como anticorpos primários. Foram determinadas as concentrações ótimas de antígenos a serem imobilizados na placa e as concentrações de anticorpos primários a serem utilizadas na competição. As curvas de calibração foram ajustadas usando concentrações crescentes de um extrato de produto de soja e de um extrato de leite em pó desnatado. O produto de soja e o leite desnatado foram extraídos com tampão Tris-HCl 0,0625 M com dodecil sulfato de sódio a 3% e sulfito de sódio 0,1 M a 2%. Os parâmetros de validação foram avaliados: linearidade, limite de detecção e quantificação, recuperação e precisão no dia e entre os dias, os quais resultaram adequados. Nove produtos livres de glúten foram analisados com os EIC desenvolvidos e com kits de ELISA comerciais. Os dois EICs se comportaram de maneira semelhante em relação aos kits comerciais. Os EIC permitiram confirmar a presença de leite nas amostras que o declararam. Em algumas amostras que declaravam nem leite nem soja, ambos os EIC detectaram sua presença (resultados confirmados usando kits comerciais). Os EIC desenvolvidos têm um custo menor que os kits, portanto, eles poderiam ser utilizados como métodos de triagem. Quando esta metodologia é negativa, deve ser confirmada com um método mais sensível (comercial) para garantir a ausência de proteínasda soja ou do leite.

Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay for the quantification of nivolumab and pembrolizumab in human serum and cerebrospinal fluid.

Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies targeting the programmed-death-1 (PD-1) receptor has become standard of care for an increasing number of tumor types. Pharmacokinetic studies may help to optimize anti-PD-1 therapy. Therefore, accurate and sensitive determination of antibody concentrations is essential. Here we report an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) capable of measuring nivolumab and pembrolizumab concentrations in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with high sensitivity and specificity. The assay was developed and validated based on the specific capture of nivolumab and pembrolizumab by immobilized PD-1, with subsequent enzymatic chemiluminescent detection by anti-IgG4 coupled with horse radish peroxidase (HRP). The lower limit of quantification for serum and CSF was 2 ng/mL for both anti-PD-1 agents. The ELISA method was validated and showed long term sample stability of >1 year. This method is reliable, relatively inexpensive and can be used in serum and CSF from pembrolizumab and nivolumab treated patients.

Cost-Effectiveness of Voluntary HIV Testing Strategies in a Very Low-Prevalence Country, the Republic of Korea.

BACKGROUND: The Republic of Korea has a very low prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, but the number of new HIV diagnoses has steadily risen, strongly indicating a large number of undetected HIV infections. Thus, it is important for Korean public health authorities to adopt and encourage cost-effective HIV detection tools, such as rapid HIV screening tests. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and rapid tests in a public health center (PHC) setting. METHODS: We developed a decision analytic model to assess the per-examinee cost and the cost-effectiveness of identifying HIV patients in a PHC setting using two HIV testing strategies: conventional HIV screening by ELISA versus rapid HIV testing. Analysis was performed in two scenarios: HIV testing in an average-risk population and in a high-risk population. RESULTS: Compared to the ELISA, the rapid test was cost-saving and cost-effective. The per-examinee cost was USD 1.61 with rapid testing versus USD 3.38 with ELISA in an average-risk population, and USD 4.77 with rapid testing versus USD 7.62 with ELISA in a high-risk population. The cost of identifying a previously undiagnosed HIV case was USD 26,974 with rapid testing versus USD 42,237 with ELISA in an average-risk population, and USD 153 with rapid testing versus USD 183 with ELISA in a high-risk population. CONCLUSION: Rapid testing would be more cost-effective than using conventional ELISA testing for identifying previously undiagnosed HIV-infected cases in Korea, a country with extremely low HIV prevalence.

Automating a new host-protein assay for differentiating bacterial from viral infection to reduce operator hands-on time.

