Viral Infection
Immunology
Risk Factors for Severe Disease
Diagnostic Tests and Differential Diagnosis
Management of Complications
Surveillance
Virology
Interferon-swap explains asthma risk in children with genetic defect
Discovery of higher GSDMB expression in children with a genetic defect linked to asthma explains why they commonly experience viral infections and face an elevated risk for asthma, according to study results.
Value of MRI, lumbar puncture questioned for immune cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome
MRIs and lumbar punctures may not provide enough therapeutic value to be standard-of-care diagnostic tests in patients suffering neurologic symptoms following chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy.
Viral infection common, leads to more acute symptoms in children with uncontrolled asthma
Children with uncontrolled asthma who visited the ED had a higher frequency of viral infections and more acute symptoms than children with controlled asthma, according to a study published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.
Will rapid tests ever fully replace cultures?
No. Used rationally, rapid nonculture tests can be a powerful complement to cultivating organisms. However, they will not fully replace cultures for the foreseeable future. Having an organism in hand allows phenotypic testing — most notably of antimicrobial susceptibility — and strain typing. Cultures can confirm results of rapid tests. They can provide insights not available by certain rapid tests, such as detection of organisms not included in a particular diagnostic panel. They can give noncorroborative data that are important in shaping interpretation of rapid test results and in guiding clinical decision-making.