Introduction: Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in paediatric patients. Therefore, early detection of the viral aetiologies of ARTIs is essential for patient management and infection control. In this study, we evaluated the performance of a new multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay (xTAG Respiratory Viral Panel [RVP] Fast v2) in the detection of respiratory viruses by comparing it with that of viral culture and direct immunofluorescence (IF) staining. Methods: Nasopharyngeal swab and aspirate samples were collected prospectively from 199 patients who presented with ARTIs at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia during a 10-month period. The PCR assay was conducted in parallel with conventional culture and direct IF staining methods. Results: The positive rate of the xTAG RVP Fast v2 assay (78.4%) in detecting respiratory viruses was higher than that of the viral isolation (7.5%) and direct IF (23.1%) methods. Using the xTAG RVP Fast v2 assay, human enterovirus/human rhinovirus (HEV/HRV) was the most frequently detected (46.2%). The xTAG RVP Fast v2 assay revealed mixed infection caused by two or three respiratory viruses in 40 specimens, and these were undetected by the viral isolation and direct IF methods. Conclusion: The xTAG RVP Fast v2 assay was superior to conventional methods in the identification of common respiratory viruses, with higher sensitivity and shorter turnaround times for laboratory results.

Anti-Malassezia furfur monospecific polyclonal antibodies was produced by repeated immunization of rabbit with Malassezia furfur yeast cells mixed with Freud adjuvant. The antibody titres of respective rabbit's serum samples prior to and after each immunization against M. furfur were assayed by indirect immunofluorescence technique using the M. furfur whole yeast antigen fixed in Teflon coated slides. The highest anti-M. furfur antibody titre achieved was 1 in 1280 dilution. At 1:20 dilution, none of the respective serum samples taken at various stages of immunization gave positive immunofluorescent staining against any of the other species of yeasts tested in this study. Anti-M. furfur monospecific polyclonal antibodies produced in rabbit in this study has the potential for diagnostic application in immunohistochemical detection of M. furfur in human tissues.
Antibodies ; Upper case emm ; Rabbits ; Malassezia furfur ; Immunization

Cognition Disorders ; diagnosis ; Decision Making ; Humans ; Mental Competency ; legislation & jurisprudence ; Physicians ; Singapore

Aims: Prevalence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains in healthcare (HA-MRSA) and community (CA-MRSA) incurred costly morbidity and mortality. This study assessed the prevalence and antibiotic sensitivity profile of S. aureus and MRSA isolates from medical students. Methodology and results: A cross-sectional study of nasal swabs from 60 medical students yielded 93% positive S. aureus. In this study, erythromycin, fusidic acid, gentamicin, penicillin, vancomycin and methicillin were used. The most significant antibiotic sensitivity against S. aureus was fusidic acid (p-value=0.0042). The S. aureus and MRSA isolates from clinical students were more resistant than those of preclinical students against erythromycin (44%; 15%), fusidic acid (33.3%; 10%), penicillin (85%; 86.9%), vancomycin (11.1%;-) and methicillin (19.4%; 15%) respectively while the isolates from preclinical students were more resistant than those of clinical students against gentamicin (5%;-). Conclusion, significance and impact of study In this study, gender, age and duration of clinical exposure had no significant bearing on the prevalence of nasal S. aureus and MRSA respectively. No MRSA infections were detected in preclinical (15%) and clinical (19%) students positive for MRSA, suggesting that these students may be carriers of CA-MRSA. A larger study will be implemented to provide baseline data for monitoring CA-MRSA infections, genotyping and constructing of phylogenetic tree.