6 July 2021. Three new nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) classes are endorsed by WHO and included.
The latest operational handbook includes the new classes recommended by WHO. It aims at facilitating the implementation of the WHO recommendations by the Member States, technical partners, and ot...hers involved in managing patients with TB and DR-TB. The operational handbook provides practical information on existing and new tests recommended by WHO, step-by-step advice on implementing and scale-up testing to achieve local and national impact and lastly, model diagnostic algorithms, which are updated to incorporate the latest recommendations. An overview of budgetary considerations and information sheets on each of the newly recommended tests is provided.
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The WHO Cholera Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) Target Product Profile outlines the key requirements for developing improved cholera RDTs. It highlights the need for fast, accurate, and easy-to-use tests for early outbreak detection in resource-limited settings. The document sets desired and acceptable ...performance criteria, including high sensitivity and specificity, rapid results (under 15 minutes), and usability by non-laboratory personnel. The tests should be affordable, stable in extreme conditions, and require minimal training. The goal is to enhance cholera surveillance and outbreak response, ensuring quick containment and improved public health outcomes.
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Testing coverage is a critical component of pandemic response, providing a view on the data available to inform policy and monitor the effectiveness of public health measures. While many countries do not publish official numbers of tests conducted, others are doing this across individual websites, s...tatistical reports and press releases, often in multiple languages and updated with different periodicity. FIND is working to build a global picture of the testing coverage for COVID-19 and facilitate the accurate interpretation and study of case and death numbers.
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Timely detection of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection cases is crucial to interrupt the spread of this virus. We assessed the required expertise and capacity for molecular detection of 2019-nCoV in specialised laboratories in 30 European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries. Thirty-...eight laboratories in 24 EU/EEA countries had diagnostic tests available by 29 January 2020. A coverage of all EU/EEA countries was expected by mid-February. Availability of primers/probes, positive controls and personnel were main implementation barriers.
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The TACT training manuals and patient leaflet were developed as part of the ACT Consortium's initiative to improve malaria case management by promoting the correct use of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs). The TACT ("Targeting ACTs") initiative aims to ensure that artemisinin-based combination therapies... (ACTs) are used appropriately, treating only confirmed malaria cases and guiding alternative care for other febrile illnesses.
Please download the manuals and leaflets from the website
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Les manuels de formation TACT et la brochure destinée aux patients ont été élaborés dans le cadre de l'initiative du consortium ACT visant à améliorer la prise en charge du paludisme en encourageant l'utilisation correcte des tests de diagnostic rapide (TDR). L'initiative TACT (Targeting ACTs...) vise à garantir l'utilisation appropriée des combinaisons thérapeutiques à base d'artémisinine (ACT), en ne traitant que les cas de paludisme confirmés et en orientant les patients vers d'autres traitements pour les maladies fébriles non liées au paludisme. Les manuels proposent une formation interactive sur le lieu de travail pour aider les personnels de santé à passer d'un traitement présomptif à un diagnostic fondé sur des tests, conformément à la politique de l'OMS. La brochure d'accompagnement destinée aux patients, disponible en anglais et en swahili, s'appuie sur des récits illustrés pour expliquer l'utilité et le fonctionnement des TDR, répondre aux inquiétudes les plus courantes et encourager la confiance dans les résultats des tests. Ces documents, dont la clarté et la compréhension ont été testées au préalable, permettent d'opérer des changements durables dans la pratique clinique et la communication avec les patients au sein des établissements de soins primaires tanzaniens.
Accessed on 03/07/2025.
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4th edition
The WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual (LBM) has been in broad use at all levels of clinical and public health laboratories, and other biomedical sectors globally, serving as a de facto global standard that presents best practices and sets trends in biosafety.
LBM encouraged countries t...o accept and implement basic concepts in biological safety and to develop national codes of practice for the safe handling of biological agents in laboratories within their geographical borders.
This fourth edition of the manual builds on the risk assessment framework introduced in the third edition. A thorough, evidence-based and transparent assessment of the risks allows safety measures to be balanced with the actual risk of working with biological agents on a case-by-case basis.
This novel evidence- and risk-based approach will allow optimised resource use and sustainable laboratory biosafety and biosecurity policies and practices that are relevant to their individual circumstances and priorities, enabling equitable access to clinical and public health laboratory tests and biomedical research opportunities without compromising safety.
