RECENT NEWS

From the provision of clinical laboratory tests to scalable translational research solutions, Thermo Fisher Scientific can assist in enabling clinical applications with efficient, robust and productive platforms.

Coeliac UK, the largest independent charity for people who need to live gluten free, has announced that recent research shows diagnosis of the autoimmune disease coeliac disease, which affects one person in 100, has risen in the UK from 24% in 2011 to 30% in 2015.

The Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool will be the venue for this year’s Autumn Symposium of the British Society for Microbial Technology (BSMT) on Friday 19 October. The topic for the event will be ‘Going Overboard with Microbiology – Women and Children First’ – an appropriate choice for this maritime city which has a long and distinguished history in the discipline.

Spanish flu was a deadly influenza pandemic that struck in the autumn of 1918, just as the First World War was drawing to a close. It is estimated that the virus infected half a billion people worldwide and killed 50–100 million, significantly more than the war itself. A special exhibition, 'Spanish Flu: nursing during history’s deadliest pandemic', will be held at the Florence Nightingale Museum, 2 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7EW, from Friday 21 September 2018 until 16 June 2019.

Lab Innovations, the UK’s only trade show dedicated to the laboratory industry, will have a new focus this year on the increasingly important aspect of the ‘Sustainable Laboratory’. It takes place on 31 October and 1 November 2018 at the NEC, Birmingham, where attendees will be able to visit the new Sustainable Laboratory area to see and discuss the latest developments in environmentally-friendly products. The sustainable initiatives theme is also a core topic running through the agendas in both the Royal Society of Chemistry theatre and the ‘Insights and Innovations’ theatre run by Laboratory News.

The increasing commercialisation of pathology services means there is an increasing need to consider service differentiation, competitive advantage and value-added service offerings. Berkshire & Surrey Pathology Services (BSPS) have long understood that the service provider who strengthens the relationship and communication with clinicians, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and end users of their service will have a clear advantage. With this in mind, BSPS has deployed the CliniSys Pathology Relationship Management (PRM) solution.

The first-ever UN High-Level Meeting (HLM) on Tuberculosis (TB) will take place on 26 September in New York. After decades of neglect, political attention has finally turned to TB. In 2016, the United Nations General Assembly agreed to hold the meeting, where Heads of State from around the world will gather to make new global commitments to combat the disease. Tuberculosis is the world’s deadliest infectious disease, killing over 1.5 million people last year – more than Ebola, HIV and malaria combined, but, through the efforts of public health field workers, it is preventable and curable with treatment.

While most people are still enjoying their summer holiday, planning for the IBMS Congress 2019 is already well underway, with the exhibition taking shape. The leading diagnostics companies have booked their exhibition space and are beginning their planning for product launches and demonstrations.

For many years, genomic techniques such as gene panel testing and fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) have been used to guide treatment decisions for cancer patients. Large-scale molecular studies have also identified new disease classifiers and highlighted the potential to gain prognostic and predictive information to influence patient management. Also, ‘mutational signatures’ or patterns of alterations across the genome have been identified for different cancer types, and some of these are being evaluated for their power to predict drug response and patient prognosis. Today the potential of the genomics revolution to transform personalised medicine is a focus of healthcare systems across the world, and the UK is leading the way with the 100,000 Genomes Project, as Dr Clare Craig and Professor Louise Jones explain.

Health control measures alone could be ineffective in the long-term fight against Rift Valley fever, which affects both humans and animals, according to a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

A 28-year-old African community youth worker, Evah Namakula, has won the first global CARES HIV/AIDS award, designed to recognise ordinary people who have shown ‘care, dedication and commitment’ in their communities as part of the fight against the disease.

Horiba UK Medical has announced the publication of two studies evaluating the use of its Yumizen H500 haematology analyser for point-of-care testing (POCT) to enhance the care of oncology patients. With near-patient, full blood count results, patients undergoing chemotherapy can receive treatment without delay and greatly reduce their hospital/clinic exposure times.

Eurofins Biomnis is a provider of pathology diagnostic testing and offers reliable and timely services delivered by dedicated and fully trained staff. The company’s microbial testing range includes panels for sexually transmitted diseases (Atopobium, Chlamydia, Gardnerella, Mycoplasma, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Trichomonas vaginalis, Ureaplasma urealyticum), bacterial and viral infectious diseases (HIV, hepatitis B and C viruses, human papillomavirus, CMV, EBV, parvovirus, , measles, influenza, pneumonia), specialised parasitology (toxocariasis, amoebiasis, ascariasis, filariasis) and emerging microbial diseases such as Zika and dengue fever. By ensuring that every test is performed to the highest standard every time, Eurofins Biomnis can help its customers make better informed healthcare decisions for patients. www.eurofins.co.uk/biomnis/our-services/medical-testing/microbiology/

Hospitals are increasingly encountering unpredictable resistance patterns clinically while being faced with the need to minimise broad-spectrum antibiotic use to prevent and reduce antimicrobial resistance. For patients with sepsis, time to effective and optimised therapy is critical. Accelerate Diagnostics has created breakthrough diagnostic solutions by developing technologies that address the needs of clinicians and the laboratory.

One of the world’s leading researchers on HIV and AIDS has been named the University of Strathclyde’s Alumnus of the Year. Professor Mario Stevenson (Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Miami) has received the award from his alma mater in recognition of his achievements in researching disease, notably AIDS/HIV.

Evonetix, the Cambridge-based company pioneering an innovative approach to enable scalable and high-fidelity gene synthesis, has been awarded substantial funding to support the development of a novel enzymatic approach to DNA synthesis. Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, will co-fund the £1.3 million project, which will be undertaken in collaboration with Durham University.

A Syngene multi-application imager is being utilised by scientists at a major hospital in Spain to accelerate Western blot analysis of proteins expressed by white blood cells post-vaccination. Researchers are using the system to analyse rapidly and accurately ECL-labelled chemiluminescent Western blots of cellular receptors and proteins expressed by neutrophils and leucocytes. This fundamental research is allowing the scientists to detect changes in protein expression post-vaccination and is providing information to make predictions about the efficacy of, and potential adverse events associated with, clinical vaccines.

An independent technology and product development company, TTP, and Cubed Laboratories, a developer of rapid, DNA-based molecular diagnostic devices and test kits, have announced the successful completion of a project to develop Cubed’s core product, the NESDEP portable laboratory for pathogen detection. This accurate, high-throughput and easy-to-use system has benefits in the food safety industry and potentially beyond.

The issue of measurement uncertainty and its assessment has been a continuing theme across the past six issues of Pathology in Practice, and coverage of this topic concluded in the June issue. The series of articles has proved to be of considerable value to all those facing assessment by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) against the standards that comprise ISO 15189:2012 Medical laboratories – Requirements for quality and competence. However, uncertainty in its various other forms frequently emerges in this publication. The June cover topic is pre-eclampsia testing, and the latest National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance that aims to limit the uncertainty around the possible development of this form of gestational hypertension (pictured) in late pregnancy.

Since the approval of methotrexate (MTX) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) 30 years ago, there have been a number of new findings about this drug. As a result, the mode of action is increasingly better understood, new indications are identified and the relevant aspects of patient adherence are defined. In practice, this leads to continued therapy optimisation, especially with regard to the dose and route of administration, which was emphasised at the recent Medac Symposium.