Distinguishing bacterial from viral infections is often challenging, leading to antibiotic misuse, and detrimental ramifications for the patient, the healthcare system and society. A novel ELISA-based assay that integrates the circulating levels of three host-response proteins (TRAIL, IP-10 and CRP) was developed to assist in differentiation between bacterial and viral etiologies. We developed a new protocol for measuring the host-based assay biomarkers using an automated ELISA workstation. The automated protocol was validated and was able to reduce technician hands-on time by 76%, while maintaining high analytical performance. Following automation, the assay has been incorporated into the routine workflow at a pediatric department, and is performed daily on admitted and emergency department patients. The automation protocol reduces the overall burden on the hospital laboratory performing the assay. This benefit has potential to promote adoption of the host-based assay, facilitating timely triage of febrile patients and prudent use of antibiotics.

Projected costs associated with school-based screening to inform deployment of Dengvaxia: Vietnam as a case study.

Background: After new analysis, Sanofi Pasteur now recommends their dengue vaccine (Dengvaxia) should only be given to individuals previously infected with dengue and the World Health Organization's recommendations regarding its use are currently being revised. As a result, the potential costs of performing large-scale individual dengue screening and/or dengue serosurveys have become an important consideration for decision making by policymakers in dengue-endemic areas. Methods: We used an ingredients-based approach to estimate the financial costs for conducting both a school-based dengue serosurvey and school-based individual dengue screening within a typical province in Vietnam, using an existing commercial indirect immunoglobulin G enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. This costing is hypothetical and based on estimates regarding the resources that would be required to perform such activities. Results: We estimated that performing a school-based individual screening of 9-year-olds would cost US$9.25 per child tested or US$197,827 in total for a typical province. We also estimated that a school-based serosurvey would cost US$10,074, assuming one class from each of the grades that include 8- to 11-year-olds are sampled at each of the 12 selected schools across the province. Conclusions: The study indicates that using this vaccine safely on a large-scale will incur noteworthy operational costs. It is crucial that these be considered in future cost-effectiveness analyses informing how and where the vaccine is deployed.

Development and in-house validation of a rapid and simple to use ELISA for the detection and measurement of the mycotoxin sterigmatocystin.

Sterigmatocystin (STG) is a highly toxic secondary fungal metabolite structurally closely related to the well-known carcinogenic aflatoxins. Its presence has been reported in grains and grain-based products as well as in other foodstuffs like nuts, green coffee beans, spices, beer and cheese. Due to the lack of suitable data on the occurrence of STG, in 2013, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) could not characterise its risk for human health and recommended that more data on STG in food and feed needed to be collected. In order to provide a new tool for the specific detection of STG, a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed, optimised and validated in this study based on a sensitive monoclonal antibody specific to STG with no cross-reactivity with aflatoxins. The sample preparation method for rice, wheat and maize was based on a modified QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) approach. The assay was validated for the detection of STG in rice, wheat and maize in accordance with the guidelines for validation of semi-quantitative screening methods included in Commission Regulation (EU) 519/2014. The screening target concentration (STC) was set at 1.5 µg/kg. The cutoffs for rice, wheat and maize were 1.2, 1.2 and 1.3 µg/kg and the false suspected rates were 0.34, 1.15 and 0.78%, respectively. Good correlation was found between the results obtained by the STG ELISA and LC-MS/MS method for naturally contaminated rice samples. This validated method can be applied as a sensitive and high-throughput screening for the presence of STG in a range of agricultural commodities. Graphical abstract A new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on an antibody specific to sterigmatocystin for the detection of this mycotoxin in corn, wheat and rice.

