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Kongsuphol et al. develop a paper-based, vertical flow assay to detect SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. The point-of-care assay has comparable performance to lab-based tests and provides results in 10 min.

A new national antimicrobial resistance surveillance program in Singapore public hospitals that uses WHONET detected high levels of methicillin resistance among Staphylococcus aureus (35.3%), carbapenem resistance among Acinetobacter spp. (49.6%), and third-generation cephalosporin resistance among Klebsiella pneumoniae (35.9%) hospital isolates in 2006. Antimicrobial drug resistance is a major problem in Singapore.

BACKGROUND: Reporting of influenza-like illness (ILI) from general practice/family doctor (GPFD) clinics is an accurate indicator of real-time epidemic activity and requires little effort to set up, making it suitable for developing countries currently experiencing the influenza A (H1N1-2009) pandemic or preparing for subsequent epidemic waves. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We established a network of GPFDs in Singapore. Participating GPFDs submitted returns via facsimile or e-mail on their work days using a simple, standard data collection format, capturing: gender; year of birth; "ethnicity"; residential status; body temperature (degrees C); and treatment (antiviral or not); for all cases with a clinical diagnosis of an acute respiratory illness (ARI). The operational definition of ILI in this study was an ARI with fever of 37.8 degrees C or more. The data were processed daily by the study co-ordinator and fed into a stochastic model of disease dynamics, which was refitted daily using particle filtering, with data and forecasts uploaded to a website which could be publicly accessed. Twenty-three GPFD clinics agreed to participate. Data collection started on 2009-06-26 and lasted for the duration of the epidemic. The epidemic appeared to have peaked around 2009-08-03 and the ILI rates had returned to baseline levels by the time of writing. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This real-time surveillance system is able to show the progress of an epidemic and indicates when the peak is reached. The resulting information can be used to form forecasts, including how soon the epidemic wave will end and when a second wave will appear if at all.

Necrotising fasciitis can be life threatening, requiring prompt diagnosis and surgical debridement. We report a case of necrotising fasciitis caused by an adulterate traditional Asian medication— Jamu Pegal Linu , containing toxic levels of phenylbutazone and dipyrone. The patient presented with severe neutropenia and sepsis. An urgent extensive debridement was carried out (within 6 hours of presentation). Repeated debridements were performed on days 2 and 5, augmented with antibiotics and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.

Background: Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAb) is one of the most problematic antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. We sought to elucidate the international epidemiology and clinical impact of CRAb., Methods: In a prospective observational cohort study, 842 hospitalized patients with a clinical CRAb culture were enrolled at 46 hospitals in five global regions between 2017 and 2019. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality at 30 days from the index culture. The strains underwent whole-genome analysis., Results: Of 842 cases, 536 (64%) represented infection. By 30 days, 128 (24%) of the infected patients died, ranging from 1 (6%) of 18 in Australia-Singapore to 54 (25%) of 216 in the United States and 24 (49%) of 49 in South-Central America, whereas 42 (14%) of non-infected patients died. Bacteremia was associated with a higher risk of death compared with other types of infection (40 [42%] of 96 vs. 88 [20%] of 440). In a multivariable logistic regression analysis, bloodstream infection and higher age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index were independently associated with 30-day mortality. Clonal group 2 (CG2) strains predominated except in South-Central America, ranging from 216 (59%) of 369 in the United States to 282 (97%) of 291 in China. Acquired carbapenemase genes were carried by 769 (91%) of the 842 isolates. CG2 strains were significantly associated with higher levels of meropenem resistance, yet non-CG2 cases were over-represented among the deaths compared with CG2 cases., Conclusions: CRAb infection types and clinical outcomes differed significantly across regions. While CG2 strains remained predominant, non-CG2 strains were associated with higher mortality., Clinicaltrials.gov: #NCT03646227., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)