Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Neglected Infectious Diseases: Case Study Highlights Need for Customer Awareness and Postmarket Surveillance.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Barbe B
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5094593 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Neglected Infectious Diseases: Case Study Highlights Need for Customer Awareness and Postmarket Surveillance.
Barbé Barbara B Verdonck Kristien K El-Safi Sayda S Khanal Basudha B Teav Syna S Lilo Kalo Jean-Roger JR Ravinetto Raffaella R Chappuis François F Boelaert Marleen M Jacobs Jan J
PLoS neglected tropical diseases 20161103 11
Similar Datasets
Project description:The essential role of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in disease control is compromised every time a test is not performed correctly or its result is not reported accurately and promptly. A mobile app that utilizes the camera and connectivity of a common smartphone can fill this role of supporting the test's proper execution and the automatic transmission of results. In a consensus process with 51 expert participants representing the needs of clinical users, healthcare programs, health information systems, surveillance systems, and global public health stakeholders, we developed a Target Product Profile describing the minimal and optimal characteristics of such an app. We collected feedback over two rounds and refined the characteristics to arrive at a preferred agreement level of greater than 75%, with an average of 92% agreement (range: 79-100%). As per this feedback, such an app should be compatible with many RDTs and mobile devices without needing accessories. The app should assist the user with RDT-specific instructions, include checks to facilitate quality control of the testing process and suggest results with ≥ 95% accuracy across common lighting conditions while allowing the user to determine the final result. Data from the app must be under the control of the health program that operates it, and the app should support at least one of the common data exchange formats HL7, FHIR, ASTM or JSON. The Target Product Profile also lays out the minimum data security and privacy requirements for the app.
| S-EPMC6988927 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundEstimates of leptospirosis morbidity identified Oceania as the region with highest burden. Besides Australia and New Zealand, Oceania is home of Pacific Island Countries and Territories, most of which are developing countries facing a number of challenges. Their archipelago geography notably affects health infrastructure and access to healthcare. Although human leptospirosis was formerly identified in Vanuatu, there is a lack of knowledge of this disease in the country. We aimed to identify leptospirosis in outpatients visiting the hospital.Methodology/principal findingsWe conducted a clinical study to investigate leptospirosis as a cause of non-malarial acute febrile illness in Vanuatu. A total 161 outpatients visiting the outpatient clinics at Port Vila Central Hospital for internal medicine were recruited over 20 month. We showed that leptospirosis significantly affects humans in Vanuatu: 12 cases were confirmed by real-time PCR on acute blood samples (n = 5) or by high serology titers evidencing a recent infection (MAT titer ≥800 or ELISA≥18 Units, n = 7). A high rate of positive serology was also evidenced, by MAT (100<titer<800, 9 patients) or ELISA IgM (ELISA≥12 Units, 20 patients, including 6 also positive in MAT), showing frequent exposure to pathogenic leptospires, notably from serogroup Australis.Conclusions/significanceThe high numbers of both seropositive patients and acute leptospirosis cases observed in outpatients visiting Port Vila Central Hospital suggest a high exposure to pathogenic Leptospira in the population studied. The MAT serology pointing to serogroup Australis as well as exposure history suggest that livestock animals largely contribute to the burden of human leptospirosis in Vanuatu. The analysis of residential and travel data suggests that the risk might even be higher in other islands of the Vanuatu archipelago. Altogether, our study emphasizes the need to increase awareness and build laboratory capacity to improve the medical care of leptospirosis in Vanuatu.
| S-EPMC6002134 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Rabies is endemic in Namibia and is present both in wildlife carnivores and domestic free-roaming dogs. The disease thus represents a challenge for public human and veterinary disease control. Namibia has implemented a national strategic plan to control rabies and the country's activities are supported by international organizations. To this end, rabies diagnosis at the Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL) was improved in the frame of a World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) laboratory twinning program: from practical sampling techniques and the use of lateral flow devices to a novel universal and discriminatory quantitative real-time Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), which easily identify dog-associated rabies viruses. The procedures applied and the results can be used as a template to improve rabies laboratory diagnosis.
