Point of Need Testing of Infectious Diseases

Dear Colleagues, 

Infectious diseases remain a worldwide threat, and it has been suggested that climate change may impact on their prevalence patterns. Notably, WHO has estimated that almost 26% of global deaths are due to disease caused by infectious pathogens, and almost 61% of all known microorganisms are zoonotic. 

Timely diagnosis plays a significant role in diminishing the burden of infectious diseases. Point-of-care tests (POCTs) and point-of-need tests (PONTs) are crucial in allowing accurate and rapid diagnostics by professionals (GP) in local facilities or in the field at the site of an outbreak.

Both serological- and molecular-based rapid assays have been developed in recent years for these uses. Serological assays are of great value in surveillance and determining the immune status of the community and are also often important tools complementary to molecular diagnostics.

Fast molecular assays (e.g., isothermal amplification technology or fast-PCR) are now able to detect targeted genes in less than 30 minutes. Next generation sequencing tools are emerging to identify causative pathogens and their strains both for diagnostics and in epidemiological applications. 

In this Special Issue, researchers are invited to submit their collaborative research work or review articles on point-of-care and point-of-need diagnostics with focus on novel technologies and innovative approaches to identify pathogens. 

Dr. Ahmed Abd El Wahed
Prof. Dr. Manfred Weidmann
Dr. Michael Frimpong
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Mobile laboratory
• Sampling methods
• Sample preparation
• Rapid molecular assays
• Rapid serological assays
• Microfluidics
• Point-of-care tests
• Point-of-need tests