Articles

Epidemiology and clinical findings associated with enteroviral acute flaccid paralysis in Pakistan

Enteroviruses are among the most common viruses infecting humans worldwide and they are associated with diverse clinical syndromes. Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) is a clinical manifestation of enteroviral neur...

Authors: Mohsan Saeed, Sohail Z Zaidi, Asif Naeem, Muhammad Masroor, Salmaan Sharif, Shahzad Shaukat, Mehar Angez and Anis Khan

Suitability of vaccinia virus and bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) for determining activities of three commonly-used alcohol-based hand rubs against enveloped viruses

A procedure for including activity against enveloped viruses in the post-contamination treatment of hands has been recommended, but so far no European standard is available to implement it. In 2004, the German...

Authors: Günter Kampf, Jochen Steinmann and Holger Rabenau

Corynebacteriumendocarditis species-specific risk factors and outcomes

Corynebacterium species are recognized as uncommon agents of endocarditis, but little is known regarding species-specific risk factors and outcomes in Corynebacterium endocarditis.

Authors: Jaime Belmares, Stephanie Detterline, Janet B Pak and Jorge P Parada

Treating cutaneous leishmaniasis patients in Kabul, Afghanistan: cost-effectiveness of an operational program in a complex emergency setting

Although Kabul city, Afghanistan, is currently the worldwide largest focus of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) with an estimated 67,500 cases, donor interest in CL has been comparatively poor because the disease i...

Authors: Richard Reithinger and Paul G Coleman

Bacteraemia in patients admitted to an urban hospital in West Africa

Few studies on bacteraemia in Africa have been published. We aimed to prospectively identify the causative organisms of bacteraemia in The Gambia and their relation to clinical diagnoses, outcome and antimicro...

Authors: Philip C Hill, Charles O Onyeama, Usman NA Ikumapayi, Ousman Secka, Samuel Ameyaw, Naomi Simmonds, Simon A Donkor, Stephen R Howie, Mary Tapgun, Tumani Corrah and Richard A Adegbola

Erratum To: The burden of diarrhoea, shigellosis, and cholera in North Jakarta, Indonesia: findings from 24 months surveillance

This is a correction of an earlier published article.

Authors: Magdarina D Agtini, Rooswanti Soeharno, Murad Lesmana, Narain H Punjabi, Cyrus Simanjuntak, Ferry Wangsasaputra, Dazwir Nurdin, Sri Pandam Pulungsih, Ainur Rofiq, Hari Santoso, H Pujarwoto, Agus Sjahrurachman, Pratiwi Sudarmono, Lorenz von Seidlein, Jacqueline L Deen, Mohammad Ali…

Case report: Infective endocarditis caused by Brevundimonas vesicularis

There are few reports in the literature of invasive infection caused by Brevundimonas vesicularis in patients without immunosuppression or other predisposing factors. The choice of antimicrobial therapy for bacte...

Authors: Mei-Li Yang, Yen-Hsu Chen, Tun-Chieh Chen, Wei-Ru Lin, Chun-Yu Lin and Po-Liang Lu

Seroepidemiology of Toxoplasma gondiiinfection in psychiatric inpatients in a northern Mexican city

Patients with psychiatric disorders were found to show a high seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection. There is scarce information about the epidemiology of T. gondii infection in psychiatric patients in Me...

Authors: Cosme Alvarado-Esquivel, Olga-Patricia Alanis-Quiñones, Miguel-Ángel Arreola-Valenzuela, Alfredo Rodríguez-Briones, Luis-Jorge Piedra-Nevarez, Ehecatl Duran-Morales, Sergio Estrada-Martínez, Sergio-Arturo Martínez-García and Oliver Liesenfeld

Leishmania infantumleishmaniasis in corticosteroid – treated patients

The number of leishmaniasis cases associated with immunosuppression has increased regularly over the past 20 years. Immunosuppression related to HIV infection, immunosuppressive treatment, organ transplantatio...

Authors: Silvia Pittalis, Emanuele Nicastri, Francesco Spinazzola, Piero Ghirga, Michele De Marco, Maria Grazia Paglia and Pasquale Narciso

Disease burden and related medical costs of rotavirus infections in Taiwan

The disease burden and associated medical costs of rotavirus infections in inpatient and outpatient sectors in Taiwan were examined in anticipation of the availability of new rotavirus vaccines.