| S-EPMC9966532 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In the operation and management of the company, major customers may affect a supplier firm's level of governance. The goal of our study is investigating whether a major customer acts as an important role in corporate governance in emerging markets and exposing the mechanism that how major customers affect corporate decision-making. There is a growing body of literature involving studies about the effect of customer concentration on firm performance of western countries. Few studies have recognized to what degree does customer concentration satisfy the sustainable development of supplier firm. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms, we found a nonlinear relationship between customer concentration and risk-taking, corporate policies and firm performance. Evidence shows that the effect of customer concentration in China resembles an inverted U-shaped curve and major customers are crucial in financial and investment policies. Our results help to provide a broader perspective on the role of major customers, giving a deep explanation about the role of customer concentration in corporate governance.
| S-EPMC8577764 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Variants of uncertain significance (VUS) are commonly found following genomic sequencing, particularly in ethnically diverse populations that are underrepresented in large population databases. Functional characterization of VUS may assist in variant reclassification, however these studies are not readily available and often rely on research funding and good will. We present four individuals from three families at different stages of their diagnostic trajectory with recurrent acute liver failure (RALF) and biallelic NBAS variants, confirmed by either trio analysis or cDNA studies. Functional characterization was undertaken, measuring NBAS and p31 levels by Western blotting, demonstrating reduced NBAS levels in two of three families, and reduced p31 levels in all three families. These results provided functional characterization of the molecular impact of a missense VUS, allowing reclassification of the variant and molecular confirmation of NBAS-associated RALF. Importantly, p31 was decreased in all individuals, including an individual with two missense variants where NBAS protein levels were preserved. These results highlight the importance of access to timely functional studies after identification of putative variants, and the importance of considering a range of assays to validate variants whose pathogenicity is uncertain. We suggest that funding models for genomic sequencing should consider incorporating capabilities for adjunct RNA, protein, biochemical, and other specialized tests to increase the diagnostic yield which will lead to improved medical care, increased equity, and access to molecular diagnoses for all patients.
| S-EPMC8995841 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors have an increased colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. Diagnostic accuracy of quantitative fecal immunochemical testing (FIT, OC Sensor) and/or a multi-target stool DNA test (mt-sDNA, Cologuard®) for advanced neoplasia (AN) was evaluated. 101 HL survivors underwent a surveillance colonoscopy and were asked to perform two stool tests (FIT and mt-sDNA). Advanced adenoma (AA), advanced serrated lesion (ASL), and AN (AA, ASL, CRC) were evaluated. Sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) for AN were calculated for different FIT cut-offs and mt-sDNA with colonoscopy as reference. FIT and mt-sDNA were analyzed in 73 (72%) and 82 (81%) participants, respectively. AN was detected in 19 (26%) and 22 (27%), respectively. AN sensitivities for FIT cut-off of 10 ug Hb/g feces (FIT10) and mt-sDNA were 37% (95% confidence interval (CI): 16-62) and 68% (95% CI: 45-86), with corresponding specificities of 91% (95% CI: 80-97) and 70% (95% CI: 57-86), respectively. AUC for FIT was 0.68 (95% CI: 0.54-0.82) and for mt-sDNA 0.76 (95% CI: 0.63-0.89). In HL survivors, mt-sDNA showed highest sensitivity but with relatively low specificity for AN. Cost-effectiveness analyses is necessary to determine the optimal surveillance strategy.
