The Brazilian journal of infectious diseases : an official publication of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases
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Epstein-Barr virus has been recently associated with the onset of multiple sclerosis, yet understanding how it elicits autoimmunity remains elusive. We investigated the relation between Epstein-Barr virus reactivation and disease development in different subtypes of multiple sclerosis. ⋯ These findings provide further support for the detrimental effects of Epstein-Barr virus in the reactivation of multiple sclerosis attacks.
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To compare the prognostic value of the pneumonia severity index and the severity score for community-acquired pneumonia (CURB-65) in predicting mortality and the need for ICU admission of patients with community-acquired pneumonia referred to our emergency department. ⋯ CURB-65 seems to be the preferred method to predict mortality and need for ICU admission in patients with community-acquired pneumonia. Despite their comparable specificity and sensitivity, CURB-65 is much easier to implement.
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Intravenous therapy is a complex procedure usually requiring the preparation of the medication in the clinical area before administration to the patient. Breaches in aseptic technique may result in microbial contaminations of vials which is a potential cause of different avoidable infections. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and pattern of microbial contamination of single- and multiple-dose vials in the largest pulmonary teaching hospital in Iran. ⋯ Our data demonstrate that repeated use of vials especially if basic sterility measures are disobeyed can cause microbial contamination of administered products to the patients. Infection preventionists are responsible to train health care workers regarding aseptic techniques and apply guidelines for aseptic handling of intravenous solutions.
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Sepsis is a systemic inflammation associated with infection caused by pathogenic micro-organisms with high mortality rates. ⋯ P. acnes-killed promoted increased survival rate of animals with sepsis, in part attributed to its immunomodulatory properties against pathogenic microorganisms, as well as better control of infection by reducing bacterial counts.