Authors: Chun-Yi Lu, Tsai-Ling Lauderdale, Yin-Hua Fang, Chung-Yi Wang, Yu-Huai Ho, Che-Lun Hung, Luan-Yin Chang, Chin-Yun Lee and Li-Min Huang

Whole blood gene expression in infants with respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of viral bronchiolitis in infants worldwide, and environmental, viral and host factors are all of importance for disease susceptibility and severity. To study...

Authors: Hans-Olav Fjaerli, Geir Bukholm, Anne Krog, Camilla Skjaeret, Marit Holden and Britt Nakstad

Cohort effects in dynamic models and their impact on vaccination programmes: an example from Hepatitis A

Infection rates for many infectious diseases have declined over the past century. This has created a cohort effect, whereby older individuals experienced a higher infection rate in their past than younger indi...

Authors: Arni SR Srinivasa Rao, Maggie H Chen, Ba' Z Pham, Andrea C Tricco, Vladimir Gilca, Bernard Duval, Murray D Krahn and Chris T Bauch

Fluconazole for empiric antifungal therapy in cancer patients with fever and neutropenia

Several clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of fluconazole as empiric antifungal therapy in cancer patients with fever and neutropenia. Our objective was to assess the frequency and resource utiliza...

Authors: Donghui T Yu, Diane L Seger, Josh F Peterson, Ritesh N Kumar and David W Bates

Male circumcision, religion, and infectious diseases: an ecologic analysis of 118 developing countries

Both religious practices and male circumcision (MC) have been associated with HIV and other sexually-transmitted infectious diseases. Most studies have been limited in size and have not adequately controlled f...

Authors: Paul K Drain, Daniel T Halperin, James P Hughes, Jeffrey D Klausner and Robert C Bailey

Surgical wound infection: epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and management

Surgical wound infection remains a significant problem following an operation, although surveillance for such infections remains a challenge exacerbated by early discharge and outpatient surgery. The riskof su...

Authors: Robert H Rubin

Methods for identifying surgical wound infection after discharge from hospital: a systematic review

Wound infections are a common complication of surgery that add significantly to the morbidity of patients and costs of treatment. The global trend towards reducing length of hospital stay post-surgery and the ...

Authors: Emily S Petherick, Jane E Dalton, Peter J Moore and Nicky Cullum

Novel mutation of the PRNPgene of a clinical CJD case

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), a group of neurodegenerative diseases, are thought to be caused by an abnormal isoform of a naturally occurring protein known as cellular prion protein, PrP^C. The...

Authors: Konstantia Kotta, Ioannis Paspaltsis, Sevasti Bostantjopoulou, Helen Latsoudis, Andreas Plaitakis, Dimitrios Kazis, John Collinge and Theodoros Sklaviadis

Antibacterial resistance and their genetic location in MRSA isolated in Kuwait hospitals, 1994-2004

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) continues to be a major cause of serious infections in hospitals and in the community worldwide. In this study, MRSA isolated from patients in Kuwait hospitals w...

Authors: Edet E Udo, Noura Al-Sweih, Eiman Mokaddas, Molly Johny, Rita Dhar, Huda H Gomaa, Inaam Al-Obaid and Vincent O Rotimi

A prospective study comparing quantitative Cytomegalovirus (CMV) polymerase chain reaction in plasma and pp65 antigenemia assay in monitoring patients after allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Low levels of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) viral load are frequently detected following allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) and CMV disease may still develop in some allogeneic SCT patients who have negative p...

Authors: Giuseppe Gentile, Alessandra Picardi, Angela Capobianchi, Alessandra Spagnoli, Laura Cudillo, Teresa Dentamaro, Andrea Tendas, Luca Cupelli, Marco Ciotti, Antonio Volpi, Sergio Amadori, Pietro Martino and Paolo de Fabritiis

Molecular evidence of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Ureaplasma parvum colonization in preterm infants during respiratory distress syndrome

Ureaplasma urealyticum and U. parvum have been associated with respiratory diseases in premature newborns, but their role in the pathogenesis of the respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is unclear. The aim of thi...