| S-EPMC7019558 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In the telecommunications industry, predicting customer churn is essential for retaining clients and sustaining profitability. Traditional CRM systems often fall short due to their static models, limiting responsiveness to evolving customer behaviors. To address these gaps, we developed the SmartSurveil CRM model, an ensemble-based system combining random forest, gradient boosting, and support vector machine to enhance churn prediction accuracy and adaptability. Using a comprehensive telecom dataset, our model achieved high performance metrics, including an accuracy of 0.89 and ROC-AUC of 0.91, surpassing baseline approaches. Integrated into a decision support system (DSS), SmartSurveil provides actionable insights to improve customer retention, enabling telecom companies to tailor strategies dynamically. Additionally, this model addresses ethical concerns, including data privacy and algorithmic transparency, ensuring a robust and responsible CRM approach. The SmartSurveil CRM model represents a substantial advancement in predictive accuracy and practical applicability within CRM systems.
| S-EPMC11784820 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveWe investigated the discrepancy between clinical and PCR-based diagnosis of COVID-19. We compared results of ten patients with mild to severe COVID-19. Respiratory samples from all cases were tested on the Roche SARS-CoV-2 (Cobas) assay, Filmarray RP2.1 (bioMereiux) and TaqPath™ COVID19 (Thermofisher) PCR assays.ResultsLaboratory records of ten patients with mild to severe COVID-19 were examined. Initially, respiratory samples from the patients were tested as negative on the SARS-CoV-2 Roche® assay. Further investigation using the BIOFIRE® Filmarray RP2.1 assay identified SARS-CoV-2 as the pathogen in all ten cases. To investigate possible discrepancies between PCR assays, additional testing was conducted using the TaqPath™ COVID19 PCR. Eight of ten samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 on the TaqPath assay. Further, Spike gene target failures (SGTF) were identified in three of these eight cases. Discrepancy between the three PCR assays could be due to variation in PCR efficiencies of the amplification reactions or, variation at primer binding sites. Strains with SGTF indicate the presence of new SARS-CoV-2 variant strains. Regular modification of gene targets in diagnostic assays may be necessary to maintain robustness and accuracy of SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic assays to avoid reduced case detection, under-surveillance, and missed opportunities for control.
| S-EPMC8369441 | biostudies-literature
Project description:There is growing concern in Sub-Saharan Africa about the spread of the Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, and the public health burden that it ensues. Since 1976, there have been 885,343 suspected and laboratory confirmed cases of EVD and the disease has claimed 2,512 cases and 932 fatality in West Africa. There are certain requirements that must be met when responding to EVD outbreaks and this process could incur certain challenges. For the purposes of this paper, five have been identified: (i) the deficiency in the development and implementation of surveillance response systems against Ebola and others infectious disease outbreaks in Africa; (ii) the lack of education and knowledge resulting in an EVD outbreak triggering panic, anxiety, psychosocial trauma, isolation and dignity impounding, stigmatisation, community ostracism and resistance to associated socio-ecological and public health consequences; (iii) limited financial resources, human technical capacity and weak community and national health system operational plans for prevention and control responses, practices and management; (iv) inadequate leadership and coordination; and (v) the lack of development of new strategies, tools and approaches, such as improved diagnostics and novel therapies including vaccines which can assist in preventing, controlling and containing Ebola outbreaks as well as the spread of the disease. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop and implement an active early warning alert and surveillance response system for outbreak response and control of emerging infectious diseases. Understanding the unending risks of transmission dynamics and resurgence is essential in implementing rapid effective response interventions tailored to specific local settings and contexts.Therefore, the following actions are recommended(i) national and regional inter-sectorial and trans-disciplinary surveillance response systems that include early warnings, as well as critical human resources development, must be quickly adopted by allied ministries and organisations in African countries in epidemic and pandemic responses; (ii) harnessing all stakeholders commitment and advocacy in sustained funding, collaboration, communication and networking including community participation to enhance a coordinated responses, as well as tracking and prompt case management to combat challenges; (iii) more research and development in new drug discovery and vaccines; and (iv) understanding the involvement of global health to promote the establishment of public health surveillance response systems with functions of early warning, as well as monitoring and evaluation in upholding research-action programmes and innovative interventions.
| S-EPMC4130433 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC9547159 | biostudies-literature