CLSI eNews - 1 October 2005 (Plain Text Version)

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News
Executive Vice President's Message
Volunteer Focus
Press Releases
Special Section: The CLSI Consensus Process
Month-by-Month: The Basics
Illustrated: The Timeline
Standards Status
Vote and Deadlines
Call for Nominations
News and Events
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Presentations
Calendar of Events
Participate in CLSI
Volunteer
New and Sustaining Members
Update Your Suscription

Press Releases

CLSI to Provide Standardized Testing Methods for Infrequently Encountered Bacteria; CLSI Receives Cooperative Agreement to Improve HIV Testing Worldwide

NEW: CLSI to Provide Standardized Testing Methods for Infrequently Encountered Bacteria
Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI, formerly NCCLS) has for years provided standardized methods for antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of common aerobic bacteria, including some fastidious organisms or potential agents of bioterrorism. CLSI has published AST guidelines for less frequently encountered or fastidious bacteria, which presently lack CLSI test methods and interpretive criteria, in the document Methods for Antimicrobial Dilution and Disk Susceptibility Testing of Infrequently Isolated or Fastidious Bacteria; Proposed Guideline (M45-P).
Full press release.

CLSI Receives Cooperative Agreement to Improve HIV Testing Worldwide
Global standards-development organization Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI, formerly NCCLS) has received a $365,000 USD cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (HHS/CDC) for capacity-building assistance for global HIV/AIDS laboratory guidelines and standards development. The year-long agreement is funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which the U.S. Department of State describes as “the largest commitment ever by a single nation toward an international health initiative.”
Full press release.

CLSI Releases Guideline for Vital Newborn Screening Follow-up Activities
Newborn screening is a process by which over 10 million newborns worldwide are each year screened for congenital diseases, which must be detected early for the prevention of morbidity and mortality. Rapid follow-up is an essential component of this vital public health activity. Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI, formerly NCCLS) has published Newborn Screening Follow-up; Proposed Guideline (I/LA27-P), which describes the basic principles, scope, and range of follow-up activities within the newborn screening system.
Full press release.

Vet Microbiologists: First Global View of Bacterial Disease Among Fish in New CLSI Guidelines
Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI, formerly known as NCCLS) has simultaneously released the first globally developed guidelines for performing susceptibility testing on bacteria isolated from aquatic animals. Through a multinational, multilaboratory collective effort, the authoring microbiologists have addressed the age-old problem of fish disease from a global perspective, making a world of healthy aquaculture a more viable possibility. Peter Smith, PhD, from the National University of Galway, calls the new CLSI documents “the first essential step in developing programs that will allow the monitoring of the spread of resistance to antimicrobial agents in aquatic microflora.”
Full press release.