Authors: Rosario Cultrera, Silva Seraceni, Rossella Germani and Carlo Contini

Erratum to: Detection of Chlamydia in the peripheral blood cells of normal donors using in vitro culture, immunofluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry techniques

Authors: Frances Cirino, Wilmore C Webley, Corrie West, Nancy L Croteau, Chester Andrzejewski Jr and Elizabeth S Stuart

HIV-1 subtype A infection in a community of intravenous drug users in Pakistan

Data on the subtypes of HIV in a population help in predicting the potential foci of epidemic, tracking the routes of infection and following the patterns of the virus' genetic divergence. Globally, the most p...

Authors: Saeed Khan, Mohammad A Rai, Mohammad R Khanani, Muhammad N Khan and Syed H Ali

Serologic indices of hepatitis B virus infection in military recruits in Greece (2004–2005)

The prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection in Greece has been decreasing over the last decades. However, recent epidemiological data are lacking.

Authors: Vasilios German, Georgios Giannakos, Petros Kopterides, Konstantinos Liaskonis and Matthew E Falagas

Uniform distribution of three Candida albicans microsatellite markers in two French ICU populations supports a lack of nosocomial cross-contamination

The nosocomial acquisition of Candida albicans is a growing concern in intensive care units (ICUs) and understanding the route of contamination is relevant for infection control guidelines.

Authors: Odile Eloy, Stéphanie Marque, Françoise Botterel, François Stephan, Jean-Marc Costa, Virginie Lasserre and Stéphane Bretagne

Quantifying behavioural interactions between humans and mosquitoes: Evaluating the protective efficacy of insecticidal nets against malaria transmission in rural Tanzania

African malaria vectors bite predominantly indoors at night so sleeping under an Insecticide-Treated Net (ITN) can greatly reduce malaria risk. Behavioural adaptation by mosquitoes to increasing ITN coverage c...

Authors: Gerry F Killeen, Japhet Kihonda, Edith Lyimo, Fred R Oketch, Maya E Kotas, Evan Mathenge, Joanna A Schellenberg, Christian Lengeler, Thomas A Smith and Chris J Drakeley

Bacteraemia among severely malnourished children infected and uninfected with the human immunodeficiency virus-1 in Kampala, Uganda

To establish the magnitude of bacteraemia in severely malnourished children, and describe the types of bacteria and antimicrobial sensitivity by HIV status.

Authors: Hanifa Bachou, Thorkild Tylleskär, Deogratias H Kaddu-Mulindwa and James K Tumwine

Epidemiological and clinical features, response to HAART, and survival in HIV-infected patients diagnosed at the age of 50 or more

Over the last years, the mean age of subjects with HIV infection and AIDS is increasing. Moreover, some epidemiological and clinical differences between younger and older HIV-infected individuals have been obs...

Authors: MaMercedes Nogueras, Gemma Navarro, Esperança Antón, Montserrat Sala, Manel Cervantes, MaJosé Amengual and Ferran Segura

In vivo activity of terpinen-4-ol, the main bioactive component of Melaleuca alternifolia Cheel (tea tree) oil against azole-susceptible and -resistant human pathogenic Candida species

Recent investigations on the antifungal properties of essential oil of Melaleuca alternifolia Cheel (Tea Tree Oil, TTO) have been performed with reference to the treatment of vaginal candidiasis. However, there i...

Authors: Francesca Mondello, Flavia De Bernardis, Antonietta Girolamo, Antonio Cassone and Giuseppe Salvatore

Serum neopterin levels in patients with replicative and nonreplicative HBV carriers

Infection by hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes complicated biochemical, immunological and histological changes in host immune response against the virus which can be specific or non-specific. Recent attention has...

Authors: Ilknur Kaleli, Melek Demir, Nural Cevahir, Mustafa Yılmaz and Suleyman Demir

Emergence of vancomycin resistant Staphylococcus aureus(VRSA) from a tertiary care hospital from northern part of India

Glycopeptides such as vancomycin are frequently the antibiotics of choice for the treatment of infections caused by methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). For the last 7 years incidence of vancomycin...

