Journal of infection in developing countries
-
J Infect Dev Ctries · Jun 2011
Device-associated infections rates in pediatrics and neonatal intensive care units in El Salvador: findings of the INICC.
This study aimed to determine the rate of device-associated, health care-associated infection (DA-HAI), the excess in length of stay, the mortality, and the hand hygiene compliance in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and a neonatal ICU (NICU) in a hospital member of the International Infection Control Consortium (INICC) in El Salvador. ⋯ DA-HAI rates in the PICU and NICU of our hospital were higher than international standards; infection control programs including surveillance and antibiotic policies must be a priority in El Salvador.
-
Nosocomial pneumonia (NP) and ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) occur most frequently in intensive care units (ICU). This study seeks to determine the etiological agents of NP and VAP along with their antibacterial susceptibility patterns, and to evaluate the factors contributing to patient mortality. The impact of appropriate therapy in terms of three parameters (body temperature, PaO2/FiO2 ratio and leukocyte count) was also assessed. ⋯ Combined treatment with meropenem/imipenem, ciprofloxacin and vancomycin seems to be appropriate and could cover all possible infective agents. To reduce mortality rate, reasonable prescription of antibiotics and corticosteroids could be effective. Furthermore, adopting a strategy to reduce body temperature and PaO2/FiO2 ratio could be beneficial in patients' outcomes.
-
J Infect Dev Ctries · Feb 2011
Occurrence of RD149 and RD152 deletions in Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains from Pakistan.
Central Asian Strain 1 (CAS1) is the predominant Mycobacterium tuberculosis genotype in Pakistan. The occurrence of deletions in regions of differences (RDs) among CAS1 and other predominant genogroups in the country were investigated. ⋯ Higher frequencies of RD149 and RD152 deletions and of concurrent RD149 and RD152 deletions were found in CAS1 and Beijing strains compared with CAS subfamilies, "Other" clusters and Unique strains. No association between these deletions and disease presentation, pulmonary or extrapulmonary tuberculosis, was observed.
-
J Infect Dev Ctries · Feb 2011
Case ReportsA fatal case of meningitis caused by Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii in an immunocompetent male.
The incidence of cryptococcal infection is high in developing countries such as India. Cryptococcal meningitis is considered rare in immunocompetent patients and is mainly a disease of immunocompromised patients. ⋯ We report a fatal case of cryptococcal meningitis in an immunocompetent male caused by Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii. Whether the patient is immunocompromised or immunocompetent, the outcome of the disease can be severe unless the disease is diagnosed early in the course of illness.
-
Fungal infections of the spine are very rare and usually seen in immunocompromised patients. Acute cauda equina syndrome presenting in an immunocompetent patient is usually due to a prolapse of the intervertebral disc. ⋯ To the best of our knowledge, spinal aspergillosis presenting as cauda equina syndrome in an immunocompetent patient has not been reported before in the English-language based medical literature. Surgical decompression with antifungal treatment with oral itraconazole yielded a good recovery.