Lancet
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The cause of sarcoidosis is unknown, although mycobacteria have been implicated. We examined sarcoid tissues for human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) in addition to mycobacterial genomic sequences. ⋯ Variant HHV-8 DNA sequences are found in a wide range of sarcoid but not non-sarcoid tissues. Mycobacteria-like 16 S rRNA sequences are more frequently present in sarcoid lymph nodes and not in other tissue types, but do not indicate infection by a particular mycobacterial species.
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Comparative Study
Dissemination in Japanese hospitals of strains of Staphylococcus aureus heterogeneously resistant to vancomycin.
Since the discovery of the vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) strain Mu50 (minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] 8 mg/L), there has been concern about the potential spread of such strains throughout Japanese hospitals. Two important questions need to be answered: (1) what is the prevalence of VRSA, and (2) by what mechanism does vancomycin resistance occur. ⋯ Heterogeneously resistant VRSA is a preliminary stage that allows development into VRSA upon exposure to vancomycin. Heterogeneously resistant VRSA was found in hospitals throughout Japan. This finding could explain, at least partly, the frequent therapeutic failure of MRSA infection with vancomycin in Japan.
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Most public-health assessments of climate-control policies have focused on long-term impacts of global change. Our interdisciplinary working group assesses likely short-term impacts on public health. ⋯ The mortality estimates are indicative of the magnitude of the likely health benefits of the climate-policy scenario examined and are not precise predictions of avoidable deaths. While characterized by considerable uncertainty, the short-term public-health impacts of reduced PM exposures associated with greenhouse-gas reductions are likely to be substantial even under the most conservative set of assumptions.