Bmc Infect Dis
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Some patients have a greater response to viral infection than do others having a similar level of viral replication. Hypercytokinemia is the principal immunopathological mechanism that contributes to a severer clinical course in cases of influenza A/H1N1. The benefit produced, or damage caused, by these cytokines in severe disease is not known. The genes that code for these molecules are polymorphic and certain alleles have been associated with susceptibility to various diseases. The objective of the present study was to determine whether there was an association between polymorphisms of TNF, LTA, IL1B, IL6, IL8, and CCL1 and the infection and severity of the illness caused by the pandemic A/H1N1 in Mexico in 2009. ⋯ The polymorphisms of genes involved in the inflammatory process contributed to the severity of the clinical behavior of infection by the pandemic influenza A/H1N1 virus.
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Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a complication of severe malaria, and rhabdomyolysis with myoglobinuria is an uncommon cause. We report an unusual case of severe falciparum malaria with dengue coinfection complicated by AKI due to myoglobinemia and myoglobinuria while maintaining a normal creatine kinase (CK). ⋯ In patients with severe falciparum malaria, the absence of raised CK alone does not exclude a diagnosis of rhabdomyolysis. Raised serum and urine myoglobin levels could lead to AKI and should be monitored. In the event of myoglobin-induced AKI requiring dialysis, clinicians may consider using high-flux hemodiafiltration instead of conventional hemodialysis for more effective myoglobin removal. In Southeast Asia, potential endemic coinfections that can also cause or worsen rhabdomyolysis, such as dengue, rickettsiosis and leptospirosis, should be considered.
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Pseudomonas aeruginosa has gained an increasing amount of attention in the treatment of patients with pneumonia. However, the benefit of empirical combination therapy for pneumonia remains unclear. We evaluated the effects of adequate empirical combination therapy and multidrug-resistance in bacteremic Pseudomonas pneumonia on the mortality. ⋯ Our study suggests that adequate empirical combination therapy can decrease mortality in patients with bacteremic Pseudomonas pneumonia.
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Initial antimicrobial therapy (AB) is an important determinant of clinical outcome in patients with severe infections as pneumonia, however well-conducted studies regarding prognostic impact of inadequate initial AB in patients who are not undergoing mechanical ventilation (MV) are lacking. In this study we aimed to identify the risk factors for inadequate initial AB and to determine its subsequent impact on outcomes in both ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) and hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP). ⋯ Our data suggests that the risk factors for inadequate initial AB are indirectly associated with the acquisition of resistant bacteria for both VAP and HAP. Although we could not find a positive correlation between adequate initial AB and survival; empirical AB with a broad spectrum should be initiated promptly to improve secondary outcomes.
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The application of serological methods in HIV/AIDS routine surveillance systems to identify persons with recently acquired HIV infection has been proposed as a tool which may provide an accurate description of the current transmission patterns of HIV. Using the information about recent infection it is possible to estimate HIV incidence, according to the model proposed by Karon et al. in 2008, that accounts for the effect of testing practices on the number of persons detected as recently infected. ⋯ These estimates suggest that the transmission of HIV infection in Lazio remains frequent and men-who-have-sex-with men and injecting-drug-users are still greatly affected although the majority of new infections occurs among heterosexual individuals.