Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37824578›Full record

ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2023

Mycobacterium ulcerans not detected by PCR on human skin in Buruli ulcer endemic areas of south eastern Australia.

Anita Velink, Jessica L Porter, Timothy P Stinear, Paul D R Johnson

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 40% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Anita VelinkNorth Eastern Public Health Unit (NEPHU) and Infectious Diseases Department, Austin Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Jessica L PorterDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Timothy P StinearDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Paul D R JohnsonNorth Eastern Public Health Unit (NEPHU) and Infectious Diseases Department, Austin Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-9873-7163
The University of Melbourne · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionMycobacterium ulcerans (MU) causes Buruli ulcer (Buruli), a geographically restricted infection that can result in skin loss, contracture and permanent scarring. Lesion-location maps compiled from more than 640 cases in south eastern Australia suggest biting insects are likely involved in transmission, but it is unclear whether MU is brought by insects to humans or if MU is already on the skin and inoculation is an opportunistic event that need not be insect dependent.

methodsWe validated a PCR swab detection assay and defined its dynamic range using laboratory cultured M. ulcerans and fresh pigskin. We invited volunteers in Buruli-endemic and non-endemic areas to sample their skin surfaces with self-collected skin swabs tested by IS2404 quantitative PCR.

resultsPigskin validation experiments established a limit-of-detection of 0.06 CFU/cm2 at a qPCR cycle threshold (Ct) of 35. Fifty-seven volunteers returned their self-collected kits of 4 swabs (bilateral ankles, calves, wrists, forearms), 10 from control areas and 47 from endemic areas. Collection was timed to coincide with the known peak-transmission period of Buruli. All swabs from human volunteers tested negative (Ct ≥35).

conclusionsM. ulcerans was not detected on the skin of humans from highly Buruli endemic areas.

Indexed as

Buruli UlcerMycobacterium ulceransAnimalsAustraliaCattleDNA, BacterialHumansInsectaPolymerase Chain ReactionDNA, Bacterial

Identifiers

PMID37824578
PMCPMC10597473
OpenAlexW4387568693

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.