Development and Clinical Evaluation of a Rapid Point of Care Test for Ebola Virus Infection in Humans.

The genus Ebolavirus contains multiple species of viruses that are highly contagious and lethal, often causing severe hemorrhagic fever. To minimize the global threat from Ebola virus disease (EVD), sustainable, field-appropriate tools are needed to quickly screen and triage symptomatic patients and conduct rapid screening of cadavers to ensure proper handling of human remains. The OraQuick® Ebola Rapid Antigen Test is an in vitro diagnostic single-use immunoassay for the qualitative detection of Ebola virus antigens that detects all known species within the genus Ebolavirus. Here, we report the performance of the OraQuick® Ebola Rapid Antigen Test and provide a comparison of its performance with other rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for EVD. OraQuick® Ebola demonstrated clinical sensitivity of 84.0% in archived EVD patient venous whole-blood (WB) samples, 90.9% in Ebola virus-infected monkey fingerstick samples, and 97.1% in EVD patient cadaver buccal swabs, as well as clinical specificity of 98.0-100% in venous WB samples and 99.1-100% in contrived saliva samples. It is the only 510(k)-cleared Ebola rapid test, has analytical sensitivity as good as or better than all RDT comparators for EVD, and can detect the Sudan virus. Our data demonstrate that the OraQuick® Ebola Rapid Antigen Test is a sensitive and specific assay that can be used for rapid detection of EBOV in humans and could support efforts for EVD-specific interventions and control over outbreaks.

Active bystandership for law enforcement: Improving public safety by creating a policing culture of peer intervention.

In recent years, law enforcement agencies have come under severe criticism for officer misconduct and mistakes. As a result, changes have been imposed upon these agencies from outside of law enforcement. These changes include mandated policies, budget allocations, and in extreme cases, consent decrees. A national model launched in 2020, the Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) Project seeks to give agencies the tools they need to create culture change internally by embracing officer peer intervention as a tool to prevent misconduct, avoid mistakes, and promote health and wellness. This article describes the following regarding ABLE: (a) history and program development timeline, (b) programmatic structure and objectives, and (c) an examination of ABLE's potential to help law enforcement agencies create meaningful, positive culture change to improve public health and safety using active bystandership. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Evaluation of a new, rapid test for detecting HCV infection, suitable for use with blood or oral fluid.

The availability of a highly accurate, rapid, point-of-care test for hepatitis C virus (HCV) may be useful in addressing the problem of under-diagnosis of HCV, by increasing opportunities for testing outside of traditional clinical settings. A new HCV rapid test device (OraQuick® HCV Rapid Antibody Test), approved recently in Europe for use with venous blood, fingerstick blood, serum, plasma, or oral fluid was evaluated in a multi-center study and performance compared to established laboratory-based tests for detection of HCV. The HCV rapid test was evaluated in prospective testing of subjects with signs and/or symptoms of hepatitis, or who were at risk for hepatitis C using all 5 specimen types. Performance was assessed relative to HCV serostatus established by laboratory methods (EIA, RIBA and PCR) approved in Europe for diagnosis of hepatitis C infection. Sensitivity to antibody in early infection was also compared to EIA in 27 seroconversion panels. In addition, the reliability of the oral fluid sample for accurate detection of anti-HCV was assessed by studying the impact of various potentially interfering conditions of oral health, use of oral care products and consumption of food and drink. In this large study of at-risk and symptomatic persons, the overall specificities of the OraQuick® HCV Rapid Antibody Test were equivalent (99.6-99.9%) for all 5 specimen types and the 95% CIs substantially overlapped. Overall sensitivities were virtually identical for venous blood, fingerstick blood, serum and plasma (99.7-99.9%). Observed sensitivity was slightly lower for oral fluid at 98.1% though the upper CI (99.0%) was equal to the lower CI for venous blood and fingerstick blood. Most of the HCV positive subjects which gave nonreactive results in oral fluid had serological and virological results consistent with resolved infection. Sensitivity for anti-HCV in early seroconversion was virtually identical between the HCV rapid test and EIA. Detection of anti-HCV in oral fluid appeared generally robust to conditions of oral health, consumption of food and drink and use of oral care products. The OraQuick® HCV Rapid Antibody Test demonstrated clinical performance that was equivalent to current laboratory-based EIA. This new, HCV rapid test appears suitable as an aid in the diagnosis of HCV infection and may increase testing opportunities due to its simplicity and flexibility to use multiple specimen types, including fingerstick blood and oral fluid.