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Abridged version. In this abridged version of the Evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Follow-Up of at-risk neonates, we provide recommendations for the care of newborns up to 2 years of age, corresponding to the first phase of their follow-up. The recommendations are intended for all... health sector staff responsible for the primary care of these neonates: general practitioners, family practitioners, pediatricians, neonatologists, pediatric ophthalmologists, pediatric otolaryngologists, nursing professionals, specialists in other fields, and multidisciplinary staff involved in the care process. The purpose of these guidelines is to facilitate policy implementation processes carried out by decision-makers and members of government bodies, and will also be useful for parents, mothers, and caregivers. The main topics covered by this document include the hospital discharge criteria, including screening tests; information and support for parents, mothers, and caregivers; screening at the follow-up visit, and the frequency of follow-ups until the infant is 2 years of age. These guidelines do not address matters related to nursing or comorbidities.
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The Practical manual on laboratory strengthening, 2022 update provides practical guidance on implementation of WHO recommendations and best practices for TB laboratory strengthening. It is an updated version of the GLI Practical Guide to Laboratory Strengthening published in 2017 and provides the la...test practical guidance on use of newly recommended diagnostics as well as guidance in key technical areas, including quality assurance and quality management systems, specimen collection and registration, procurement and supply-chain management, diagnostic connectivity, biosafety, data management, human resources, strategic planning, and model algorithms. The key changes are:
inclusion of recent or updated WHO recommendations for tests to diagnose TB and detect drug resistance;
alignment with the latest WHO critical concentrations for phenotypic drug-susceptibility testing (DST) and the new definitions of pre-XDR-TB and XDR-TB;
updated information on building quality-assured TB testing and management capacity using the Stepwise Laboratory Quality Improvement Process Towards Accreditation (SLIPTA) approach (Score-TB package1);
updated information on assessing, analysing and optimising TB diagnostic networks; and
updated information on the use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to detect mutations associated with drug resistance for surveillance purposes.
The document also provides references to resources and tools relevant for work on laboratory strengthening.
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Die CovApp ist eine von der Charité in Zusammenarbeit mit Data4Life entwickelte Software, mit der Sie innerhalb weniger Minuten einen Fragenkatalog beantworten und daraus spezifische Handlungsempfehlungen erhalten. Dafür werden Ihnen Fragen nach aktuellen Symptomen und möglichen Kontakten gestell...t. Diese App erbringt keine diagnostischen Leistungen. Sie erhalten aber nach Beantwortung des Fragenkatalogs konkrete Handlungsempfehlungen, Ansprechpartner und Kontakte sowie eine Zusammenfassung Ihrer Daten. Ziel ist es, die Patientenströme in Krankenhäuser und Untersuchungsstellen zu optimieren.
So kann Ihnen die CovApp helfen, die Notwendigkeit eines Arztbesuches oder Coronavirus-Tests besser einzuschätzen. Die medizinisch relevanten Informationen für ein etwaiges Arztgespräch werden am Ende für Sie zusammengefasst.
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Ce rapport présente les résultats clés de la cinquième Enquête Démographique et de Santé du Cameroun
(EDSC-V) réalisée sur le terrain du 16 juin 2018 au 19 janvier 2019, par l’Institut National de la Statistique
(INS), en étroite collaboration avec le Ministère de la Santé Publique. ...L’enquête a été financée par le
Gouvernement camerounais, l’Agence des États-Unis pour le Développement International (USAID), le Fonds
des Nations Unies pour la Population (UNFPA) et le Fonds Mondial à travers le Programme National de Lutte
contre le Paludisme (PNLP). D’autres institutions ont également apporté leur expertise à la réalisation de cette
opération. Parmi elles figurent le Centre Pasteur du Cameroun (CPC) pour l’analyse des prélèvements sanguins
afin d’estimer la prévalence du VIH, et le Centre International de Référence Chantal Biya (CIRCB) pour le
contrôle de qualité externe des tests du VIH. ICF a fourni l’assistance technique à l’ensemble du projet par le
biais du Programme Mondial des Enquêtes Démographiques et de Santé, The DHS Program, financé par
l’USAID, et dont l’objectif est de fournir un soutien et une assistance technique aux pays du monde entier pour
la réalisation des enquêtes sur la population et la santé.
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Parasites & Vectors volume 11, Article number: 264 (2018)
Dengue creates a staggering epidemiological and economic burden for endemic countries. Without a specific therapy and with a commercial vaccine that presents some problems relative to its full effectiveness, initiatives to improve vector... control strategies, early disease diagnostics and the development of vaccines and antiviral drugs are priorities. In this study, we present the probable origins of dengue in America and the trajectories of its spread. Overall, dengue diagnostics are costly, making the monitoring of dengue epidemiology more difficult and affecting physicians’ therapeutic decisions regarding dengue patients, especially in developing countries. This review also highlights some recent and important findings regarding dengue in Brazil and the Americas. We also summarize the existing DENV polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic tests to provide an improved reference since these tests are useful and accurate at discriminating DENV from other flaviviruses that co-circulate in the Americas. Additionally, these DENV PCR assays ensure virus serotyping, enabling epidemiologic monitoring.
