Blastocystis sp. subtype 2 detection during recurrence of gastrointestinal and urticarial symptoms.

Blastocystis is a common unicellular intestinal parasite in humans. Its clinical relevance is still subject to discussion with numerous conflicting reports on its ability to cause disease. A remarkable genetic heterogeneity among isolates suggests an association between distinct subtypes (STs) and pathogenicity, although a clear correlation between symptoms and subtype is lacking.

Detection of herpesvirus and adenovirus co-infections with diagnostic DNA-microarrays.

In immunocompromised patients, the diagnosis of infections with herpesviruses and adenoviruses relies mainly on PCR amplification of viral genomic DNA from clinical samples. In the case of co-infections with two or more viruses, single amplification of viral DNA from clinical samples has proven to be time-consuming and expensive, hampering the efficient diagnosis and therapy of viral co-infections. In this study, a diagnostic DNA-microarray allowing simultaneous detection of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 (HSV 1/2), varicella zoster virus (VZV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), human herpesvirus-6 types A and B (HHV-6 A/B), and adenovirus in clinical samples was developed and validated.

Disseminated cutaneous and pulmonary abscesses in an injecting drug user caused by a Panton-Valentine leucocidin-positive, methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus strain.

Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen in injecting drug users. We illustrate this with a case of a young female patient who was admitted with multiple cutaneous and pulmonary abscesses. The causative strain was characterised using diagnostic microarrays.

The syphilis-HIV interdependency.

Resurgence in the incidence of HIV and syphilis infections has been reported from all Western European Countries and the USA during the past years, the majority of them in men who have sex with men. The attitude among HIV-positive patients towards the application of preventive measures is changing in comparison to the time immediately after the detection of the HIV. Furthermore, HIV care providers do not always talk in an open manner about safer sex and disclosure, with the result that a large group of patients regards oral sex as harmless with respect to the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).