Development of Fully Automated Low-Cost Immunoassay System for Research Applications.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) automation for routine operation in a small research environment would be very attractive. A portable fully automated low-cost immunoassay system was designed, developed, and evaluated with several protein analytes. It features disposable capillary columns as the reaction sites and uses real-time calibration for improved accuracy. It reduces the overall assay time to less than 75 min with the ability of easy adaptation of new testing targets. The running cost is extremely low due to the nature of automation, as well as reduced material requirements. Details about system configuration, components selection, disposable fabrication, system assembly, and operation are reported. The performance of the system was initially established with a rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG) assay, and an example of assay adaptation with an interleukin 6 (IL6) assay is shown. This system is ideal for research use, but could work for broader testing applications with further optimization.

A microcosting study of immunogenicity and tumour necrosis factor alpha inhibitor drug level tests for therapeutic drug monitoring in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVES: To identify and quantify resource required and associated costs for implementing TNF-α inhibitor (TNFi) drug level and anti-drug antibody (ADAb) tests in UK rheumatology practice. METHODS: A microcosting study, assuming the UK National Health Service perspective, identified the direct medical costs associated with providing TNFi drug level and ADAb testing in clinical practice. Resource use and costs per patient were identified via four stages: identification of a patient pathway with resource implications; estimation of the resources required; identification of the cost per unit of resource (2015 prices); and calculation of the total costs per patient. Univariate and multiway sensitivity analyses were performed using the variation in resource use and unit costs. RESULTS: Total costs for TNFi drug level and concurrent ADAb testing, assessed using ELISAs on trough serum levels, were £152.52/patient (range: £147.68-159.24) if 40 patient samples were tested simultaneously. For the base-case analysis, the pre-testing phase incurred the highest costs, which included booking an additional appointment to acquire trough blood samples. The additional appointment was the key driver of costs per patient (67% of the total cost), and labour accounted for 10% and consumables 23% of the total costs. Performing ELISAs once per patient (rather than in duplicate) reduced the total costs to £133.78/patient. CONCLUSION: This microcosting study is the first assessing the cost of TNFi drug level and ADAb testing. The results could be used in subsequent cost-effectiveness analyses of TNFi pharmacological tests to target treatments and inform future policy recommendations.

Diagnostic evaluation of rapid tests for scrub typhus in the Indian population is needed.

BACKGROUND: Owing to frequent outbreaks witnessed in different parts of the country in the recent past, scrub typhus is being described as a re-emerging infectious disease in India. Differentiating scrub typhus from other endemic diseases like malaria, leptospirosis, dengue fever, typhoid, etc. is difficult due to overlapping clinical features and a lower positivity for eschars in Asian populations. Hence, the diagnosis heavily relies on laboratory tests. DISCUSSION: Costs and the need of technical expertise limit the wide use of indirect immunoperoxidase or immunofluorescence assays, ELISA and PCR. The Weil-Felix test is the most commonly used and least expensive serological test, but lacks both sensitivity and specificity. Hence, the diagnosis of scrub typhus is often delayed or overlooked. With due consideration of the cost, rapidity, single test result and simplicity of interpretation, rapid diagnostic tests have come into vogue. However, evaluation of rapid diagnostic tests for scrub typhus in the Indian population is needed to justify or discourage their use. CONCLUSION: Research studies are needed to find the most suitable test in terms of the rapidity of the result, simplicity of the procedure, ease of interpretation and cost to be used in the Indian populace.

Ultraminiaturized assay for rapid, low cost detection and quantification of clinical and biochemical samples.

