European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology
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Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. · Sep 2012
ReviewInfective endocarditis prophylaxis: moving from dental prophylaxis to global prevention?
Infective endocarditis (IE) is an infectious disease which mainly affects elderly patients. Staphylococcus aureus is the main microorganism and IE, which used to be associated with a previously known heart disease, is now associated with healthcare procedures. For a long time, it was thought necessary to prevent IE with antibiotics before starting many invasive procedures. ⋯ Epidemiological studies emphasize changes in the profile of IE, which is moving from a streptococcal disease in patients with previously known heart disease to a staphylococcal healthcare-associated disease in elderly patients suffering from many comorbidities or having intracardiac devices. These changes should lead us to question the validity of our current management of antibiotic prophylaxis. There are already recommendations from the American Heart Association (AHA) for the prevention of implantable cardiovascular electronic device implantation, but apart from this particular situation, should we not extend prophylaxis to more comprehensive prevention in patients who have comorbidities? To find an answer, we need to acquire more data on the pathophysiology of IE while continuing epidemiological surveillance of the disease.
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Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. · Sep 2012
A Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia outbreak in a single kidney-transplant center: role of cytomegalovirus co-infection.
Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection represent possible complications of medical immunosuppression. Between 2005 and 2010, non-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) PCP patients admitted to a nephrology unit were analyzed for outcome, CMV comorbidity, and patient-to-patient contacts prior to PCP. In contrast to 2002-2004 (no cases) and 2008-2010 (10 cases), a PCP outbreak of 29 kidney-transplant recipients and one patient with anti-glomerular basement membrane disease occurred between 2005 and 2007. ⋯ CMV co-infection more frequently occurred during a cluster outbreak of non-HIV PCP in comparison to PCP-free controls. Here, CMV awareness and specific therapy of both CMV infection and PCP led to a comparatively favorable patient outcome. The role of patient isolation should be further investigated in incident non-HIV PCP.