A5009227131- Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology
- Mycobacterium research and diagnosis
- Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia detection and treatment
- Pneumonia and Respiratory Infections
- Diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis
- Infectious Diseases and Tuberculosis
- HIV/AIDS drug development and treatment
- COVID-19 diagnosis using AI
- Respiratory viral infections research
- Digital Imaging for Blood Diseases
- Biosensors and Analytical Detection
- Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research
- Blood groups and transfusion
- Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
- Bacterial Identification and Susceptibility Testing
- SARS-CoV-2 detection and testing
- vaccines and immunoinformatics approaches
- Fungal Infections and Studies
- HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions
- Immunodeficiency and Autoimmune Disorders
- Image Processing Techniques and Applications
- Respiratory and Cough-Related Research
- Bacterial Infections and Vaccines
- Cell Image Analysis Techniques
- Advanced Chemical Sensor Technologies
Makerere University
2015-2025
Infectious Diseases Research Collaboration
2017-2025
Academia Sinica
2024
University of Alberta
2024
National Taiwan University
2024
Mulago Hospital
2005-2024
World Health Organization - Uganda
2024
MUJHU Research Collaboration
2010-2019
University of California, San Francisco
2010-2018
University of Minnesota
2014
Background. Treatment initiation rapidly kills most drug-susceptible Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but a bacterial subpopulation tolerates prolonged drug exposure. We evaluated drug-tolerant bacilli in human sputum by comparing messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of that survive the early bactericidal phase with treatment-naive bacilli. Methods. M. tuberculosis gene was quantified via reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction serial sputa from 17 Ugandans treated for pulmonary tuberculosis....
Tongue dorsum swabs have shown promise as alternatives to sputum for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in patients with pulmonary (TB). Some of the most encouraging results come from studies that used manual quantitative PCR (qPCR) analyze swabs. Studies using automated Cepheid Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra qPCR test (Xpert Ultra) exhibited less sensitivity tongue swabs, possibly because is optimized testing sputum, not swab samples. Using two new sample preprocessing methods demonstrated...
Sputum-based testing is a barrier to increasing access molecular diagnostics for tuberculosis (TB). Many people with TB are unable produce sputum, and sputum processing increases assay complexity cost. Tongue swabs emerging as an alternative but performance limits uncertain.
BackgroundNon-sputum-based triage tests for tuberculosis are a priority ending tuberculosis. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of late-prototype Xpert MTB Host Response (Xpert HR) blood-based assay.MethodsWe conducted prospective study among outpatients with presumed in outpatient clinics Viet Nam, India, Philippines, Uganda, and South Africa. Eligible participants were aged 18 years or older reported cough lasting at least 2 weeks. excluded those receiving treatment preceding 12...
Point of care diagnostics using microscopy and computer vision methods have been applied to a number practical problems, are particularly relevant low-income, high disease burden areas. However, this is subject the limitations in sensitivity specificity used. In general, deep learning has recently revolutionised field vision, some cases surpassing human performance for other object recognition tasks. paper, we evaluate convolutional neural networks on three different tasks: diagnosis malaria...
Rationale The clinical impact of Xpert MTB/RIF for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis in high HIV-prevalence settings is unknown. Objective To determine the diagnostic accuracy and among high-risk TB suspects. Methods We prospectively enrolled consecutive, hospitalized, Ugandan suspects two phases: baseline phase which results were not reported to clinicians an implementation reported. determined reference culture (solid liquid) compared patient outcomes by study phase. Results 477 patients...
There is limited understanding of the epidemiology meningitis among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected populations in sub-Saharan Africa. We conducted a prospective cohort study HIV-infected adults with suspected Uganda, to comprehensively evaluate etiologies meningitis. Intensive cerebrospiral fluid (CSF) testing was performed for bacterial, viral, fungal, and mycobacterial etiologies, including neurosyphilis,16s ribosomal DNA (rDNA) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) bacteria,...
Oral swab analysis (OSA) has been shown to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) DNA in patients with pulmonary (TB). In previous analyses, qPCR testing of samples collected from tongue dorsa was up 93% sensitive relative sputum GeneXpert, when 2 swabs per patient were tested. The present study modified sample collection methods increase biomass and characterized the viability bacilli swabs. A targeting conserved bacterial ribosomal rRNA gene (rDNA) sequences used quantify samples. There...
The laboratory plays a vital role in the diagnosis of all clinical forms tuberculosis (TB), from microbiological confirmation Mycobacterium to drug-susceptibility testing (DST) and treatment monitoring. For many decades, was based on conventional methods such as smear microscopy, culture-based methods. However, is slow-growing organism, requiring 2–4 weeks or longer for cultures yield results. Therefore, evaluation novel rapid diagnostic has been priority research development. In beginning...
