BACKGROUND Estimation of pre-immunisation prevalence of HPV and distribution of HPV types is fundamental to understanding the subsequent impact of HPV vaccination. We describe the type specific prevalence of HPV in females aged 20-21 in Scotland who attended or defaulted from cervical screening using three specimen types; from attenders liquid based cytology and from defaulters urine or self-ta...

OBJECTIVES To assess the diagnostic performance of 11 commercial PR3- and MPO-ANCA ELISA systems (direct, capture and high sensitive [hs] ELISA). METHODS Sera from 90 patients with AAV (GPA, MPA and CSS) and 20 disease controls (SLE; RA) and healthy individuals were tested for the presence of ANCA by IFT and by different ELISAs for the presence of PR3-and MPO-ANCA, respectively. Furthermore, ...

Five commercial Staphylococcus aureus identification kits--Staphaurex (Wellcome), Staphylase (Oxoid), Staphyslide (bioMèrieux), Biostaph (Medlabs) and Bacto Latex (Difco)--were evaluated for the routine identification of S aureus from primary plates in the routine microbiology laboratory. Comparison was made with two methods of tube coagulase testing and five slide methods for detecting clumpin...

INTRODUCTION 'Take Home' Naloxone (THN) kits for use by peers in the event of an opioid overdose may reduce further overdose and deaths, but distribution through Drugs Services may not reach those at highest risk. Attendance by paramedics at emergency calls for patients who have suffered an overdose presents an opportunity to distribute THN kits. In this feasibility study we will assess the acc...

INTRODUCTION HIV testing is key to the delivery of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP): testing HIV-uninfected at-risk persons is the first step for PrEP initiation and ongoing HIV testing is an essential part of PrEP delivery. Thus, novel and cost-effective HIV-testing approaches to streamline delivery of PrEP are urgently needed. Within a demonstration project of PrEP for HIV prevention among hig...

BACKGROUND Accurate and reliable diagnosis of HIV plays a central role in any effective HIV intervention. We decided to evaluate 4 commercial HIV test kits to determine their reliability for use in developing countries. METHODS Serum samples obtained from clients accessing tertiary health services at the STI clinic, Jos University Teaching Hospital were used to evaluate Sdbioline, Diaspot, De...

Veterinary diagnostic test kits are used in clinical practice and production medicine as a basis for prescribing vaccination and/or treatment regimens. These kits are also used by state and federal animal health officials to control or regulate the movement of animals. The regulation of such kits, which generally takes the form of establishing requirements for licensure, ensures that the kits c...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sponsored a field study of portable technologies for testing for lead in paint in three U.S. cities in 1993. Six chemical test kits and six X-ray fluorescence instruments, which represented the two main types of portable technologies available for residential lead testing at that time, were evaluat...

BACKGROUND In 68% of foodborne disease outbreaks, no etiologic pathogen is identified. In two-thirds of outbreaks with no identified etiology, no stool specimens are submitted for testing. METHODS From April 2001 to March 2003, we pilot-tested use of prepackaged, self-contained stool specimen collection kits in 3 states, delivered to and from patients by courier or mail, to improve rates of s...