Herein, we report a simple, sensitive, rapid and low-cost ultraminiaturized assay technique for quantitative detection of 1 µl of clinical or biochemical sample on a novel ultraminiaturized assay plate (UAP). UAP is prepared by making tiny cavities on a polypropylene sheet. As UAP cannot immobilize a biomolecule through absorption, we have activated the tiny cavities of UAP by 1-fluoro-2-nitro-4-azidobenzene in a photochemical reaction. Activated UAP (AUAP) can covalently immobilize any biomolecule having an active nucleophilic group such as amino group. Efficacy of AUAP is demonstrated by detecting human IgE, antibody of hepatitis C virus core antigen and oligonucleotides. Quantification is performed by capturing the image of the colored assay solution and digitally quantifying the image by color saturation without using costly NanoDrop spectrophotometer. Image - based detection of human IgE and an oligonucleotide shows an excellent correlation with absorbance - based assay (recorded in a NanoDrop spectrophotometer); it is validated by Pearson's product-moment correlation with correlation coefficient of r = 0.9545088 and r = 0.9947444 respectively. AUAP is further checked by detecting hepatitis C virus Ab where strong correlation of color saturation with absorbance with respect to concentration is observed. Ultraminiaturized assay successfully detects target oligonucleotides by perfectly hybridizing with their respective complementary oligonucleotide probes but not with a random oligonucleotide. Ultraminiaturized assay technique has substantially reduced the requirement of reagents by 100 times and assay timing by 50 times making it a potential alternative to conventional method.

ELISA-PLA: A novel hybrid platform for the rapid, highly sensitive and specific quantification of proteins and post-translational modifications.

Detection of low-abundance proteins and their post-translational modifications (PTMs) remains a great challenge. A conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is not sensitive enough to detect low-abundance PTMs and suffers from nonspecific detection. Herein, a rapid, highly sensitive and specific platform integrating ELISA with a proximity ligation assay (PLA), termed ELISA-PLA, was developed. Using ELISA-PLA, the specificity was improved by the simultaneous and proximate recognition of targets through multiple probes, and the sensitivity was significantly improved by rolling circle amplification (RCA). For GFP, the limit of detection (LOD) was decreased by two orders of magnitude compared to that of ELISA. Using site-specific phospho-antibody and pan-specific phospho-antibody, ELISA-PLA was successfully applied to quantify the phosphorylation dynamics of ERK1/2 and the overall tyrosine phosphorylation level of ERK1/2, respectively. ELISA-PLA was also used to quantify the O-GlcNAcylation of AKT, c-Fos, CREB and STAT3, which is faster and more sensitive than the conventional immunoprecipitation and western blotting (IP-WB) method. As a result, the sample consumption of ELISA-PLA was reduced 40-fold compared to IP-WB. Therefore, ELISA-PLA could be a promising platform for the rapid, sensitive and specific detection of proteins and PTMs.

Validation of Two Calprotectin Rapid Tests in Daily Routine.

BACKGROUND: The differentiation of organic and functional intestinal diseases and monitoring of disease activity in inflammatory bowel diseases are frequent challenges in daily clinical routine. Fecal calprotectin is a noninvasive screening marker for intestinal inflammation. Its quantification by ELISA is considered to be the gold standard, but an increasing number of semiquantitative and quantitative point-of-care-tests (POCT) have been launched to optimize the duration between sample input and result. METHODS: The objective of this study was to evaluate sensitivity and specificity of two fecal calprotectin rapid test assays compared to an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) as gold-standard considering the costs, time to result, and effort. For this purpose, fecal samples were collected from 68 patients with either confirmed Crohn´s disease (CD) (n = 37), confirmed ulcerative colitis (UC) (n = 21) or with confirmed IBS (n = 10) and analyzed with all three tests. RESULTS: Both rapid tests analyzed in this study revealed a high sensitivity in comparison to ELISA defined as gold standard (93.0 % PreventID®, 99.9 % Quantum Blue). The negative predictive value of Quantum Blue was better than of PreventID® (99.8% vs. 84.2%). When analyzing the capacity of all applied tests to differentiate IBD from IBS, the sensitivity of all three tests was similar, but the ELISA was more specific than the POCTs. The expense of the POCT per sample is significantly above the costs per sample for the ELISA. CONCLUSIONS: Both POCTs, Quantum Blue and PreventID®, provide high diagnostic accuracy and were less time consuming in clinical routine than quantification of fecal calprotectin by ELISA. This makes these tests excellent candidates for the use in clinical routine. The routine application of ELISA techniques for the quantification of fecal calprotectin levels is a valid option in laboratories or clinical departments with high quantities of samples to allow prompt follow up for patient management.

