The importance of microbiology reference laboratories and adequate funding for infectious disease surveillance

David Shaw; Raquel Abad Torreblanca; Zahin Amin-Chowdhury; Adriana Bautista; Desiree Bennett; Karen Broughton; Carlo Casanova; Eun Hwa Choi; Heike Claus; Mary Corcoran; Simon Cottrell; Robert Cunney; Lize Cuypers; Tine Dalby; Heather Davies; Linda de Gouveia; Ala-Eddine Deghmane; Stefanie Desmet; Mirian Domenech; Richard Drew; Mignon du Plessis; Carolina Duarte; Kurt Fuursted; Alyssa Golden; Samanta Cristine Grassi Almeida; Desiree Henares; Birgitta Henriques-Normark; Markus Hilty; Steen Hoffmann; Hilary Humphreys; Susanne Jacobsson; Christopher Johnson; Keith A Jolley; Aníbal Kawabata; Jana Kozakova; Karl G Kristinsson; Pavla Krizova; Alicja Kuch; Shamez Ladhani; Thiên-Trí Lâm; María Eugenia León Ayala; Laura Lindholm; David Litt; Martin C J Maiden; Irene Martin; Delphine Martiny; Wesley Mattheus; Noel D McCarthy; Mary Meehan; Susan Meiring; Paula Mölling; Eva Morfeldt; Julie Morgan; Robert Mulhall; Carmen Muñoz-Almagro; David Murdoch; Martin Musilek; Ludmila Novakova; Shahin Oftadeh; Amaresh Perez-Arguello; Maria Dolores Pérez-Vázquez; Monique Perrin; Benoit Prevost; Maria Roberts; Assaf Rokney; Merav Ron; Olga Marina Sanabria; Kevin J Scott; Julio Sempere; Lotta Siira; Ana Paula Silva de Lemos; Vitali Sintchenko; Anna Skoczyńska; Hans-Christian Slotved; Andrew J Smith; Muhamed-Kheir Taha; Maija Toropainen; Georgina Tzanakaki; Anni Vainio; Mark P G van der Linden; Nina M van Sorge; Emmanuelle Varon; Julio Vazquez Moreno; Sandra Vohrnova; Anne von Gottberg; Jose Yuste; Angela B Brueggemann

doi:10.1016/S2589-7500(24)00241-3

The importance of microbiology reference laboratories and adequate funding for infectious disease surveillance

Lancet Digit Health. 2024 Dec 20:S2589-7500(24)00241-3. doi: 10.1016/S2589-7500(24)00241-3. Online ahead of print.

Authors

David Shaw¹, Raquel Abad Torreblanca², Zahin Amin-Chowdhury³, Adriana Bautista⁴, Desiree Bennett⁵, Karen Broughton⁶, Carlo Casanova⁷, Eun Hwa Choi⁸, Heike Claus⁹, Mary Corcoran¹⁰, Simon Cottrell¹¹, Robert Cunney¹², Lize Cuypers¹³, Tine Dalby¹⁴, Heather Davies¹⁵, Linda de Gouveia¹⁶, Ala-Eddine Deghmane¹⁷, Stefanie Desmet¹³, Mirian Domenech¹⁸, Richard Drew¹⁹, Mignon du Plessis¹⁶, Carolina Duarte⁴, Kurt Fuursted²⁰, Alyssa Golden²¹, Samanta Cristine Grassi Almeida²², Desiree Henares²³, Birgitta Henriques-Normark²⁴, Markus Hilty⁷, Steen Hoffmann²⁰, Hilary Humphreys²⁵, Susanne Jacobsson²⁶, Christopher Johnson¹¹, Keith A Jolley²⁷, Aníbal Kawabata²⁸, Jana Kozakova²⁹, Karl G Kristinsson³⁰, Pavla Krizova³¹, Alicja Kuch³², Shamez Ladhani³, Thiên-Trí Lâm⁹, María Eugenia León Ayala²⁸, Laura Lindholm³³, David Litt³⁴, Martin C J Maiden²⁷, Irene Martin²¹, Delphine Martiny³⁵, Wesley Mattheus³⁶, Noel D McCarthy³⁷, Mary Meehan⁵, Susan Meiring³⁸, Paula Mölling²⁶, Eva Morfeldt³⁹, Julie Morgan⁴⁰, Robert Mulhall⁵, Carmen Muñoz-Almagro⁴¹, David Murdoch⁴², Martin Musilek³¹, Ludmila Novakova⁴³, Shahin Oftadeh⁴⁴, Amaresh Perez-Arguello⁴⁵, Maria Dolores Pérez-Vázquez⁴⁶, Monique Perrin⁴⁷, Benoit Prevost³⁵, Maria Roberts¹¹, Assaf Rokney⁴⁸, Merav Ron⁴⁸, Olga Marina Sanabria⁴, Kevin J Scott⁴⁹, Julio Sempere¹⁸, Lotta Siira³³, Ana Paula Silva de Lemos²², Vitali Sintchenko⁵⁰, Anna Skoczyńska³², Hans-Christian Slotved²⁰, Andrew J Smith⁵¹, Muhamed-Kheir Taha¹⁷, Maija Toropainen³³, Georgina Tzanakaki⁵², Anni Vainio³³, Mark P G van der Linden⁵³, Nina M van Sorge⁵⁴, Emmanuelle Varon⁵⁵, Julio Vazquez Moreno², Sandra Vohrnova⁵⁶, Anne von Gottberg¹⁶, Jose Yuste¹⁸, Angela B Brueggemann⁵⁷

