Method 65 patients awaiting cataract extraction were admitted to hospital on the day before operation. None of them had any topical or systemic treatment before or after admission. In each case, both eyes were white and quiet and the naso-lacrimal ducts were patent. At the time of admission, conjunctival swabs were taken from the lower fornix of each eye on dry, sterile cotton-wool applicators,...

The utility of the VecTest antigen-capture assay to detect West Nile virus (WNV) in field-collected dead corvids was evaluated in Manitoba and Ontario, Canada, in 2001 and 2002. Swabs were taken from the oropharynx, cloaca, or both of 109 American Crows, 31 Blue Jays, 6 Common Ravens, and 4 Black-billed Magpies from Manitoba, and 255 American Crows and 28 Blue Jays from Ontario. The sensitivity...

It is more convenient and practical to collect rectal swabs than stool specimens to study carriage of colon pathogens. In this study, we examined the ability to use rectal swabs rather than stool specimens to quantify Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). We used a quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assay to determine the concentration...

BACKGROUND Although various acceptable and easy-to-use devices have been used for saliva collection, cotton swabs are among the most common ones. Previous studies reported that cotton swabs yield a lower level of melatonin detection. However, this statistical method is not adequate for detecting an agreement between cotton saliva collection and passive saliva collection, and a test for bias is ...

During the investigation of sexual assault, penile swabs from an alleged perpetrator are processed as part of the routine procedure. The results of the forensic DNA analysis may subsequently be presented in court. Documentation on the expectancy of finding female cells on post-coital penile swabs is scarce. Reviews from assault cases show that retrieval of female cells from penile swabs is gene...

BACKGROUND Active and passive surveillance for avian influenza virus (AIV) and Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is widespread in commercial poultry worldwide, therefore optimization of sample collection and transport would be valuable to achieve the best sensitivity and specificity possible, and to develop the most accurate and efficient testing programs. A H7N2 low pathogenicity (LP) AIV strain w...

• Les frottis de la muqueuse buccale utilisant un test rapide de détection d’antigènes se sont montrés inefficaces. Streptococcal sore throat—group A β−hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis—accounts for 5% to 24% of patients complaining of sore throats, a frequent presentation in primary care.1 Several strategies for assessment of sore throat exist, including examination by a physician,1,2 sore t...

BACKGROUND Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is an imbalance of the vaginal bacterial microbiota and its aetiology is still unknown. Our aims were to investigate the diagnostic potential of species/genus specific quantitative PCR (qPCR) for bacteria present in swabs and first-void urine (FVU) samples using Nugent's and Claeys' criteria and 454 sequencing of the vaginal microbiome as reference. METHODS...

BACKGROUND Influenza-like illness (ILI) confers a high annual morbidity in young children. We report the epidemiology of ILIs in children who participated in an influenza vaccine effectiveness study during the 2010 Southern Hemisphere influenza season in Sydney, Australia. METHODS Children aged 0·5-3 years were prospectively recruited from child care centres (CCCs). We classified them as full...

BACKGROUND Residents in nursing homes (NHs) always represent potential reservoirs for Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). To our knowledge, there is no epidemiological information up till now that describes the prevalence and molecular characteristics of S. aureus in nursing home residents in Shanghai, China. METHODS Four hundred and ninety-one unique residents f...