The multiple locus VNTRs analysis (MLVA) revealed the presence of five genotypes in a group of 10 Bacillus anthracis isolates from epidemiologically

Recommendations for diphtheria immunization are to apply an effective primary immunization in infancy and to maintain immunity throughout life. Immunity against diphtheria depends primarily on antibody to the diphtheria toxin. This study evaluated the seroprevalence of IgG diphtheria antitoxin in sera of healthy children, adolescents and adults in Poland.

Introduction and objective: Tularaemia is an infrequently occurring disease in Poland. It has therefore rarely been taken into account in the differential diagnosis of skin lesions, lymphadenitis, or soft tissue abscesses. This fact, accompanied by non-specific initial presentation, may lead to...

Rapid and accurate detection and identification of pathogens in clinical samples is essential for all infection diseases. However, in the case of epidemics, it plays a key role not only in the implementation of effective therapy but also in limiting the spread of the epidemic. In this study, we present the application of two nucleic acid isothermal amplification methods—reverse transcription helicase dependent amplification (RT-HDA) and reverse transcription loop-mediated amplification (RT-LAMP)—combined with lateral flow assay as the tools for the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2, the etiological agent of COVID-19, which caused the ongoing global pandemic. In order to optimize the RT-had, the LOD was 3 genome copies per reaction for amplification conducted for 10–20 min, whereas for RT-LAMP, the LOD was 30–300 genome copies per reaction for a reaction conducted for 40 min. No false-positive results were detected for RT-HDA conducted for 10 to 90 min, but false-positive results occurred when RT-LAMP was conducted for longer than 40 min. We concluded that RT-HDA combined with LFA is more sensitive than RT-LAMP, and it is a good alternative for the development of point-of-care tests for SARS-CoV-2 detection as this method is simple, inexpensive, practical, and does not require qualified personnel to perform the test and interpret its results.