Authors: Hare Krishna Tiwari and Malay Ranjan Sen

Patterns of antimicrobial resistance in a surgical intensive care unit of a university hospital in Turkey

Several studies have reported higher rates of antimicrobial resistance among isolates from intensive care units than among isolates from general patient-care areas. The aims of this study were to review the pa...

Authors: Aysen Bayram and Iclal Balci

Disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex infection in an immunocompetent pregnant woman

Disseminated mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) occurs mainly in immunocompromised hosts, which is associated with abnormal cellular immunity.

Authors: Joon Young Song, Cheong Won Park, Sae Yoon Kee, Won Seok Choi, Eun Young Kang, Jang Wook Sohn, Woo Joo Kim, Min Ja Kim and Hee Jin Cheong

Listeriosis in Portugal: an existing but under reported infection

Listeriosis is a rare disease caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, the normal vehicle of which is food. The disease, which is largely confined to its risk groups of pregnant women, the elderly and immu...

Authors: Gonçalo N Almeida, Paul A Gibbs, Tim A Hogg and Paula C Teixeira

Tissue MicroArray (TMA) analysis of normal and persistent Chlamydophila pneumoniae infection

Chlamydophila pneumoniae infection has been implicated as a potential risk factor for atherosclerosis, however the mechanism leading to persistent infection and its role in the disease process remains to be eluc...

Authors: Nicole Borel, Sanghamitra Mukhopadhyay, Carmen Kaiser, Erin D Sullivan, Richard D Miller, Peter Timms, James T Summersgill, Julio A Ramirez and Andreas Pospischil

Clinical and epidemiological predictors of transmission in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

Only a minority of probable SARS cases caused transmission. We assess if any epidemiological or clinical factors in SARS index patients were associated with increased probability of transmission.

Authors: Mark IC Chen, Angela LP Chow, Arul Earnest, Hoe Nam Leong and Yee Sin Leo

Role of seminal plasma in the anti-HIV-1 activity of candidate microbicides

Evaluation of microbicides for prevention of HIV-1 infection in macaque models for vaginal infection has indicated that the concentrations of active compounds needed for protection by far exceed levels suffici...

Authors: A Robert Neurath, Nathan Strick and Yun-Yao Li

Attenuated cerebrospinal fluid leukocyte count and sepsis in adults with pneumococcal meningitis: a prospective cohort study

A low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) white-blood cell count (WBC) has been identified as an independent risk factor for adverse outcome in adults with bacterial meningitis. Whereas a low CSF WBC indicates the prese...

Authors: Martijn Weisfelt, Diederik van de Beek, Lodewijk Spanjaard, Johannes B Reitsma and Jan de Gans

Development of a Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire (HRQL) for patients with Extremity Soft Tissue Infections (ESTI)

Past clinical trials of antimicrobial treatment in soft tissue infections have focused on non-standardized clinical and physiological outcome variables, and have not considered the subjective experience of pat...

Authors: Aric J Storck, Kevin B Laupland, Ronald R Read, Manuel W Mah, John M Gill, Deborah Nevett and Thomas J Louie

A super-spreading ewe infects hundreds with Q fever at a farmers' market in Germany

In May 2003 the Soest County Health Department was informed of an unusually large number of patients hospitalized with atypical pneumonia.

Authors: Klaudia Porten, Jürgen Rissland, Almira Tigges, Susanne Broll, Wilfried Hopp, Mechthild Lunemann, Ulrich van Treeck, Peter Kimmig, Stefan O Brockmann, Christiane Wagner-Wiening, Wiebke Hellenbrand and Udo Buchholz

Highly active antiretroviral therapy and hospital readmission: comparison of a matched cohort

Despite the known efficacy of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), a large proportion of potentially-eligible HIV-infected patients do not access, and may stand to benefit from this treatment. In orde...

Authors: Bohdan Nosyk, Huiying Sun, Xin Li, Anita Palepu and Aslam H Anis

Systemic inflammatory response syndrome in adult patients with nosocomial bloodstream infections due to enterococci

Enterococci are the third leading cause of nosocomial bloodstream infection (BSI). Vancomycin resistant enterococci are common and provide treatment challenges; however questions remain about VRE's pathogenici...

