Point-of-Care Testing for Infectious Diseases, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Point-of-Care Diagnostics and Devices".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2024 | Viewed by 1544

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail
Guest Editor
Department of Infectious Diseases and Child Neurology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland
Interests: liver diseases; liver biopsy; chronic hepatitis C; chronic hepatitis B; liver fibrosis; viral hepatitis; hepatitis; hepatitis C; congenital infections

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Infectious diseases are still one of the leading causes of morbidity, leading to school and work absences. The early identification of the pathogen is crucial for the early prevention of the spread of diseases and the administration of proper causative treatment, which may be vital for patients' health and lives. Quick diagnosis on the site of treatment with early results that enhance decision-making in the diagnostic process is possible thanks to point-of-care tests (POCTs). In recent years, partially as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, new diagnostic tests and methods have been developed. Quick diagnosis is possible for various respiratory pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, and pathogens from the gastrointestinal tract—rotaviruses, adenoviruses or noroviruses. Nevertheless, many POCTs for bacterial, viral, or other pathogens are being developed or validated to influence and facilitate the initiation of effective treatment for life-threatening infections. The aims of this Special Issue concerning "Point-of-Care Testing for Infectious Disease, 2nd Edition" are the following:

  • To concentrate on the clinical impact and utility of novel and innovative POCTs in diagnosing and treating common and life-threatening pathogens that can lead to chronic infections.
  • To improve and standardize the decision-making process in diagnosing and treating infectious diseases based on POCTs.

We invite submissions on developing approaches, recent advances and emerging possibilities for the clinical use of POCTs.

Dr. Anna Mania
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diagnostics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • point-of-care device
  • POCTS
  • infectious disease
  • standard operation protocol
  • pathogens
  • quick diagnosis

Published Papers (3 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 1223 KiB  
Article
Does the Addition of Point-of-Care Testing Alter Antibiotic Prescribing Decisions When Patients Present with Acute Sore Throat to Primary Care? A Prospective Test of Change
by Rob Daniels, Esther Miles and Karen Button
Diagnostics 2024, 14(11), 1104; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14111104 - 26 May 2024
Viewed by 251
Abstract
Abstract: Accurate clinical diagnosis of patients presenting to primary care settings with acute sore throat remains challenging, often resulting in the over-prescribing of antibiotics. Using point-of-care tests (POCTs) to differentiate between respiratory infections is well-accepted, yet evidence on the application within primary care [...] Read more.
Abstract: Accurate clinical diagnosis of patients presenting to primary care settings with acute sore throat remains challenging, often resulting in the over-prescribing of antibiotics. Using point-of-care tests (POCTs) to differentiate between respiratory infections is well-accepted, yet evidence on the application within primary care is sparse. We assessed the application of testing patients (n = 160) from three family practices with suspected Streptococcal infections using rapid molecular tests (ID NOW Strep A2, Abbott). In addition to comparing clinical evaluation and prescription rates with either usual care or testing, patients and staff completed a questionnaire about their experience of molecular POCT in primary care. The immediate availability of the result was important to patients (100%), and staff (≈90%) stated that molecular testing improved the quality of care. Interestingly, only 22.73% of patients with a Centor score > 2 tested positive for Strep A and, overall, less than 50% of Centor scores 3 and 4 tested positive for Strep A with the ID NOW testing platform. The addition of rapid molecular POCTs to clinical assessment resulted in a 55–65% reduction in immediate and deferred antibiotic prescriptions. The intervention was popular with patients and medical staff but was associated with increased cost and a longer appointment length. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Point-of-Care Testing for Infectious Diseases, 2nd Edition)
11 pages, 1389 KiB  
Communication
Development of a Simple Method to Detect the Carbapenemase-Producing Genes blaNDM, blaOXA-48-like, blaIMP, blaKPC, and blaVIM Using a LAMP Method with Lateral Flow DNA Chromatography
by Kei Mikita, Moe Tajima, Anwarul Haque, Yasuyuki Kato, Satoshi Iwata, Koichi Suzuki, Naoki Hasegawa, Hisakazu Yano and Tetsuya Matsumoto
Diagnostics 2024, 14(10), 1027; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14101027 - 16 May 2024
Viewed by 399
Abstract
Infections by carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales constitute a global public health threat. The rapid and efficient diagnosis of Enterobacterales infection is critical for prompt treatment and infection control, especially in hospital settings. We developed a novel loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method combined with DNA chromatography [...] Read more.
Infections by carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales constitute a global public health threat. The rapid and efficient diagnosis of Enterobacterales infection is critical for prompt treatment and infection control, especially in hospital settings. We developed a novel loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method combined with DNA chromatography to identify five major groups of carbapenemase-producing genes (blaNDM, blaOXA-48-like, blaIMP, blaKPC, and blaVIM). This method uses DNA–DNA hybridization-based detection in which LAMP products can be easily visualized as colored lines. No specific technical expertise, expensive equipment, or special facilities are required for this method, allowing its broad application. Here, 73 bacteria collections including strains with carbapenemase-producing genes were tested. Compared to sequencing results, LAMP DNA chromatography for five carbapenemase-producing genes had a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and >97%, respectively. This newly developed method can be a valuable rapid diagnostic test to guide appropriate treatments and infection control measures, especially in resource-limited settings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Point-of-Care Testing for Infectious Diseases, 2nd Edition)
Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 1651 KiB  
Article
Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification and Lateral Flow Immunochromatography Technology for Rapid Diagnosis of Influenza A/B
by Woong Sik Jang, Jun Min Lee, Eunji Lee, Seoyeon Park and Chae Seung Lim
Diagnostics 2024, 14(9), 967; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14090967 - 6 May 2024
Viewed by 726
Abstract
Influenza viruses cause highly contagious respiratory diseases that cause millions of deaths worldwide. Rapid detection of influenza viruses is essential for accurate diagnosis and the initiation of appropriate treatment. We developed a loop-mediated isothermal amplification and lateral flow assay (LAMP-LFA) capable of simultaneously [...] Read more.
Influenza viruses cause highly contagious respiratory diseases that cause millions of deaths worldwide. Rapid detection of influenza viruses is essential for accurate diagnosis and the initiation of appropriate treatment. We developed a loop-mediated isothermal amplification and lateral flow assay (LAMP-LFA) capable of simultaneously detecting influenza A and influenza B. Primer sets for influenza A and influenza B were designed to target conserved regions of segment 7 and the nucleoprotein gene, respectively. Optimized through various primer set ratios, the assay operated at 62 °C for 30 min. For a total of 243 (85 influenza A positive, 58 influenza B positive and 100 negative) nasopharyngeal swab samples, the performance of the influenza A/B multiplex LAMP-LFA was compared with that of the commercial AllplexTM Respiratory Panel 1 assay (Seegene, Seoul, Korea). The influenza A/B multiplex LAMP-LFA demonstrated a specificity of 98% for the non-infected clinical samples, along with sensitivities of 94.1% for the influenza A clinical samples and 96.6% for the influenza B clinical samples, respectively. The influenza A/B multiplex LAMP-LFA showed high sensitivity and specificity, indicating that it is reliable for use in a low-resource environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Point-of-Care Testing for Infectious Diseases, 2nd Edition)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop