Title Participants Abstract "Specialist laboratory networks as preparedness and response tool - the Emerging Viral Diseases-Expert Laboratory Network and the Chikungunya outbreak, Thailand, 2019" "Giulietta Venturi, Stephan W. Aberle, Tatjana Avsic-Zupanc, Luisa Barzon, Christoph Batejat, Elisa Burdino, Fabrizio Carletti, Remi Charrel, Iva Christova, Jeff Connell, Victor Max Corman, Mary Emmanouil, Anne J. Jaaskelainen, Ivan Kurolt, Yaniv Lustig, Miguel J. Martinez, Marion Koopmans, Orsolya Nagy, Trung Nguyen, Anna Papa, Mercedes Perez-Ruiz, Martin Pfeffer, Jelena Protic, Johan Reimerink, Giada Rossini, Maria Paz Sanchez-Seco Farinas, Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, Sandra Soderholm, Bertrand Sudre, Marjan Van Esbroeck, Chantal B. Reusken" "We illustrate the potential for specialist laboratory networks to be used as preparedness and response tool through rapid collection and sharing of data. Here, the Emerging Viral Diseases-Expert Laboratory Network (EVD-LabNet) and a laboratory assessment of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in returning European travellers related to an ongoing outbreak in Thailand was used for this purpose. EVD-LabNet rapidly collected data on laboratory requests, diagnosed CHIKV imported cases and sequences generated, and shared among its members and with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Data across the network showed an increase in CHIKV imported cases during 1 October 2018-30 April 2019 vs the same period in 2018 (172 vs 50), particularly an increase in cases known to be related to travel to Thailand (72 vs 1). Moreover, EVD-LabNet showed that strains were imported from Thailand that cluster with strains of the ECSA-IOL E1 A226 variant emerging in Pakistan in 2016 and involved in the 2017 outbreaks in Italy. CHIKV diagnostic requests increased by 23.6% between the two periods. The impact of using EVD-LabNet or similar networks as preparedness and response tool could be improved by standardisation of the collection, quality and mining of data in routine laboratory management systems." "The public health service national tuberculosis reference laboratory and the national laboratory network; minimum requirements, role and operation in a low-income country" "HL Rieder, TM Chonde, H Myking, R Urbanczik, A Laszlo, SJ Kim, Armand Van Deun, A Trebucq" "Open synthesis network research in an undergraduate laboratory" "Scott C. Faville, Kes Harris-Hamdscomb, Owain Harker, Stephanie Mattison, Hajie Tamorite, Joshua Bristowe, Daniel Daly, Raissa Ege, Haoyuan He, Julian Jones, Abby McCorkindale, Kerry Mei, Ashleigh Monson, Lana Moree, Finley Perkovic, Georgia Rickerby, Jack Robinson, Felix Rudkin, Luke Whibley, Rebecca Worthington, Courtney Ennis, Sara de la Harpe, Thomasin Brind, Andrew Hopkins, Kaleb Winefield, Sarah Hendrickx, Guy Caljon, Benjamin Perry, Andrea J. Vernall" "An undergraduate laboratory was developed as part of the Drugs for Neglected Diseasesinitiative's Open SynthesisNetwork. This activity aimed to develop new compoundsefficacious against visceral leishmaniasis. Students successfullysynthesized, purified, and characterized ten different benzoxazoleamides that were sent for biological testing against severalprotozoan parasites. Although all the benzoxazole amides hadpoor activity againstL. donovani, several (2,4, and9) showedmoderate activity againstT. cruzi,T. b. rhodesiense, andT. b. bruceipaired with low cell cytotoxicity. This drug discovery laboratoryactivity made a measurable contribution to neglected tropicaldisease research and was an engaging and research-orientatedexperience for undergraduate students. Implementation of drugdiscovery laboratories across a range of student levels and backgrounds is highly achievable using existing laboratory equipment and a short investment in activity preparation and can be a sustainable course component" "Building a European laboratory network to combat bacterial resistance by boosting the clinical development of anti-infectives" "Tomislav Kostyanev" "Surveillance of infectious diseases by the Sentinel Laboratory Network in Belgium : 30 years of continuous improvement" "Gaëtan Muyldermans, Geneviève Ducoffre, Mathias Leroy, Yves Dupont, Sophie Quolin, the participating sentinel laboratories, Daisy Vanrompay" "Clinical and laboratory features associated with macrophage activation syndrome in Still's disease: data from the international AIDA Network Still's Disease Registry (vol 18, pg 2231, 2023)" "Paola Triggianese, Antonio Vitale, Giuseppe Lopalco, Henrique Ayres Mayrink Giardini, Francesco Ciccia, Ibrahim Al-Maghlouth, Piero Ruscitti, Petros Paul Sfikakis, Florenzo Iannone, Isabele Parente de Brito Antonelli, Martina Patrone, Kazi Nur Asfina, Ilenia Di Cola, Katerina Laskari, Carla Gaggiano, Abdurrahman Tufan, Paolo Sfriso, Lorenzo Dagna, Roberto Giacomelli, Andrea Hinojosa-Azaola, Gaafar Ragab, Lampros Fotis, Haner Direskeneli, Veronica Spedicato, Marilia