Effective diagnostics are a crucial element of successful infectious disease management, yet their development and use, particularly in the developing world, remains a neglected area. To address this deficiency, Nature Reviews Microbiology is producing a series of user-friendly diagnostic evaluation guides as supplements to the journal.
The latest of these guides is now published, focusing on visceral leishmaniasis. You can access this guide free here.
This supplement is part of the Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development, organized by the Council of Science Editors. All articles from Nature Publishing Group are available free. The content from all participating journals can be found here.
Robert G. Ridley, Director of the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme on Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, writes in his Editorial to the visceral leishmaniasis supplement (Nature Reviews Microbiology , S1; November 2007): “Apart from the lack of investment by public sector agencies and lack of commercial incentive, three major challenges in this field deserve highlighting. First, there is the scientific challenge to identify and develop diagnostic methodologies and techniques that can readily guide treatment. This is further complicated by the multiple Leishmania species that can cause VL [visceral leishmaniasis] and the multiple disease manifestations. Second, there is the challenge — addressed by this supplement — of ensuring effective and harmonized evaluation of diagnostic tests. Third, there is the need to develop regulatory controls that ensure appropriate evaluation of diagnostic tests before they come on the market and ensure sustained quality of manufacture and production, against defined standards, after they have been given marketing authorization.”