头孢吡肟和头孢他啶治疗重症下呼吸道感染疗效比较

目的 比较头孢吡肟和头孢他啶治疗重症下呼吸道感染的疗效和安全性。方法 选取住院治疗的重症下呼吸道感染患者62例进行随机比较,头孢吡肟组28例4g/d,头孢他啶组３４例4g/d,疗程７－１０天,静脉注射。结果 两组临床疗效差异有显著性（Ｐ＜0.05),分别为89.3%及70.6%。细菌清除率分别为８５％及67.9％。人体外药敏试验上看,细菌对头孢吡肟敏感率优于头孢他啶,尤其是革兰氏阳性球菌。两组患者无皮疹及其它副作用。结论 在治疗重症下呼吸道感染患者中,头孢吡较头孢他啶更加安全有效,而且对于革兰氏阳性球菌感染者疗效明显优于头孢他啶,可作为首选经验性用药。     

注射用阿奇霉素治疗细菌性感染临床观察

目的 :评价国产注射用阿奇霉素治疗细菌性感染的临床疗效和安全性。方法 :采用随机对照方法 ,将 43例下呼吸道感染和 33例泌尿道感染分验证组和对照组。 43例验证组给予注射用阿奇霉素 0 .2 5 g静脉滴注 ,每天 1次 ;33例对照组给予注射用头孢呋辛 1.5g静脉滴注 ,每天 2次 ,两组疗程均为 5天。结果 :验证组有效率为 83.7% ,细菌清除率为 72 .5 % ,药物敏感率为 80 .8% ;对照组有效率为 81.8% ,细菌清除率为 77.4% ,药物敏感率为 82 .2 % ,两组差异均无显著性 (P >0 .0 5 )。两组不良反应轻微。结论 :注射用阿奇霉素是一种有效、安全的治疗细菌性感染的抗生素     

孕妇及新生儿巨细胞病毒感染的分子生物学诊断

目的 :建立套式聚合酶链反应 ( n PCR)检测人巨细胞病毒 ( HCMV)。方法 :建立套式 PCR检测 HCMV DNA,同时结合病毒分离检测临床标本。结果 :在 2 3例新生儿肝炎综合征患儿中 ,10例病毒分离及套式 PCR均阳性 ;1例病毒分离阴性 ,但套式 PCR阳性。对 58例妊娠早期孕妇血标本进行检测 ,套式 PCR阳性率为 9% ,病毒分离阳性率则为 7%。结论 :套式 PCR是一种临床检测HCMV的快速有效手段。     

Haematologic consequences of viral infections including serum iron status

Twenty-seven children with mumps or chickenpox were taken as a model to evaluate the haematological consequences of viral infections including serum iron status. Blood samples were obtained from all patients at presentation and on the 21 st day of the disease. While haemoglobin, haematocrit, and meam corpuscular volume levels were similar in two measurements (P>0.05), the mean leucocyte, absolute lymphocyte and thrombocyte counts, mean serum iron, serum iron binding capacity and transferrin saturation levels were lower at presentation than on the 21 st day of the disease. The serum iron levels were below 30 g/dl in 16 (59.2%) patients at presentation while only 4 (14.8%) had low values on 21 st day. Twenty-four (88.9%) patients had an increment in the serum iron binding capacity levels and 2 (7.6%) reached values above the normal range on the 21 st day. Int 21 (77.8%) patients, the transferrin saturation levels were below the expected ranges at presentation but 26 (96.3%) showed an increment on the 21 st day. However, the mean ferritin level was higher at presentation. Therefore, during the evaluation of patients for anaemia, the presence of a recent acute viral infection should be documented so as to avoid unnecessary iron medication.     

Clinical and epidemiological aspects of respiratory syncytial virus lower respiratory tract infections

This paper has analyzed respiratory syncytial virus lower respiratory tract infections in 201 hospitalized children. In children with wheezing, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was significantly higher in those with pneumonia than with syndroma pertussis, while the white blood cell (WBC) count was significantly lower in patients with bronchitis than in those with bronchiolitis and syndroma pertussis. Bronchodilatators were applied in 75.6% and corticosteroids in 20% of patients. Ten patients were ventilated. Fatal disease outcome was observed in one infant. Twelve consecutive-year study of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections showed that 27.3% of these diseases were bronchiolitis and pneumonia.     

Méningite à pneumocoque résistant à la pénicilline et transmission nosocomiale en milieu hospitalier pédiatrique confirmée par analyse génomique

Background.

Careful epidemiological studies and sophisticated diagnostic procedures are necessary to prove that bacterial infection is nosocomial in origin. DNA finger printing method can be useful with this aim in view.

Case reports.

A 11 month-old girl suffered from a febrile pneumonia. She developed acute meningitis 15 days later; culture of CSF grew Streptococcus pneumoniae, serotype 23 F, resistant to β-lactamines, erythromycin and cotrimoxazole. She died 24 hours later. Five days after this death, a 5 month-old infant hospitalized in the next bed developed an acute pulmonary infection due to the same strain with the same bacterial characteristics; this patient was cured with cefotaxime plus vancomycin and gentamicin. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis showed an identical profile of both strains.

