Laboratory Diagnosis of Infectious Disease: Advances and Challenges

A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 526

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Pathology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan
Interests: clinical pathology; molecular diagnosis; genome; epidemiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is committed to highlighting the advancements in innovation and progress in infectious disease diagnostics. This edition is set to focus on the latest laboratory techniques and innovative diagnostic methodologies, especially emphasizing their role in the detection and understanding of infectious diseases. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive review of the present trends, the inherent challenges they present and future directions in laboratory diagnostics. Particular focus will be placed on enhancing diagnostic accuracy, speeding up diagnostic processes and improving accessibility. Through a collection of distinguished papers, this Special Issue aspires to deepen our understanding of the dynamic field of infectious disease diagnosis and emphasize its crucial importance in global health.

Dr. Hung-Sheng Shang
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

  • infectious diseases
  • diagnostic techniques
  • laboratory innovation
  • diagnostic accuracy
  • global health
  • disease detection
  • diagnostic challenges
  • medical technology

Published Papers (1 paper)

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11 pages, 2100 KiB  
Brief Report
Comparative Performance of COVID-19 Test Methods in Healthcare Workers during the Omicron Wave
by Emma C. Tornberg, Alexander Tomlinson, Nicholas T. T. Oshiro, Esraa Derfalie, Rabeka A. Ali and Marcel E. Curlin
Diagnostics 2024, 14(10), 986; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14100986 - 8 May 2024
Viewed by 288
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic presents unique requirements for accessible, reliable testing, and many testing platforms and sampling techniques have been developed over the course of the pandemic. Not all test methods have been systematically compared to each other or a common gold standard, and [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic presents unique requirements for accessible, reliable testing, and many testing platforms and sampling techniques have been developed over the course of the pandemic. Not all test methods have been systematically compared to each other or a common gold standard, and the performance of tests developed in the early epidemic have not been consistently re-evaluated in the context of new variants. We conducted a repeated measures study with adult healthcare workers presenting for SARS-CoV-2 testing. Participants were tested using seven testing modalities. Test sensitivity was compared using any positive PCR test as the gold standard. A total of 325 individuals participated in the study. PCR tests were the most sensitive (saliva PCR 0.957 ± 0.048, nasopharyngeal PCR 0.877 ± 0.075, oropharyngeal PCR 0.849 ± 0.082). Standard nasal rapid antigen tests were less sensitive but roughly equivalent (BinaxNOW 0.613 ± 0.110, iHealth 0.627 ± 0.109). Oropharyngeal rapid antigen tests were the least sensitive (BinaxNOW 0.400 ± 0.111, iHealth brands 0.311 ± 0.105). PCR remains the most sensitive testing modality for the diagnosis of COVID-19 and saliva PCR is significantly more sensitive than oropharyngeal PCR and equivalent to nasopharyngeal PCR. Nasal AgRDTs are less sensitive than PCR but have benefits in convenience and accessibility. Saliva-based PCR testing is a viable alternative to traditional swab-based PCR testing for the diagnosis of COVID-19. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laboratory Diagnosis of Infectious Disease: Advances and Challenges)
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