Background Introduction of GeneXpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) assay has constituted a major breakthrough for tuberculosis (TB) diagnostics. Several patient factors may influence diagnostic performance Xpert including sputum quality. Objective We carried out prospective, observational, cross-sectional study to determine the effect quality on among presumed TB patients in Uganda. Methods collected clinical and demographic information two samples from participants. Staff recorded performed LED...
Pathogen cell-free DNA (pcfDNA) in blood and urine is an attractive biomarker; however, the impact of preanalytical factors not well understood. Blood samples from healthy donors spiked with cfDNA Mycobacterium tuberculosis , Salmonella enterica Aspergillus fumigatus Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) patients were used to evaluate collection tube, preservative, processing delay, method, freezing thawing, sample volume on pcfDNA.
The recommended tuberculosis (TB) intensified case finding (ICF) algorithm for people living with HIV (symptom-based screening followed by Xpert MTB/RIF [Xpert] testing) is insufficiently sensitive and results in unnecessary testing.To evaluate whether novel ICF algorithms combining C-reactive protein (CRP)-based urine Determine TB-LAM (TB-LAM), sputum Xpert, and/or culture could improve yield efficiency.We compared the efficiency of inclusive point-of-care CRP-based TB confirmatory testing...
Cryptococcal infection occurs in HIV-seropositive patients and is associated with high mortality. However, limited information available on the prevalence outcomes of cryptococcal antigenemia among hospitalized sub-Saharan Africa.To determine risk factors for presenting to Mulago Hospital (Kampala, Uganda) unexplained cough ≥2 weeks suspected tuberculosis (TB) also if an increased mortality.Between September 2009 2010, we enrolled consecutive adults at TB. Banked serum was tested antigen. We...
The objective of this prospective observational study carried out at China-Uganda Friendship Hospital-Naguru in Kampala, Uganda, was to determine the performance GeneXpert MTB/RIF Ultra (Xpert Ultra) molecular testing on saliva for active tuberculosis (TB) disease among consecutive adults undergoing TB diagnostic evaluation who were Xpert positive sputum. We calculated sensitivity comparison a composite reference standard Mycobacterium liquid and solid cultures two spot sputum specimens....
Abstract Background Systematic tuberculosis (TB) screening is recommended for all people with HIV (PWH) because of its potential to improve TB outcomes through earlier diagnosis and treatment initiation. As such, systematic may be particularly important men, who experience excess prevalence mortality compared women. We assessed sex differences among PWH undergoing screening, including severity, diagnostic accuracy tools, outcomes. Methods enrolled followed adults (CD4 ≤ 350 cells/µL)...
Summary Background Swab-based molecular platforms that enable testing of both sputum (via swabs swirled in sputum) and tongue are emerging as a promising option for more accessible lower cost tuberculosis (TB). We conducted multi-country evaluation two novel swab-based tests: Molbio Truenat MTB Ultima (MTB Ultima) Pluslife MiniDock Test (MiniDock MTB). Methods Consecutive people ≥12 years old with presumptive TB were enrolled at outpatient health centers India, Uganda, Vietnam. collected...
T-cell interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) may have a role in the diagnosis of active tuberculosis when evaluating patients for whom standard microbiology has limited sensitivity. Our objective was to examine accuracy commercial IGRA HIV-infected persons. We enrolled admitted Mulago Hospital Kampala, Uganda with cough ≥ 2 weeks. All underwent medical evaluation. collected peripheral blood specimens at enrollment and performed commercial, ELISPOT-based according manufacturer's...
Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) is an important opportunistic infection in patients infected with HIV, but its burden incompletely characterized those areas of sub-Saharan Africa where HIV prevalent. We explored the prevalence both PCP HIV-infected adults admitted to a tertiary-care hospital Uganda and putative P. drug resistance by mutations fungal dihydropteroate synthase (dhps) dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr). In 129 consecutive sputum smears negative for mycobacteria, 5 (3.9%) were...
Background Improved systematic screening of high-risk groups is a key component the tuberculosis (TB) elimination strategy endorsed by World Health Organization (WHO). We used multiplex microbead immunoassay to measure antibody responses 28 M. (M.tb) antigens, and assessed whether combinations achieve accuracy thresholds required for TB test. Methods A random selection plasma samples obtained from consecutive HIV-negative adults who were admitted Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda with cough...
Timely diagnosis of tuberculosis disease is critical for positive patient outcomes, yet potentially millions go undiagnosed or unreported each year. Sputum widely used as the testing input, but limited by its complexity, heterogeneity, and sourcing problems. Finding methods to interrogate noninvasive, non-sputum clinical specimens indispensable improving access care. In this work, economical plasmonic gratings were analyze biomarker lipoarabinomannan (LAM) from urine samples single molecule...