South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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Four cases of Aspergillus pneumonia occurred in an intensive care unit within a short period. Clusters of cases of invasive aspergillosis are rare and have usually been attributed to excessive contamination of the environment. ⋯ Three of the cases were diagnosed ante mortem. One patient survived after early initiation of treatment with amphotericin B.
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A 45-year-old woman with intestinal malabsorption due to eosinophilic gastro-enteritis was found to have markedly fluctuating total serum IgE levels with a positive intradermal skin test and a positive radio-allergosorbent test to milk antigen. No organ-specific or non-organ-specific auto-antibodies were detected in the patient's serum, and her complement profile was normal. Low doses of disodium cromoglycate failed to improve intestinal absorption, whereas a 16-day course of a corticosteroid, beclomethasone dipropionate 3 mg daily, improved D-xylose and carotene absorption without suppressing the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.