Lower incidence of hospital-treated infections in infants under 3 months of age vaccinated with BCG

BackgroundLive vaccines potentially have non-specific effects that protect against other infections than those the vaccines are targeted against. The national vaccination program (NVP) in Finland was changed on September 1st, 2006: before BCG vaccine was given to all newborn babies and afterwards to babies in risk groups only. We used this natural experiment to study the non-specific effects of BCG in the frame of NVP using before-after design.MethodsWe compared the incidence of several outcomes obtained from Finnish health registers between children born between July 1st, 2004, and June 30th, 2006 (BCG-eligible) and an age- and season-matched reference cohort born between July 1st, 2007, and June 30th, 2009 (BCG-non-eligible) using Poisson regression. These cohorts were restricted to full-term children whose parents were born in Finland. Follow-up began at birth and lasted 3 months, which is the scheduled age for DTaP-IPV-Hib vaccination, and from 4 months until first birthday. The outcomes included all infections, pneumonia and injuries as a negative control outcome.ResultsThe incidence rate ratio (IRR) of the BCG-eligible cohort (N = 93,658) compared to BCG-non-eligible cohort (N = 94,712) for hospital-diagnosed infections was 0.89 (95 %Cl 0.86–0.93) for the 3-month follow-up. The decrease was mainly caused by respiratory infections. In 4–12 months follow-up the BCG-eligible had slightly more infections than BCG-non-eligible children (IRR 1.03, 1.01–1.06).ConclusionsBCG vaccination was associated with a lower incidence of all hospital-diagnosed infections during the first three months of life. The difference cannot be attributed to lung tuberculosis, since only few paediatric cases occurred in Finland during 2000s. The disappearance of non-specific effect after administration of an inactivated vaccine is compatible with previous studies.     

Interleukin-2, its soluble receptor,and soluble T8 antigen in acute ischemic stroke

The treatment of neoplasia with interleukin-2 (IL-2) can be complicated by neurological deficits resembling transient Ischemic attack and stroke. We investigated whether interleukin-2 contributes to the natural course of cerebrovascular ischemia and particularly to the pathogenesis of infection-associated stroke. Plasma levels of interleukin-2 were below the level of detectability in almost all measurements. Patients with and without previous infection (n = 11, 805 ±445 U/ml vs n = 19, 824 ± 501 U/ml) did not have significantly higher levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptors than control subjects with (n = 14, 667 ± 229 U/ml) or without vascular risk factors (n = 17, 567 ± 176 U/ml). Receptor levels increased in patients during the first week after stroke (n = 15, 1157 ± 1013, p < 0.02). Levels of soluble T8 antigen (sT8) were higher in patients (n – 26, 320 ± 112 U/ml) than in healthy control subjects (n = 15, 246 ± 92 U/ml; p < 0.05) and sT8 levels increased during the first week after stroke (p < 0.05). These results reflect an immunological response to the cerebral infarct; they do not indicate a general role of the IL-2 system in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke with or without previous infection.     

Distribution of the exfoliative toxin D gene in clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates in France

Exfoliative toxin D (ETD) was identified recently as a new exfoliative toxin serotype. Like other exfoliative toxins, ETD induces intra-epidermal cleavage through the granular layer of the epidermis of neonatal mice. The distribution of ETD production was investigated in Staphylococcus aureus isolates from infected and colonised patients in France. The etd gene was found in 55 (10.5%) of 522 isolates tested. Isolates responsible for bullous impetigo and generalised staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome did not harbour etd, but etd was significantly more frequent in isolates causing cutaneous abscesses and furuncles. Most etd- and Panton-Valentine leukocidin-positive strains belonged to the clone of community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus spreading currently throughout France.     

Bacterial colonization and infection in an intensive care unit

One hundred and one patients, nursed in an intensive care unit for at least 24h, were monitored for bacterial colonization and infection. The infection rates were similar to those in other reports. Patients were not generally colonized with common environmental strains in the unit. Bacterial dissemination between patients was uncommon. No gentamicin resistant gram negative or Staphylococcus aureus strains were observed, nor methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains. the hypothesis that these favourable conditions are partly related to the excellent isolation and barrier nursing facilities in the unit cannot be fully substantiated.     

Solitary lucent epiphyseal lesions in children

We evaluated retrospectively the varying radiographic appearances of 15 solitary lucent epiphyseal lesions occurring in children. Imaging modalities used included plain films, conventional tomography, nuclear scintigraphy, and computed tomography. Forty percent of the lesions (6) were due to osteomyelitis. The remaining lesions included tuberculosis (1), foreign body granuloma (1), chondroblastoma (2), chondromyxoid fibroma (1), enchondroma (1), osteoid osteoma (2), and eosinophilic granuloma (1). Although the radiographic appearances of such lesions may be particularly characteristic, pathologic correlation is frequently necessary. The high incidence of osteomyelitis in our cases emphasizes its importance as a cause for a lucent epiphyseal lesion.     

医院内感染病原菌及其对抗生素的耐药状况

调查1988年3月～5月我院591例住院病例,发生96例次院内感染,总发病率16.2％。院内感染病原菌中,革蓝氏阴性杆菌占72.9％,革蓝氏阳性球菌占12.9％,念珠菌属占14.1％。院内感染病原菌的耐药性明显高于院外菌株。绿脓杆菌对庆大霉素和羧苄青霉素的耐药率分别为63.6％和54.5％。其它革蓝氏阴性杆菌院内株对常用抗生素如氨苄青霉素、羧苄青霉素、庆大霉素和妥布拉霉素的耐药率分别为82.5％、 67.5％、47.5％和45％。革蓝氏阳性球菌院内株的耐药性也很严重,表葡菌对多种半合成青霉素类、红霉素、复方新诺明甚至万古霉素的耐药率达60％以上。同时分离出耐甲氧西林金葡菌。