INTRODUCTION Early neonatal deaths account for 75% of neonatal deaths globally. Antenatal iron-folic acid (IFA) supplementation has significantly reduced the risk of early neonatal deaths in China and Indonesia. We investigated the impact of antenatal IFA supplements on the risk of early neonatal deaths in Nepal and Pakistan during the last decade. METHODS Data from the most recent singleton ...

BACKGROUND Identification of Burkholderia pseudomallei, the cause of melioidosis, using routine methods takes several days. Use of a monoclonal antibody-based immunofluorescent assay (IFA) on positive blood cultures may speed diagnosis. METHODS We tested the diagnostic accuracy of the IFA on 545 blood cultures positive for Gram-negative organisms at Udon Thani Hospital, Thailand, between June...

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a human herpesvirus, affects up to 95% of adults. Diagnosis of acute EBV infection can be challenging and often relies on the serologic antibody pattern to 3 distinct antigens, most often determined by indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), and, more recently, multiplex assays. We compared a multiplex assay for the simultaneou...

CONTEXT Almost 70% of young children in India are anemic. Current policy recommends routine iron-folic acid (IFA) supplementation to all under 5 children. A potential risk of this approach is an increase in infectious diseases in general, and malaria in particular. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION An extensive literature search including PubMed, the World Health Organization (WHO) document library, and t...

BACKGROUND The study objective was to understand community preparedness for iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation early in pregnancy and to inform the design of a large-scale trial of early introduction of IFA supplementation in rural Bangladesh. METHODS 66 in-depth interviews (pregnant women, husbands, and older women in the household), 20 key-informant interviews, 3 focus-group discussi...

BACKGROUND Cryptosporidium spp. is a widespread protozoan parasite involving humans and animals. OBJECTIVES This study was carried out to evaluate the immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and PCR results for more accurate diagnosis of faecal specimens. PATIENTS AND METHODS Forty six faecal human specimens of Cryptosporidium oocysts were examined by PCR and IFA in Calgary, Canada. In statistical a...

A clinically relevant indirect fluorescent-antibody technique (IFA) was developed for the serological diagnosis of La Crosse virus infections. The IFA (67%) was as sensitive as the hemagglutination inhibition (58%) and neutralization (58%) tests in the detection of antibodies in acute-phase specimens. Immunoglobulin M antibodies were detected by the IFA test in 48% (11 of 23) of these specimens...

Over a 3-year period, 1,003 respiratory samples were collected and examined for selected respiratory viruses with cytocentrifuged prepared smears stained with fluorescently labeled antibodies (IFA) in conjunction with cell culture. IFA results were compared with results obtained by cell culture. Viruses were isolated or detected by direct means in 401 samples. Agreement between culture and IFA ...