Objectives: To investigate the etiological characteristics of acute conjunctivitis in Shenzhen, China.
Methods: A total of 1234 conjunctival swabs collected between 2018 and 2024 were examined for coxsackievirus A24 variant (CVA24v), enterovirus D70 (EV-D70) and human adenovirus (HAdV). Complete VP1 sequences of CVA24v strains were determined and analyzed. HAdV was genotyped by PCR methods targeting the three genes (penton base, hexon and fiber) and sequencing. SPSS 22.0 software was used for statistical analysis.
Results: CVA24v was first detected in 2023, with a detection rate of 33.3 % (63/189). No EV-D70 was detected in 2018-2024. The annual distributions of HAdV-infected patients were 52.6 % (101/192), 62.7 % (111/177), 21.1 % (37/175), 9.0 % (14/155), 10.5 % (17/162), 15.9 % (30/189) and 21.7 % (40/184), respectively. CVA24v strains from this study clustered in a clade with significant temporal aggregation characteristic within the genotype GIV. Eight amino acid variation sites (T11A, I16L, K20I, L32P, K105R, A146T, R277G and P280S) were observed in VP1 sequences of CVA24v strains from this study when compared to the close strains. Conjunctivitis patients with one of the three symptoms (weakness, fever and blurred vision) had a higher detection rate of HAdV. Eleven known HAdV genotypes (HAdV-B3, -B14, -B21, HAdV-D8, -D37, -D42, -D53, -D64, -D85, -D115 and HAdV-E4) and 7 unknown genotypes were detected in 2020-2024, with HAdV-D37 (30.9 %), HAdV-D115 (21.1 %) and HAdV-B3 (17.1 %) being the three predominant genotypes.
Conclusions: The unique genetic characteristics were observed in Shenzhen CVA24v strains. HAdVs associated with conjunctivitis exhibited a high degree of genotypic diversity in Shenzhen, and HAdV-D115 related to conjunctivitis was first reported in this study.
This study highlights the importance of verifying HIV testing algorithms to reduce the risk of misdiagnoses caused by common false reactivity. Between 2020 and 2023, WHO supported 14 countries to assess rates of false reactivity and shared false reactivity across HIV rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) used in HIV testing services. The study involved 26,278 results from 22 different RDT products, with sample sizes ranging from 100 to 302 results per country. The number of RDT products assessed varied between 4 and 13 per country. False reactivity rates ranged from 0 % to 3.32 %, with one country reporting a high false reactivity rate of over 4 % for one RDT. Five countries have no shared false reactivity between RDTs, while the remaining eight countries shared false reactivity across one to six pairs of RDT products. These findings were used to inform national policy, with more than 90 % of countries introducing new RDT products into their HIV testing algorithm based on these results. The study concludes that rates of false reactivity and shared false reactivity between RDT products vary across countries. Therefore, conducting verification studies is crucial for updating national HIV testing algorithms and ensuring accurate diagnosis while also facilitating the market entry of new HIV testing products.
A key parameter for the continued success of cervical cancer screening is quality-controlled use of human papillomavirus (HPV) tests that are clinically validated according to international guidelines. The clinical accuracy for cervical screening of the Allplex HPV HR Detection (Allplex), which concurrently detects and distinguishes 12 high-risk HPV types (16,18,31,33,35,39,45,51,52,56,58,59) and HPV66 and HPV68 was assessed on SurePath samples by comparing its performance to the second-generation comparator BD Onclarity HPV assay (Onclarity). The absolute clinical sensitivity, assessed on 76 samples derived from a screening population with underlying CIN2+, of Allplex and Onclarity was 98.7 % (95 % CI, 92.9-100.0 %) and 100.0 % (95 % CI, 95.2-100.0 %), respectively, with relative sensitivity of Allplex of 0.99 (95 % CI; 0.96-1.01). The absolute clinical specificity, assessed on 801 consecutive clinician-collected cervical samples obtained from women 30 to 59 years old attending the routine Danish cervical screening program, for Allplex and Onclarity was 92.5 % (95 % CI, 90.4-94.2 %) and 92.5 % (95 % CI, 90.4-94.2 %), respectively, with relative specificity of Allplex of 1.00 (95 % CI; 0.99-1.01). With thresholds mandated by international guidelines of ≥90 % for relative clinical sensitivity (p = 0.001) and ≥98 % for relative clinical specificity (p = 0.0018), Allplex was non-inferior to Onclarity. Excellent intra- and inter-laboratory agreement of Allplex was observed, both overall (99.2 % and 99.6 %) and at the genotype level (range: 99.6-100.0 %). By fulfilling all guideline requirements for clinical sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility, Allplex can be considered clinically validated for primary cervical screening using clinician-collected SurePath samples. With this study, Allplex also meets the criteria for a second-generation HPV comparator test.
Introduction: We evaluated the performance of the automated AltoStar JCV PCR platform for detecting and quantifying JC Polyomavirus (JCPyV) DNA in samples including urine, plasma and cerebrospinal fluid.
Methods and results: Using the NIBSC JCPyV DNA standard, the assay was linear from 1 to 6 log IU/mL standard and the limit of detection determined by Probit analysis corresponded to 9.3 [95 % CI: 7.0-16.5] IU/mL. Specificity was accessed by testing urines containing a high concentration of BK Polyomavirus; none tested positive for JCPyV. The intra-run and inter-run standard deviations were 0.02 IU/mL and 0.35 IU/mL, respectively. Lastly, clinical performance was determined by testing 45 samples quantified previously with a laboratory-developed test (LDT). The assays were concordant for 42/45 samples. One of the 3 samples that tested negative with the AltoStar assay had a low JCpyV DNA concentration. We were unable to re-test the 3 negative samples due to insufficient volume. A conservation problem could not be ruled out for the 3 samples with discordant results.
Conclusions: The AltoStar platform enables highly accurate testing for the detection and quantification of JCPyV DNA with very low limit of detection. This allowed us to shorten turnaround times and save time for technical staff.