Affiliations

¹ Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
² National Reference Laboratory for Meningococci, National Centre of Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
³ Immunisation and Countermeasures Division, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK.
⁴ Grupo de Microbiologia-Instituto Nacional de Salud, Bogotá, Colombia.
⁵ Irish Meningitis and Sepsis Reference Laboratory, Children's Health Ireland at Temple Street, Dublin, Ireland.
⁶ Staphylococcus and Streptococcus Reference Section, AMRHAI, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK.
⁷ Swiss National Reference Centre for Invasive Pneumococci, Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
⁸ Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
⁹ German National Reference Center for Meningococci and Haemophilus influenzae, Institute for Hygiene and Microbiology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
¹⁰ Department of Clinical Microbiology, The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland; Irish Meningitis and Sepsis Reference Laboratory, Children's Health Ireland at Temple Street, Dublin, Ireland.
¹¹ Public Health Wales, Cardiff, UK.
¹² Department of Clinical Microbiology, The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland; Department of Microbiology, Children's Health Ireland at Temple Street, Dublin, Ireland; Irish Meningitis and Sepsis Reference Laboratory, Children's Health Ireland at Temple Street, Dublin, Ireland.
¹³ Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; National Reference Centre for Invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
¹⁴ Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Prevention, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁵ Meningococcal Reference Laboratory, Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited, Porirua, New Zealand.
¹⁶ Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, a Division of the National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.
¹⁷ Invasive Bacterial Infections Unit and National Reference Centre for Meningococci and Haemophilus influenzae, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
¹⁸ CIBER de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain; Spanish Pneumococcal Reference Laboratory, National Centre of Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
¹⁹ Clinical Innovation Unit, Rotunda, Dublin, Ireland; Department of Clinical Microbiology, The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland; Irish Meningitis and Sepsis Reference Laboratory, Children's Health Ireland at Temple Street, Dublin, Ireland.
²⁰ Department of Bacteria, Parasites & Fungi, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
²¹ National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Canada.
²² National Laboratory for Meningitis and Pneumococcal Infections, Center of Bacteriology, Institute Adolfo Lutz, São Paulo, Brazil.
²³ CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Públic, CIBERESP, Barcelona, Spain; Instituto de Recerca Pediatrica, Hospital Sant Joan de Deu, Barcelona, Spain.
²⁴ Department of Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
²⁵ Department of Clinical Microbiology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland.
²⁶ National Reference Laboratory for Neisseria meningitidis, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
²⁷ Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
²⁸ Department of Bacteriology and Mycology, Respiratory and Meningeal Diseases Section, Laboratorio Central de Salud Pública, Asunción, Paraguay.
²⁹ NRL for Streptococcal Infections, National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic; Department of Air-Borne Bacterial Infections, National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic; Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology, National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic.
³⁰ Department of Clinical Microbiology, Landspitali-The National University Hospital of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.
³¹ NRL for Meningococcal Infections, National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic.
³² National Reference Centre for Bacterial Meningitis, National Medicines Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
³³ Department of Public Health, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
³⁴ Respiratory and Vaccine Preventable Bacteria Reference Unit, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK.
³⁵ Faculté de Médecine et Pharmacie Université de Mons (UMONS), Mons, Belgium; National Reference Centre for Haemophilus influenzae, Laboratoires des Hôpitaux Universitaires de Bruxelles-Universitaire Laboratorium Brussel, LHUB-ULB, Brussels, Belgium.
³⁶ National Reference Centre for Neisseria meningitidis, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
³⁷ Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
³⁸ Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, a Division of the National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa.
³⁹ Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden.
⁴⁰ Streptococcal Reference Laboratory, Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited, Porirua, New Zealand.
⁴¹ CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Públic, CIBERESP, Barcelona, Spain; Instituto de Recerca Pediatrica, Hospital Sant Joan de Deu, Barcelona, Spain; Medicine Department, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
⁴² University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
⁴³ NRL for Haemophilus Infections, National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic.
⁴⁴ Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, NSW Health Pathology, NSW, Sydney, Australia.
⁴⁵ Instituto de Recerca Pediatrica, Hospital Sant Joan de Deu, Barcelona, Spain.
⁴⁶ National Centre of Microbiology and CIBER de enfermedades infecciosas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
⁴⁷ Laboratoire National de Sante, Dudelange, Luxembourg.
⁴⁸ Government Central Laboratories, Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel.
⁴⁹ Bacterial Respiratory Infection Service, Scottish Microbiology Reference Laboratory, Glasgow, UK.
⁵⁰ Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, NSW Health Pathology, NSW, Sydney, Australia; Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁵¹ Bacterial Respiratory Infection Service, Scottish Microbiology Reference Laboratory, Glasgow, UK; College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
⁵² National Meningitis Reference Laboratory, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece.
⁵³ Reference Laboratory for Streptococci, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany.
⁵⁴ Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention and Netherlands Reference Laboratory for Bacterial Meningitis, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
⁵⁵ Laboratory of Medical Biology and National Reference Centre for Pneumococci, Intercommunal Hospital of Créteil, Créteil, France.
⁵⁶ NRL for Streptococcal Infections, National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic.
⁵⁷ Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39709282
DOI: 10.1016/S2589-7500(24)00241-3

Abstract

Microbiology reference laboratories perform a crucial role within public health systems. This role was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this Viewpoint, we emphasise the importance of microbiology reference laboratories and highlight the types of digital data and expertise they provide, which benefit national and international public health. We also highlight the value of surveillance initiatives among collaborative international partners, who work together to share, analyse, and interpret data, and then disseminate their findings in a timely manner. Microbiology reference laboratories have substantial impact at regional, national, and international levels, and sustained support for these laboratories is essential for public health in both pandemic and non-pandemic times.

Publication types

Review