Enteric fever is a systemic infection caused by typhoidal strains of Salmonella enterica and is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity in many parts of the world, especially in resource-limited areas. Unfortunately, currently available diagnostic tests for enteric fever lack sensitivity and/or specificity. No true clinically practical gold standard for diagnosing patients with enteric f...

objective: to evaluate the capability of ascitic fluid dipstick results for ph, glucose, and protein in order to predict a low serum-ascites albumin gradient (saag) at the bedside of the patient in the emergency department (ed). methods: this prospective cross-sectional study was conducted during one year in the ed of afzalipour hospital in kerman, iran. all patients with diagnostic or therapeu...

Meningococcal meningitis outbreaks occur every year during the dry season in the "meningitis belt" of sub-Saharan Africa. Identification of the causative strain is crucial before launching mass vaccination campaigns, to assure use of the correct vaccine. Rapid agglutination (latex) tests are most commonly available in district-level laboratories at the beginning of the epidemic season; limitati...

An easy, rapid and robust dipstick assay for detection of leptospira-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies was evaluated on 403 patients admitted for hospitalization because of fever. The clinical symptoms and signs of 35 patients were consistent with leptospirosis. The final diagnosis for the remaining patients was as follows: 136 with typhoid fever, 82 with hepatitis, 74 with malaria, 48...

OBJECTIVE To determine the sensitivity, specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of Urine Nitrite (NIT) and Leukocyte Esterase (LE) test compared with urine culture for diagnosis of UTI. STUDY DESIGN Validation study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Department of Microbiology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, from January 2013 to December 2013. METHODO...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the cost-effectiveness of a two-step clinical rule using symptoms, signs and dipstick testing to guide the diagnosis and antibiotic treatment of urinary tract infection (UTI) in acutely unwell young children presenting to primary care. METHODS Decision analytic model synthesising data from a multicentre, prospective cohort study (DUTY) and the wider literature to estimat...

INTRODUCTION Considering the unknown situation regarding canine visceral leishmaniasis in Garanhuns, this study had the aim of investigating occurrences of anti-Leishmania spp antibodies in domesticated and partially domesticated dogs, and the possible risk factors involved. METHODS In the first phase of the study, 256 blood samples were collected from dogs and subjected to the indirect fluor...

OBJECTIVES To determine whether spot urine pH measured by dipstick is an accurate representation of 24 hours urine pH measured by an electrode. MATERIALS AND METHODS We retrospectively reviewed urine pH results of patients who presented to the urology stone clinic. For each patient we recorded the most recente pH result measured by dipstick from a spot urine sample that preceded the result of...