A new series of controls for use with highly sensitive nucleic acid assays, ACCURUN 341 Nucleic Acid Positive controls for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (CT/NG) are designed to monitor and validate molecular diagnostic test performance. The controls are prepared with elementary bodies derived from cultured Chlamydia trachomatis and cultured colony-forming units of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. This whole organism design closely simulates an actual patient sample, challenging every stage of the assay from sample extraction through amplification and detection. The controls do not require reconstitution or dilutions that could possibly introduce contamination or variation into the assay. They are specially designed for use on the four most popular platforms currently on the market. Instrument-specific vials allow the controls to be placed directly in the test platform.
Read more

The Toxoplasma gondii IgG Avidity EIA test from Ani Labsystems has been updated. New T. gondii IgM EIA and IgG EIA tests have also been developed to form a full Toxo package. The new T. gondii IgM EIA is a capture test that can be run simultaneously with the new T. gondii IgG EIA. The T. gondii IgG EIA test provides quantitative results, and automatically generates the guidelines for the avidity assay, which needs only two dilution points. The T. gondii IgG Avidity EIA kit contains avidity wash buffer and avidity controls, and the kit is sold as a convenient supplementary package to the IgG test. The strips of kits have been individually labelled for easy identification. The tests can be automated or run manually.
Read more

The measurement of creatinine is commonly used to assess renal function and estimate glomerular filtration rates (eGFR). Jaffe methods, however, tend to be imprecise and are prone to a variety of interferences which may lead to inaccurate eGFR calculations. A new enzymatic creatinine assay, which minimises these problems and offers superior performance to the older Jaffe methods, is available for use on automated clinical chemistry analysers. This 2-part, liquid stable reagent eliminates interferences from endogenous creatine and ascorbic acid. In addition haemoglobin to 500mg/dL, conjugated bilirubin to 32mg/dL and unconjugated bilirubin to 40mg/dL do not to interfere with the assay. The reagent has an 18 month shelf life and up to 30 day on-board stability. The assay is measured at 550nm, correlates well to Jaffe methods (r=0.999) and is linear to 30mg/dL. Studies conducted according to NCCLS: EP 5 protocol yielded excellent precision with CVs below 2%. Many instrument
applications are available.
Read more

With Phadia 2500 and Phadia 5000 the global leader in allergy and autoimmunity diagnostics brings increased power to the lab. Based on a technology commonly recognised as the gold standard, these laboratory systems offer flexibility and unrivalled capacity along with proven reliability and accuracy. The new instruments enables both ImmunoCAP allergy tests and EliA autoimmunity tests to be run on the same instrument. These specialised assays allow the detection of more than 600 allergens and 80 allergen components, as well as autoimmunity tests for diagnosing over 20 diseases. The capacity of the instruments is unique. Depending on setup, 390 to 960 results can be generated per hour. Laboratory workflow and operational hands on time is minimised, since handling and loading of specimens and reagents is automated. Along with the existing smaller and mid-sized systems, these high-throughput systems bring accuracy, efficiency and economic value to the laboratory.
Read more

Legionellosis is a serious pneumonia caused by bacteria of the genus Legionella (family Legionellaceae). Legionella bacteria are readily found in fresh water, cooling towers and potable water systems. Cough can be the first sign of infection; other common symptoms include headaches, muscle aches, chest pain and shortness of breath. Gastrointestinal symptoms are also common. Legionnaires’ disease is transmitted by aerosol, and there is no evidence for direct person-to-person transmission. Diagnosis of legionellosis can be difficult because signs and symptoms are non-specific and do not distinguish L. pneumophila infections from other common causes of pneumonia. One of the most common diagnostic methods is the detection of urinary antigen in urine. Urinary antigen is detected as early as one day after onset of symptoms and remains detectable for days or even weeks. This technique combines sensitivity and high specificity with rapid results. The Legionella V-TesT detects soluble antigen from L. pneumophila serogroup 1 in urine. The test was evaluated on 300 samples in a reference lab for respiratory diseases and demonstrated a sensitivity of 97.6 % and a specificity of 97.7 %.
Read more