Saúde nas fronteiras: análise quantitativa e qualitativa da clientela do Centro Materno Infantil de Foz do Iguaçu, Brasil / Health at the border: quantitative and qualitative analysis of patients treated at the Maternal and Child Care Center in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil

Resumo Foz do Iguaçu participa do SIS-Fronteiras e instalou o Centro Materno Infantil (CMI), ofertando atendimento ao pré-natal das gestantes brasileiras moradoras no Paraguai (brasiguaias). Para analisar as características do CMI e comparar o perfil de brasiguaias com gestantes brasileiras residentes no Brasil, conciliou-se abordagem quanti-qualitativa na metodologia. Verificou-se que gestantes brasiguaias atendidas no CMI procuram o local devido à precariedade do sistema de saúde paraguaio. Elas são mais jovens, apresentam maior paridade, menor escolaridade e não têm companheiro, quando comparadas às moradoras no Brasil. Elas omitem onde moram, tentando minimizar a possiblidade de terem atendimento inferior ao das brasileiras do local, ou terem negado seu direito à consulta; e buscam o serviço de obstetrícia tardiamente para evitar a negativa do atendimento. Elas geram custo alto para o município, sobretudo pela desinformação sobre a sua história reprodutiva e gestacional, o que aumenta as chances de serem submetidas a parto cesáreo e de internação da mãe e/ou do bebê, por complicações. Ações efetivas em relação à saúde materno-infantil nas zonas de fronteira precisam ser priorizadas.

Abstract Foz do Iguaçu participates in the SIS-Fronteiras program and installed the Maternal and Child Care Center (CMI) to offer prenatal care service to pregnant Brazilian women resident in Paraguay (Brasiguaias). To analyze the characteristics of the CMI and compare the profile of Brasiguaias with pregnant Brazilian women resident in Brazil, a quantitative and qualitative approach in methodology was applied. It was found that Brasiguaias go to the CMI because of the precariousness of services of the Paraguayan Health System. They tend to be younger, bear more children, have lower education and are unmarried compared with pregnant Brazilian woman resident in Brazil. They omit where they live to avoid being denied the right or receiving inferior treatment than local pregnant Brazilian women and seek obstetric treatment later to avoid being denied attendance. Pregnant Brazilian women resident in Paraguay are onerous to the municipality, especially due to misinformation about their reproductive and pregnancy history, which increases the chances of undergoing cesarean delivery and hospitalization of the mother and/or infant due to complications. Effective actions in relation to maternal and child health in the border areas need to be prioritized.

Appropriate use of D-dimer testing can minimize over-utilization of venous duplex ultrasound in a contemporary high-volume hospital.

BACKGROUND: The sensitivity of d-dimer (DD) in detecting deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is remarkably high; however, many institutions send patients immediately for a venous duplex ultrasound (VDU). This study was designed to examine the appropriate utilization of DD and VDU in a high-volume hospital. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on consecutive patients who presented to a high-volume emergency department (ED) with lower extremity limb swelling/pain over a 30-day period, who were sent for VDU during an evaluation for DVT. VDU data were merged with electronic DD laboratory results. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method was used to provide DD values and thresholds. Values above 0.60 mg/fibrinogen equivalent unit (FEU) were considered abnormal. RESULTS: We reviewed the medical records of 517 ED patients in the month of June 2013. After applying the Wells criteria, 157 patients (30.4%) were excluded because of a history of DVT or pulmonary embolism, having been screened for shortness of breath, or sent for surveillance-leaving 360 for analysis. The average age was 59.3 ± 16.5 years with more women (210, 58.3%) and the majority reported limb pain or swelling (73.9%). DD was performed on 51 patients with an average value of 3.6 ± 5.4 mg/FEU, of which 43 (84.3%) were positive. DD identified all positive and negative DVT patients (100% sensitivity and negative predictive value), but also included 40 false positives (16.7% specificity). On the other hand, 309 patients were sent directly to VDU without DD; of those, 43 (13.9%) were positive for DVT. However, 266 (86.1%) patients were negative for DVT by VDU without DD and these were deemed improper by our current study protocol. Potential charge savings were calculated as VDU for all (360 × $1000 = $360,000), DD for all (360 × $145 = $52,200), and VDU for both true and false positives (estimated to be about 25% of the cases; 90 × $1000 = $90,000); this equals a charge savings of $217,800 and would avoid unnecessary VDUs. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of our study, we suggest that the DD test be utilized during the initial work-up for patients with limb swelling/pain in the emergency room. Appropriate utilization of DD, as well as other clinical criteria, may limit the over-utilization and added cost of VDU, without a negative impact on patient care. The results of DD tests should be utilized to limit the number of patients sent for VDU to only those patients with a positive DD or other significant underlying concerns.

