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Mini-Lab—MSF's simplified bacteriology laboratory for low-resource settings | Collections | MSF Science Portal

Resistance to antibiotics is a growing public health crisis, especially in countries with fragile health systems and in regions at war. One key limitation in most of these settings is a lack of clinical bacteriology laboratory capacity, which leaves medical providers without ways to accurately diagnose patient infections and to tailor antibiotic treatment accordingly.

To help fill this critical gap, MSF and partners have developed the Mini-Lab—a small-scale, standalone lab that is easy to transport, set up and operate by staff after only a short training. Its six modules are stocked with everything needed to diagnose common bloodstream and urinary tract infections and to perform antibiotic sensitivity testing using methods adapted to extremely hot climates and remote settings.

With Mini-Lab now being rolled out to selected MSF projects, here we highlight the background to its development and some of the research behind the bacteriological tests it incorporates.

Collection Content

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Expanding access to lifesaving new TB tools
Expanding access to lifesaving new TB tools
Many settings with a high burden of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) lack access to advanced diagnostics and to groundbreaking new treatments. The Collection linked below spotlights work by MSF and collaborators to analyze barriers, identify gaps, and accelerate the roll-out of these tools to people whose lives hang in the balance. Several reports examine price, regulatory, and patent obstacles that persist despite considerable public investment into developing many of these tools. Other authors examine critical remaining weaknesses in care pathways—especially in screening and diagnosis, and particularly in children. Several studies describe new strategies that could be part of the solution, from a pilot program in Tajikisttan that trains family caregivers to treat children with DR-TB at home, to a person-centered care model adapted to a conflict zone in Afghanistan. Lastly, initial findings demonstrate that pregnant women—another vulnerable population—can be effectively treated for DR- and multidrug-resistant TB, improving maternal outcomes without harming neonates.
New tools and approaches to drug-resistant TB
New tools and approaches to drug-resistant TB
The World Health Organization estimates that 410,000 people developed a drug-resistant tuberculosis infection (DR-TB) in 2022, only 40% of whom were diagnosed and started on treatment—and only 63% then cured. Given all these points of failure, innovation in preventing, diagnosing and treating DR-TB cannot come fast enough. To mark World TB Day (24 March 2024) the content collection linked below highlights recent work by MSF and collaborators to help change this grim picture. The TB-PRACTECAL and endTB studies delivered robust evidence for shorter, safer, more effective drug regimens that are already saving lives worldwide. Other studies explore new approaches to preventive treatment and simpler, quicker, accurate detection of TB and drug resistance—especially among difficult-to-diagnose populations such as children and people living with HIV. But to impact DR-TB globally these innovations must become widely accessible. This requires changes on many fronts, as described in an accompanying Collection (Expanding Access to Lifesaving New TB Tools).
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Prevalence and outcomes of antibiotic resistant infections at...
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Journal Article
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Research

Validation of three MicroScan® antimicrobial susceptibility testing plates designed for low-resource settings

Ronat JB, Oueslati S, Natale A, Kesteman T, Elamin W,  et al.
2022-08-30 • Diagnostics
2022-08-30 • Diagnostics
Easy and robust antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) methods are essential in clinical bacteriology laboratories (CBL) in low-resource settings (LRS). We evaluated the Beckman Coul...
Journal Article
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Research

Biphasic versus monophasic manual blood culture bottles for low-resource settings: an in-vitro study

Ombelet S, Natale A, Ronat JB, Kesteman T, Vandenberg O,  et al.
2021-12-13 • Lancet Microbe
2021-12-13 • Lancet Microbe
BACKGROUND
Manual blood culture bottles (BCBs) are frequently used in low-resource settings. There are few BCB performance evaluations, especially evaluations comparing them with aut...
Mini-Lab—MSF's simplified bacteriology laboratory for low-resource settings

Mini-Lab—MSF's simplified bacteriology laboratory for low-resource settings

Journal Article
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Review

AMR in low-resource settings: Médecins Sans Frontières bridges surveillance gaps by developing a turnkey solution, the Mini-Lab

Ronat JB, Natale A, Kesteman T, Andremont A, Elamin W,  et al.
2021-10-01 • Clinical Microbiology and Infection
2021-10-01 • Clinical Microbiology and Infection
BACKGROUND
In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), data related to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are often inconsistently collected. Humanitarian, private and non-governmental ...
Conference Material
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Video

Development of an all-in-one transportable clinical bacteriology laboratory: Feedback from testing the MSF Mini-Lab development project in Haiti

Ronat JB
2021-08-25 • MSF Scientific Days Asia 2021
2021-08-25 • MSF Scientific Days Asia 2021
Journal Article
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Research

Evaluation of MicroScan bacterial identification panels for low-resource settings

Ombelet S, Natale A, Ronat JB, Vandenberg O, Hardy L,  et al.
2021-02-19 • Diagnostics
2021-02-19 • Diagnostics
Bacterial identification is challenging in low-resource settings (LRS). We evaluated the MicroScan identification panels (Beckman Coulter, Brea, CA, USA) as part of Médecins Sans Frontiè...
Journal Article
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Commentary

The Mini-Lab: accessible clinical bacteriology for low-resource settings

Natale A, Ronat JB, Mazoyer A, Rochard A, Boillot B,  et al.
2020-06-01 • Lancet Microbe
2020-06-01 • Lancet Microbe
Journal Article
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Commentary

Antibiotic resistance in conflict settings: lessons learned in the Middle East

Kanapathipillai R, Malou N, Hopman J, Bowman C, Yousef N,  et al.
2019-04-10 • Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
2019-04-10 • Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has designed context-adapted antibiotic resistance (ABR) responses in countries across the Middle East. There, some health systems have been severely damag...
Journal Article
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Commentary

Clinical bacteriology in low-resource settings: today's solutions

Ombelet S, Ronat JB, Walsh T, Yansouni CP, Cox J,  et al.
2018-03-05 • Lancet Infectious Diseases
2018-03-05 • Lancet Infectious Diseases
Low-resource settings are disproportionately burdened by infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance. Good quality clinical bacteriology through a well functioning reference laborat...