Ambiel Dagostin, Daniela Iacono, Hebatallah Hamed Ali, Paola Cipriani, Jurgen Sota, Riza Can Kardas, Sara Bindoli, Corrado Campochiaro, Luca Navarini, Stefano Gentileschi, Eduardo Martin-Nares, Jiram Torres-Ruiz, Moustafa Ali Saad, Katerina Kourtesi, Fatma Alibaz-Oner, Gizem Sevik, Annamaria Iagnocco, Joanna Makowska, Marcello Govoni, Sara Monti, Maria Cristina Maggio, Francesco La Torre, Emanuela Del Giudice, Jose Hernandez-Rodriguez, Elena Bartoloni, Giacomo Emmi, Maria Sole Chimenti, Armin Maier, Gabriele Simonini, Giovanni Conti, Alma Nunzia Olivieri, Maria Tarsia, Amato De Paulis, Alberto Lo Gullo, Ewa Wiesik-Szewczyk, Ombretta Viapiana, Benson Ogunjimi, Samar Tharwat, Sukran Erten, Rossana Nuzzolese, Anastasios Karamanakos, Micol Frassi, Alessandro Conforti, Valeria Caggiano, Achille Marino, Gian Domenico Sebastiani, Antonio Gidaro, Enrico Tombetti, Francesco Carubbi, Giovanni Rubegni, Alessandra Cartocci, Alberto Balistreri, Claudia Fabiani, Bruno Frediani, Luca Cantarini" "Quality assurance programme for drug susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the WHO/IUATLD Supranational Laboratory Network: first round of proficiency testing" "A Laszlo, M Rahman, M Raviglione, F Bustreo, Laboratories WHO/IUATLD Network of Supranational Reference" "Laboratory systems and strategies for tuberculosis" "JC Ridderhof, Armand Van Deun" "Multicentre laboratory validation of the colorimetric redox indicator (CRI) assay for the rapid detection of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis" "Anandi Martin, Fabienne Paasch, Sven Docx, Kristina Fissette, B Imperiale, W Ribón, LA Gonzalez, J. Werngren, A Engström, G Skenders, P Jureen, S. Hoffner, P Del Portillo, N Morcillo, JC Palomino" "Objectives To perform a multicentre study to evaluate the performance of the colorimetric redox indicator (CRI) assay and to establish the MICs and critical concentrations of rifampicin, isoniazid, ofloxacin, kanamycin and capreomycin. Methods The study was carried out in two phases. Phase I determined the MIC of each drug. Phase II established critical concentrations for the five drugs tested by the CRI assay compared with the conventional proportion method. Results Phase I: a strain was considered resistant by the CRI assay if the MIC was >/=0.5 mg/L for rifampicin, >/=0.25 mg/L for isoniazid, >/=4.0 mg/L for ofloxacin and >/=5.0 mg/L for kanamycin and capreomycin. Sensitivity was 99.1% for isoniazid and 100% for the other drugs and specificity was 97.9% for capreomycin and 100% for the other drugs. Phase II: the critical concentration was 0.5 mg/L for rifampicin, 0.25 mg/L for isoniazid, 2.0 mg/L for ofloxacin and 2.5 mg/L for kanamycin and capreomycin giving an overall accuracy of 98.4%, 96.6%, 96.7%, 98.3% and 90%, respectively. Conclusions Results demonstrate that the CRI assay is an accurate method for the rapid detection of XDR Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The CRI assay is faster than the conventional drug susceptibility testing method using solid medium, has the same turnaround time as the BACTEC MGIT 960 system, but is less expensive, and could be an adequate method for low-income countries." "Tough Hybrid Hydrogels Adapted to the Undergraduate Laboratory" "Sofie HOUBEN, Greg QUINTENS, Louis PITET" "Polymer materials are indispensable in our daily lives. This makes polymer technology of critical importance in higher education. In particular, hands-on experiment-based practicals/laboratories with a focus on polymer science are of tremendous value in the undergraduate curriculum. Along these lines, hydrogels are highly cross-linked polymer networks which show some unique properties such as water absorbance and large extensibility, making them particularly well-suited in various biomedical applications. The properties of hydrogels can be systematically varied via changes in composition. In this practical laboratory, we use hybrid hydrogel formulations containing alginate and polyacrylamide to explore the consequences of compositional changes on mechanical behavior. Mechanical properties are determined using a simplified tensile test that is amenable to large groups of students using standard laboratory equipment. We used marbles to induce an extensional force and a ruler to measure the elongation of the gel as a function of the attached weight. Hereby, stress-strain curves can be obtained, and students are able to compare the difference between single and double network hydrogels as well as quantify the influence of network composition. This practical combines the use of chemical synthesis (i.e., reactant calculations) with practical skills which makes it interesting to use in a third year chemical/biomedical course. Furthermore, students can learn how to deal with chemicals and gain insight in polymer chemistry and its wide applicability, making it particularly well-suited for students coming from outside the traditional chemical science background."