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Formation des agents de santé communautaire sur le choléra. Kreyol.
Le Manuel de l'animateur : contient toutes les informations nécessaires pour mener à bien la formation, y compris les listes de préparation et de matériel, les instructions étape par étape pour animer les sessions de format...ion, les pré-tests et les post-tests, et tout le contenu du Manuel du participant.
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Blended Learning Modulef or the Health Extension Programme
In this study session, you will learn about the general features of faeco-oraldiseases: the main types commonly found in Ethiopia, their general symptomsand signs, how to treat mild cases and when to refer patients with severeconditions for... specialised treatment, or laboratory tests to confirm thediagnosis. You will also learn about the importance of giving effective healtheducation to your community on ways to prevent and control faeco-oraldiseases.
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Although asthma is very common, affecting 5–10% of the population, the diagnosis of asthma in adults remains a challenge in the real world, which results in both over- and under-diagnosis. A taskforce was set up by the European Respiratory Society to systematically review the literature on the dia...gnostic accuracy of tests used to diagnose asthma in adult patients and provide recommendations for clinical practice.
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Each year, ≈795 000 individuals in the United States experience a stroke, of which 87% (690 000) are ischemic and 185 000 are recurrent.1 Approximately 240 000 individuals experience a transient ischemic attack (TIA) each year.2 The risk of recurrent stroke or TIA is high but can be mitiga...ted with appropriate secondary stroke prevention. In fact, cohort studies have shown a reduction in recurrent stroke and TIA rates in recent years as secondary stroke prevention strategies have improved.3,4 A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of secondary stroke prevention therapies published from 1960 to 2009 showed a reduction in annual stroke recurrence from 8.7% in the 1960s to 5.0% in the 2000s, with the reduction driven largely by improved blood pressure (BP) control and use of antiplatelet therapy.5 The changes may have been influenced by changes in diagnostic criteria and differing sensitivities of diagnostic tests over the years.
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Clinical guideline, Methods, Evidence and Recommendations
In this guideline the following is covered: information needs of people with chronic hep
titis B and their carers; where children, young people and adults with chronic hepatitis B a-
should be assessed; assessment of liver disease, includi...ng the use of non-invasive tests and genotype testing; criteria for offering antiviral treatment; the efficacy, safety and cost effectiveness of currently available treatments; selection of first-line therapy; management of treatment failure or drug resistance; prophylactic treatment during im-
munosuppressive therapy; and monitoring for treatment response
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WHO Guideline. Since 2010, countries in the meningitis belt have started to introduce a new serogroup A meningococcal conjugate vaccine conferring individual protection and herd immunity. Following the successful roll-out of this vaccine, epidemics due to Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A (NmA) are... disappearing, but other serogroups (e.g. NmW, NmX and NmC) still cause epidemics, albeit at a lower frequency and of a smaller size. Due to these changes, WHO organized the review of the evidence to provide recommendations for epidemic control, related to operational thresholds for investigation and response to outbreaks, the use of rapid diagnostic tests, antibiotic regimens in epidemics, and prophylaxis for household contacts of cases
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The major neglected tropical diseases, Taenia solium taeniosis/cysticercosis and schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma mansoni or S. haematobium are presumed to be widely distributed in Africa. Taenia solium taeniosis/ cysticercosis has been reported as an emerging disease in different regions of Af...rica [1, 2], but currently the exact distribution remains unclear. Reported prevalences of T. solium taeniosis and cysticercosis in African countries are not extensive and are further complicated by the lack of ‘gold standard’ tests for diagnosis.
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Gambiense human African trypanosomiasis is a deadly infectious disease affecting West and Central Africa, South Sudan and Uganda, and transmitted between humans by tsetse flies. The disease has caused several major epidemics, the latest one in the 1990s. Thanks to recent innovations such as rapid di...agnostic tests for population screening, a single-dose oral treatment and a highly efficient vector control strategy, interruption of transmission of the causative parasite is now within reach. If indeed gHAT has an exclusively human reservoir, this could even result in eradication of the disease. Even if there were an animal reservoir, on the basis of epidemiological data, it plays a limited role. Maintaining adequate postelimination surveillance in known historic foci, using the newly developed tools, should be sufficient to prevent any future resurgence.
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