OBJECTIVE To evaluate sensitivity and specificity of a new ELISA for antibodies against Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis. DESIGN Cross-sectional observational survey. SAMPLE POPULATION Serum samples from 590 cattle that were infected with M avium subsp paratuberculosis and 723 cattle that were not infected. PROCEDURE Serum samples were tested by use of an ELISA for antibodies ag...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE In India, National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) introduced syndromic approach to treat patients with abnormal vaginal discharge without a need for laboratory tests. Simple tools like pH test and Whiff test can be done without high expertise, microscope and even speculum. This can improve diagnostic value of syndromic approach of abnormal vaginal discharge. The present...

Bacterial meningitis is a serious infection of the central nervous system. On the other hand, aseptic meningitis is a benign self-limited disease. Differentiating both diseases is of great importance. Earlier studies using urine reagent strips and procalcitonin (PCT) for diagnosis of meningitis had given a high sensitivity and specificity rates reaching 100%. The main aim of this study was to e...

BACKGROUND Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is defined as an ascitic fluid infection without an evident intra-abdominal surgically treatable source. Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is one of the severe complications in patients with cirrhosis and ascites. Without early antibiotic treatment, this complication is associated with high mortality rate, so early diagnosis and treatment...

BACKGROUND Brucellosis is the most common bacterial zoonosis, and serological tests are routinely used in brucellosis control and eradication programs. In order to improve the accuracy of serological diagnostic method used in bovine brucellosis detection, this study developed an improved competitive ELISA with higher specificity and good sensitivity. RESULTS This study prepared 12 monoclonal ...

background and Objective: Although Nugent’s criterion is considered as the gold standard, routinely a combination of various methods is used for the diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis. In the present study we compared culture, Spiegel’s criteria and Amsel’s criteria with Nugent’s method for the diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis. Materials and Methods: Five hundred and twenty seven women who attend...

BACKGROUND Neisseria meninigitidis is one of the most frequently encountered microorganisms associated with central nervous system infections. The aim of this study was to evaluate a PCR-based assay for specific and rapid detection of N. meninigitidis in CSF specimens. METHODS Since April 2002 to July 2006, 130 CSF specimens were collected from patients suspected of having bacterial meningiti...

background: neonatal sepsis is a major cause of mortality and morbidity, especially in developing countries. the goal of the present study was to determine the bacterial etiology and antibiotic sensitivity patterns of neonatal sepsis.   methods: this cross sectional study was conducted on 208 neonates admitted with clinically suspected sepsis over a period of 30 months. sepsis was divided into ...

Tularemia is a highly contagious infectious zoonosis caused by the bacterial agent Francisella tularensis. Serology is still considered to be a cornerstone in tularemia diagnosis due to the low sensitivity of bacterial culture and the lack of standardization in PCR methodology for the direct identification of the pathogen. We developed a novel immunochromatographic test (ICT) to efficiently det...

Background & Aim: By increasing resistance of fish pathogens to chemical drugs, using herbal plants with antimicrobial properties is necessary.In this study, the composition of the essential oil and antimicrobial activity of aerial parts of Achillea wilhelmsii C.Koch growing wild in Zagross mountain (Southwest of Iran) was analyzed against common bacterial and fungal pathogens of fish....