Bacterial vaginosis is characterized by a shift of the physiological flora to a diverse spectrum of bacteria, where Gardnerella vaginalis and Atopobium vaginae are the most important markers. In this study, the antimicrobial activity of nifuratel against G. vaginalis, A. vaginae, and lactobacilli was compared with that of the two currently used antibiotics metronidazole and clindamycin. Results suggest that nifuratel has a better spectrum of activity, being highly active against G. vaginalis and A. vaginae without affecting lactobacilli.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major health concern in prison, but data are scarce in European prisons. This study aims to measure the prevalence of HBV infection, risk factors, awareness about infection, and HBV knowledge among inmates in Switzerland's largest pre-trial prison. Serological blood tests (HBsAg, anti-HBs, and anti-HBc) and a standardized socio-demographic and sexual health survey were offered to consenting prisoners in 2009 and 2011. HBV knowledge was assessed using a standardized questionnaire among participants recruited in 2009. A total of 273 male participants were included in the study (116 participants answered the HBV knowledge survey), with 38.1% originating from Eastern Europe, 28.2% from sub-Saharan Africa, 14.3% from North Africa, and 9.5% from Latin America. The prevalence of anti-HBc (resolved/chronic infection) was 38.2% and the prevalence of HBsAg (chronic infection) was 5.9%; 14% of participants had vaccine-acquired immunity (anti-HBs positive/anti-HBc negative). We estimated that 15.5% of people living in Geneva having chronic infection go through the Geneva's prison. Region of origin was significantly associated with chronic/resolved HBV infection (P < 0.001): 72.2% of participants from sub-Saharan African, 34.6% from Eastern Europe and 13.2% from other regions. In terms of chronic infection, 15.6% of participants from sub-Saharan Africa were positive for HBsAg, vs 2% of those from other regions (P < 0.001). In stratified analyses, region of origin remained significantly associated with HBV infection. Among those with chronic infection, only 12.5% were aware of their status. A minority of inmates knew how HBV could be transmitted. The primary factor associated with HBV infection in this study was the geographical region of origin of participants. Given the high HBV prevalence found in this prison population, a targeted testing and vaccination approach based on prisoners' region of origin would be a cost-effective strategy when resources are limited. Additionally, identification of at-risk people should not rely on sensitive questions nor self-reported history of HBV. An inclusive approach to global health needs to incorporate prison population, as incarcerated people have a disproportionate burden of HBV infection and because an important proportion of hard-to-reach chronic HBV infected people go through the incarceration system.

Purpose: To assess the diagnostic performances of five automated anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassays, Epitope (N), Diasorin (S1/S2), Euroimmun (S1), Roche N (N), and Roche S (S-RBD), and to provide a testing strategy based on pre-test probability. Methods: We assessed the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) areas under the curve (AUC) values, along with the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (PPVs), and negative predictive values (NPVs), of each assay using a validation sample set of 172 COVID-19 sera and 185 negative controls against a validated S1-immunofluorescence as a reference method. The three assays displaying the highest AUCs were selected for further serodetection of 2033 sera of a large population-based cohort. Results: In the validation analysis (pre-test probability: 48.1%), Roche N, Roche S and Euroimmun showed the highest discriminant accuracy (AUCs: 0.99, 0.98, and 0.98) with PPVs and NPVs above 96% and 94%, respectively. In the population-based cohort (pre-test probability: 6.2%) these three assays displayed AUCs above 0.97 and PPVs and NPVs above 90.5% and 99.4%, respectively. A sequential strategy using an anti-S assay as screening test and an anti-N as confirmatory assays resulted in a 96.7% PPV and 99.5% NPV, respectively. Conclusions: Euroimmun and both Roche assays performed equally well in high pre-test probability settings. At a lower prevalence, sequentially combining anti-S and anti-N assays resulted in the optimal trade-off between diagnostic performances and operational considerations.

It is assumed that healthcare workers are at the highest risk to be infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, few data from healthcare workers who do not primarily take care of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection support this assumption. We investigated the prevalence of immunoglobulin G (Ig G) against SARS-CoV-2 among healthcare workers who do not primarily take care of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and the general population in a well-defined geographical area. The first part of the study was conducted in May 2020 in Val Mesolcina (Southern Switzerland), a valley with ~8000 inhabitants. All healthcare workers were invited. All participants (n = 488) of the Swiss Longitudinal Cohort Study (SWICOS), a cohort representative of the general population, were also invited. Circulating Ig G against spike protein subunit 1 of SARS-CoV-2 were tested in each subject. Subjects with positive Ig G were tested again after 6 months. The condition of being a healthcare worker, rather than a part of the general population, was tested as a predictor of seroprevalence positivity by both simple and multiple (adjusted for age and sex) logistic regression. Eleven (2.6%) of the 423 SWICOS participants and 46 (16%) out of 289 healthcare workers were positive for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. The seroprevalence OR was 7.01 (95% CI: 3.53–15.47) for healthcare workers as compared to SWICOS participants. After adjusting for age and gender, the seroprevalence OR was 5.13 (95% CI: 2.54–10.40). About three quarters of the subjects in the SWICOS (73%) and in healthcare (79%) group with a previous positive serology still presented positive Ig G against the SARS-CoV-2 after 6 months. The present seroprevalence data point out that the SARS-CoV-2 infection is seven times higher among healthcare workers than in the general population of Val Mesolcina. Efforts to effectively protect all the healthcare personnel are needed.

Background: Since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, lateral flow assays (LFA) detecting specific antibodies have entered the market in abundance. Despite being CE-IVD-labeled, the antigenic compounds of the assays are often unknown, the performance characteristics provided by the manufacturer are often incomplete, and the samples used to obtain the data are not detailed. Objective: To perform a comparative evaluation of nine lateral flow assays to detect IgG responses against SARS-CoV-2. For the evaluation, a carefully designed serum panel containing post-infection samples and post-vaccination (both mRNA vaccine and inactivated virus vaccine) samples was used. Results: The sensitivity of the assays overall ranged from 9 to 90.3% and the specificity ranged from 94.2 to 100%. Spike protein-containing assays performed generally better than the assays with only nucleocapsid protein. The sensitivity of some assays was higher on post-infection samples, while other assays had a higher sensitivity to post-vaccination samples. Conclusion: A comparative approach in the verification of LFAs with an adequately designed serum panel enabled the identification of the antigens used in the assays. Sensitivities differed between post-infection and post-vaccination samples, depending on the assays used. This demonstrates that the verification of assays must be performed with samples representative of the intended use of the assay.