Subject(s)
Alopecia/pathology , Stem Cells/pathology , Adult , Alopecia/metabolism , Biomarkers/metabolism , Biopsy , CD4 Antigens/metabolism , Female , Humans , Keratin-15/metabolism , Male , Stem Cells/metabolism , Young AdultABSTRACT
Respiratory tract infection is a major cause of hospitalization in children. Although most such infections are viral in origin, it is difficult to differentiate bacterial and viral infections, as the clinical symptoms are similar. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods allow testing for multiple pathogens simultaneously and are, therefore, gaining interest. This prospective case-control study was conducted from October 2013 to February 2014. Nasopharyngeal (NP) and oropharyngeal (throat) swabs were obtained from children admitted with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) at a tertiary hospital. A control group of 40 asymptomatic children was included. Testing for 16 viruses was done by real-time multiplex PCR. Multiplex PCR detected a viral pathogen in 159/177 (89.9 %) patients admitted with SARI. There was a high rate of co-infection (46.9 %). Dual detections were observed in 64 (36.2 %), triple detections in 17 (9.6 %), and quadruple detections in 2 (1.1 %) of 177 samples. Seventy-eight patients required intensive care unit (ICU) admission, of whom 28 (35.8 %) had co-infection with multiple viruses. AdV, HBoV, HRV, HEV, and HCoV-OC43 were also detected among asymptomatic children. This study confirms the high rate of detection of viral nucleic acids by multiplex PCR among hospitalized children admitted with SARI, as well as the high rate of co-detection of multiple viruses. AdV, HBoV, HRV, HEV, and HCoV-OC43 were also detected in asymptomatic children, resulting in challenges in clinical interpretation. Studies are required to provide quantitative conclusions that will facilitate clinical interpretation and application of the results in the clinical setting.
Subject(s)
Coinfection/diagnosis , Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Respiratory Tract Infections/diagnosis , Virus Diseases/diagnosis , Viruses/isolation & purification , Case-Control Studies , Child, Preschool , Coinfection/virology , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Nasopharynx/virology , Oropharynx/virology , Prevalence , Prospective Studies , Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Respiratory Tract Infections/virology , Seasons , Tertiary Care Centers , Virus Diseases/virology , Viruses/classification , Viruses/geneticsABSTRACT
Monoclonal antibody 128C3/3/21 in an antigen-capture ELISA was used to detect circulating antigen in individuals infected with Schistosoma mansoni. This antibody recognizes a carbohydrate epitope expressed on the major group of acidic egg glycoproteins and on glycoproteins and glycolipids in all other stages of parasite development. The overall sensitivity of the assay was 78%, with a sensitivity of 100% for patients excreting >100 egg/g feces (EGF) and 72% for those excreting <100 EGF. By increasing the degree of antibody biotinylation, the authors have now achieved sensitivities of 92.4% overall and 82% for those excreting <100 EGF. A direct increase in the mean level of circulating antigen was found with increasing egg counts. The difference between those excreting >100 EGF (53 individuals) and those excreting <100 EGF (39 cases) was statistically significant (P<0.01). None of the control sera (23 uninfected individuals and 16 patients infected with other parasites) had circulating antigen levels >80 ng/ml. Thus, the test specificity was >99%. The test accuracy was 94.7%, the positive predictive value 100%, and the negative predictive value 84.8%.