Conclusion.

This is the first case of meningitis due to penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP) associated with nosocomial spread between two children in adjacent beds. This case suggests that it is necessary to isolate patients with PRSP infection during hospitalization.     

Practical approach to recurrent respiratory infections

Respiratory diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Recurrent respiratory infections in children pose a great challenge to the pediatrician where he has to exercise his clinical acumen and methodical, approach, for correct diagnosis and treatment. It is a fact that children should suffer 7 to 8 upper respiratory infections per year until they are 5 years of age when their immune status reaches adult level. In this situation, it is essential to find out whether the frequencies are abnormal. Whenever a child has the following, problems, then only it needs to be investigated.—(a) repeated bacterial pneumonias; (b) a child less than 3 months old having repeated respiratory infections; (c) a child of 9 months old without a history of exposure infections; (d) infections, complicating into bronchiectasis and; (e) in a child where there is no history of allergy or asthma. Once the problem is established as a true recurrent respiratory infection, the clinician should pose questions—whether it is chronic, acute or recurrent, to find out the site of pathology, seriousness of the problem, response to previous medications, to establish the possible diagnosis which fall into six categories—congenital anamolies, aspiration syndrome, genital disorders, immunological, diseases, immune deficiency disorders and allergic diseases. The author discusses quoting some examples for various categories avoiding non pulmonary causes for recurrent respiratory infections in children.     

Toxic shock syndrome due to group C Streptococci A case report

Background Streptococcal toxic shock-like syndrome is a life-threatening illness which is on the increase. In early reports, only group A -hemolytic streptococcus was associated with the disease, but recent evidence indicates non-A streptococci groups are also involved.Observations We describe the first reported case of streptococcal toxic shock-like syndrome caused by a group C strain in Italy. Prior to the disease, the patient, a 46-year-old man, had been in good health and had only a 3-day history of sore throat, low grade fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and myalgia before admission. Initially, diagnosis was based only on clinical evidence: shock, multiorgan failure, profound hypothermia, and no apparent signs of infection. Toxic cardiomyopathy was also present.Results Positive throat swab and blood culture confirmed a definite case following established criteria. Anamnesis showed a diagnosis of monoclonal gammopathy. Antibiotic treatment was begun immediately on admission of the patient, who was discharged 20 days later in good health.Conclusions This case illustrates how an early diagnosis and prompt antibiotic therapy can determine a more favorable outcome.This work was supported in part by grants from the Italian Ministry of Health n. L123003Z     

Gender and Ethnic Differences in Survival in a Cohort of HIV Positive Clients

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine gender and ethnic differences in survival of persons receiving treatment for HIV infection to determine if differences existed, and if they did, to assess the possibility of explaining these differences by examining other factors, such as age, disease severity when beginning treatment, alcohol, illicit drugs, tobacco, educational level, living arrangements, antiretroviral treatment, PCP prophylaxis, sexually transmitted diseases, mode of transmission and opportunistic infections.

Design: A retrospective cohort study of all clients receiving treatment at an HIV only clinic from its opening in early 1988 until the end of May 1993. Statistical methods used to examine the data included incidence density ratios, Kaplan‐Meier survival curves, Breslow (generalized Wilcoxon) tests of equality of survival curves and Cox proportional hazards models both with and without time dependent covariates.

Results: In the cohort (37% African American, 7% Hispanic American and 25% female), 220 deaths occurred during 1223 person years of follow‐up. Compared to European American males, the following incidence density ratios were observed: European American females: 0.50, Hispanic American females: 0.70, Hispanic American males: 0.96, African American females: 1.28 and African American males: 2.38. The differences were noted above for gender/ethnicity groups were significant at the p < 0.0001 level. After adjusting for disease stage (as measured by laboratory testing of CD4 positive T‐lymphocytes), educational level, and age, no differences in survival by gender or ethnicity remained. Disease stage and educational level had the greatest prognostic significance.

Conclusions: European Americans entered treatment at a much earlier disease stage (as measured by CD4 positive T‐lymphocyte counts) and had higher educational levels (a surrogate for socioeconomic status) than African Americans. These factors may explain the longer survival in European Americans as compared to African Americans in this cohort.     

Liposomes and Nanoparticles in the Treatment of Intracellular Bacterial Infections

The treatment of infections caused by obligate or facultative intracellular microorganisms is difficult because most of the available antibiotics have either poor intracellular diffusion and retention or reduced activity at the acidic pH of the lysosomes. The need for antibiotics with greater intracellular efficacy led to the development of endocytosable drug carriers, such as liposomes and nanoparticles, which mimic the entry path of the bacteria by penetrating the cells into phagosomes or lysosomes. This Review assesses the potential of liposomes and nanoparticles in the targeted antibiotic therapy of intracellular bacterial infections and diseases and the pharmaceutical advantages and limitations of these submicron delivery systems.