In 2009, after an emergence of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) (pH1N1), one of our serological investigations showed 23 students whose paired serum antibodies simultaneously presented 4-fold or greater increase in titer both against pH1N1 and against seasonal influenza (SI). This caught our attention and in order to further understand clinical features of these cases, a case control study was conduc...

OBJECTIVE A case-control study was conducted to assess seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness (SIVE) during the 2015-2016 influenza season. METHODS A study was performed in three departments in Lithuania between 1 December 2015 and 1 May 2016. Data on demographic and clinical characteristics including influenza vaccination status were collected from the patients recommended to receive the s...

We report on three nursing home outbreaks of gastroenteritis in Brisbane in 1999. The presence of Norwalk-like virus (NLV) genogroup 2 was demonstrated by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in all three outbreaks. Common findings of these investigations were rapid spread of the illness within the institutions and difficulties in identifying a common source. Nursing home po...

This paper presents a high-speed RNA microextractor for the direct isolation of RNA from peripheral blood lysate using magnetic oligo-dT beads. The extraction is achieved through lateral magnetophoresis, generated by a ferromagnetic wire array inlaid on a glass substrate. This RNA microextractor separated more than 80% of magnetic beads with a flow rate up to 20 ml h(-1), and the overall extrac...

Rabies is a lethal and notifiable zoonotic disease for which diagnostics have to meet the highest standards. In recent years, an evolution was especially seen in molecular diagnostics with a wide variety of different detection methods published. Therefore, a first international ring trial specifically designed on the use of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for detection ...

AIM The aim of this study was biological and molecular characterization of classical swine fever (CSF) challenge virus from India. MATERIALS AND METHODS CSF challenge virus maintained at Division of Biological standardization was experimentally infected to two seronegative piglets. The biological characterization was done by clinical sign and symptoms along with postmortem findings. For molec...

INTRODUCTION Currently available antigen tests for norovirus (NoV) have excellent specificity but negative results do not always rule out infection. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a useful method for detecting and genotyping NoV in humans and oysters. An outbreak of NoV associated with oyster consumption in northern New South Wales confirmed the value of r...

AIM To validate the analytical performance of a 12-gene molecular assay that predicts distant recurrence for early-stage ER+/HER2- invasive breast cancer as run within a central reference laboratory. MATERIALS & METHODS Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded breast resections were evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction for the expression of eight target genes, thr...

AIM To investigate whether ketamine suppresses lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced increase in Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) expression and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) activity in the intestines of rats. METHODS Six groups of rats received one of the following: normal saline control, LPS (5 mg/kg) plus saline, LPS (5 mg/kg) plus ketamine (0.5 mg/kg), LPS (5 mg/kg) plus ketamine (2.5 mg/kg),...

BACKGROUND Fluoroquinolone (FQ) resistance is increasing worldwide among Salmonella species. Among the mechanisms involved, increased efflux via the tripartite AcrAB-TolC efflux system is mainly modulated through control of expression via the ramRA regulatory locus gene products. Interestingly, in some reference strains these have also been experimentally shown to regulate cell invasion-related...