Cost-effectiveness model for hepatitis C screening and treatment: Implications for Egypt and other countries with high prevalence.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer, and many developing countries report intermediate-to-high prevalence. However, the economic impact of screening and treatment for HCV in high prevalence countries has not been well studied. Thus, we examined the cost-effectiveness of screening and treatment for HCV infection for asymptomatic, average-risk adults using a Markov decision analytic model. In our model, we collected age-specific prevalence, disease progression rates for Egyptians and local cost estimates in Egypt, which has the highest prevalence of HCV infection (~15%) in the world. We estimated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio and conducted sensitivity analyses to determine how cost-effective HCV screening and treatment might be in other developing countries with high and intermediate prevalence. In Egypt, implementing a screening programme using triple-therapy treatment (sofosbuvir with pegylated interferon and ribavirin) was dominant compared with no screening because it would have lower total costs and improve health outcomes. HCV screening and treatment would also be cost-effective in global settings with intermediate costs of drug treatment (~$8000) and a higher sustained viral response rate (70-80%).

[Assessment of malaria screening management in blood donation control in the French Military Blood Institute]. / Évaluation de la stratégie de dépistage du paludisme en qualification biologique du don au CTSA.

The French Military Blood Institute is responsible for the entire blood supply chain in the French Armed Forces. Considering, the high exposition rate of military to malaria risk, blood donation screening of plasmodium infection must be as efficient as possible. The main aim of our study was to assess our malaria testing strategy based on a single Elisa test compared with a two-step strategy implying immunofluorescence testing as confirmation test. The second goal was to describe characteristic of malaria Elisa positive donors. We conducted a prospective study: every malaria Elisa positive test was implemented by immunofluorescence testing and demographical data were recorded as usual by our medical software. We showed a significant risk of malaria ELISA positive tests among donor born in endemic area and we estimate the number of abusively 3-year rejected donors. However, based on our estimations, the two-step strategy is not relevant since the number of additionally collected blood products will be low.

A 1024-sample serum analyzer chip for cancer diagnostics.

We present a platform that combines microarrays and microfluidic techniques to measure four protein biomarkers in 1024 serum samples for a total of 4096 assays per device. Detection is based on a surface fluorescence sandwich immunoassay with a limit of detection of ~1 pM for most of the proteins measured: PSA, TNF-α, IL-1ß, and IL-6. To validate the utility of our platform, we measured these four biomarkers in 20 clinical human serum samples, 10 from prostate cancer patients and 10 female and male controls. We compared the results of our platform to a conventional ELISA and found a good correlation between them. However, compared to a classical ELISA, our device reduces the total cost of reagents by 4 orders of magnitude while increasing throughput by 2 orders of magnitude. Overall, we demonstrate an integrated approach to perform low-cost and rapid quantification of protein biomarkers from over one thousand serum samples. This new high-throughput technology will have a significant impact on disease diagnosis and management.