Authors: Katharine Bar, Hilmar Wisplinghoff, Richard P Wenzel, Gonzalo ML Bearman and Michael B Edmond

Outcome of urogenital infection with Chlamydia muridarum in CD-14 gene knockout mice

CD14 has been postulated to play a role in chlamydial immunity and immunopathology. There is evidence to support this role in human infections but its function in a mouse model has not been investigated.

Authors: Muhammad T Imtiaz, Justin H Schripsema, Ira M Sigar and Kyle H Ramsey

Measles transmission following the tsunami in a population with a high one-dose vaccination coverage, Tamil Nadu, India 2004–2005

On 26 December 2004, a tsunami struck the coast of the state of Tamil Nadu, India, where one-dose measles coverage exceeded 95%. On 29 December, supplemental measles immunization activities targeted children 6...

Authors: Arumugam Mohan, Manoj V Murhekar, Niteen S Wairgkar, Yvan J Hutin and Mohan D Gupte

Kinetics of progenitor hemopoetic stem cells in sepsis: Correlation with patients survival?

Current theories underline the crucial role of pro-inflammatory mediators produced by monocytes for the pathogenesis of sepsis. Since monocytes derive from progenitor hemopoetic cells, the kinetics of stem cel...

Authors: Thomas Tsaganos, Evangelos J Giamarellos-Bourboulis, Spyridon Kollias, Dimitrios Zervakis, Vassiliki Karagianni, Aimilia Pelekanou, Ekaterini-Christina Tampaki, Marina Kontogiorgi, Apostolos Koroneos, Nikolaos Drakoulis, Apostolos Armaganidis, Charis Roussos and Helen Giamarellou

Normalisation of cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers parallels improvement of neurological symptoms following HAART in HIV dementia – case report

Since the introduction of HAART the incidence of HIV dementia has declined and HAART seems to improve neurocognitive function in patients with HIV dementia. Currently, HIV dementia develops mainly in patients ...

Authors: Lars-Magnus Andersson, Lars Hagberg, Lars Rosengren, Dietmar Fuchs, Kaj Blennow and Magnus Gisslén

A fatal pseudo-tumour: disseminated basidiobolomycosis

Basidiobolomycosis is a rare disease caused by the fungus Basidiobolus ranarum, member of the class Zygomycetes, order Entomophthorales, found worldwide. Usually basidiobolomycosis is a subcutaneous infection but...

Authors: Guido EL van den Berk, L Arnold Noorduyn, Ruud J van Ketel, Jeannouel van Leeuwen, Willem A Bemelman and Jan M Prins

Leishmania isoenzyme polymorphisms in Ecuador: Relationships with geographic distribution and clinical presentation

Determinants of the clinical presentation of the leishmaniases are poorly understood but Leishmania species and strain differences are important. To examine the relationship between clinical presentation, species...

Authors: Manuel Calvopina, Rodrigo X Armijos, Jorge D Marco, Hiroshi Uezato, Hirotomo Kato, Eduardo A Gomez, Masataka Korenaga, Paola A Barroso, Tatsuyuki Mimori, Philip J Cooper, Shigeo Nonaka and Yoshihisa Hashiguchi

Efficacy and clinical effectiveness of influenza vaccines in HIV-infected individuals: a meta-analysis

Though influenza vaccines are the cornerstone of medical interventions aimed at protecting individuals against epidemic influenza, their effectiveness in HIV infected individuals is not certain. With the recen...

Authors: Julius Atashili, Linda Kalilani and Adaora A Adimora

Clinical manifestations and outcome in Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis among injection drug users and nonaddicts: a prospective study of 74 patients

Endocarditis is a common complication in Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB). We compared risk factors, clinical manifestations, and outcome in a large, prospective cohort of patients with S. aureus endocardit...

Authors: Eeva Ruotsalainen, Kari Sammalkorpi, Janne Laine, Kaisa Huotari, Seppo Sarna, Ville Valtonen and Asko Järvinen

Predictors of early death in a cohort of Ethiopian patients treated with HAART

HAART has improved the survival of HIV infected patients. However, compared to patients in high-income countries, patients in resource-poor countries have higher mortality rates. Our objective was to identify ...

Authors: Degu Jerene, Aschalew Endale, Yewubnesh Hailu and Bernt Lindtjørn