We compared two protocols for extracting DNA from dried blood spots for cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA detection and quantification by real-time PCR. Both extraction methods were reliable for the retrospective diagnosis of CMV congenital infection. Quantification of CMV DNA was valuable after normalization of viral loads with albumin gene PCR amplification results.

BACKGROUND Monitoring of antiretroviral treatment (ART) with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viral loads, as recommended in industrialized countries, is rarely available in resource-limited settings because of the high costs and stringent requirements for storage and transport of plasma. Dried blood spots (DBS) can be an alternative to plasma, but the use of DBS has not been assessed under f...

Newborn screening (NBS) began 50 years ago with the ability to screen for phenylketonuria from dried-blood spots and prevent long-term disability through dietary intervention. Now nearly all of the 4 million infants born in the United States are screened for a wide array of significant medical conditions by using dried-blood spots and pointof-care tests, leading to early diagnosis and treatment...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the associations between objective and subjective dimensions of adolescent sleep and C-reactive protein (CRP), a key biomarker of inflammation that predicts chronic health problems in adulthood, and whether the associations vary as a function of adolescents' age. METHODS A total of 315 adolescents (14.5-18.4 years) wore wrist actigraphs at night to objectively estimat...

OBJECTIVE To identify the relative importance of factors that impact parents' attitudes toward use of their child's dried newborn blood spots for research purposes. METHODS Respondents were parents aged 18 and older with at least one child aged 17 or younger born in Indiana visiting an urban pediatrics clinic. They were asked to rate the acceptability of hypothetical scenarios involving the r...

Liquid extraction surface analysis (LESA) is a surface sampling technique that allows electrospray mass spectrometry analysis of a wide range of analytes directly from biological substrates. Here, we present LESA mass spectrometry coupled with high field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) for the analysis of dried blood spots on filter paper. Incorporation of FAIMS in the wor...

In Kenya, HIV diagnosis is not routinely carried out in infants, and yet rapid diagnosis could improve access to lifesaving interventions. A cheap and readily accessible service can resolve this problem, if feasible. In this pilot study the feasibility and costs of provision of an infant HIV diagnosis service in Kenya are evaluated. Dried blood spots (DBS) were collected from infants exposed to...

We describe a method for neonatal screening for biotinidase (EC 3.5.1.12) deficiency. Biotinidase activity is assessed colorimetrically from dried samples of whole blood spotted on the same filter papers as used in the neonatal screening for phenylketonuria. After the reaction, samples from normal infants are characteristically purple, whereas those from affected individuals are straw-colored. ...

A pilot screening programme for congenital hypothyroidism covering most of North London, Essex, Bedfordshire, and Hertfordshire entailed carrying out an assay of thyroid-stimulating hormone on single Guthrie dried blood spots. During one year 87 444 babies were screened and 26 cases of primary congenital hypothyroidism detected, giving an incidence of 1:3363. Only two cases (7.7%) had already b...

OBJECTIVE Since the 1960s newborn screening (NBS) for several rare and serious disorders has been in place across Australia. Testing of a simple blood spot now enables the early detection of over 30 conditions. Policies across Australian states have diverged in some aspects of NBS, especially in the retention and further use of dried blood spots collected as part of the screening and attempts a...