Proinflammatory cytokines levels in sepsis and healthy volunteers, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha associated sepsis mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Sepsis is a global health challenge associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Detrimental sepsis effects are attributed to excessive inflammation or a "cytokine storm." However, anti-inflammation therapies have failed to lower sepsis mortality.

Monkeypox - a description of the clinical progression of skin lesions: a case report from Colorado, USA.

A rapidly emerging global outbreak of monkeypox virus infection (MPXV) in over 50 non-endemic countries was identified in May 2022. We report the case and images of a patient with MPXV presenting with genital lesions later complicated by superimposed cellulitis in Colorado, USA. MPXV lesions are susceptible to bacterial superinfection, and with the advent of new cases, the early identification of skin lesions and their evolution during MPXV are imperative for treating clinicians.

Chasing the Ghost: Hyperinflammation Does Not Cause Sepsis.

Sepsis is infection sufficient to cause illness in the infected host, and more severe forms of sepsis can result in organ malfunction or death. Severe forms of Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), or disease following infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are examples of sepsis. Following infection, sepsis is thought to result from excessive inflammation generated in the infected host, also referred to as a cytokine storm.

Diagnostic Utility of a Ferritin-to-Procalcitonin Ratio to Differentiate Patients With COVID-19 From Those With Bacterial Pneumonia: A Multicenter Study.

Background: There is an urgent need for accurate, rapid, inexpensive biomarkers that can differentiate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from bacterial pneumonia. We assess the role of the ferritin-to-procalcitonin (F/P) ratio to classify pneumonia cases into those due to COVID-19 vs those due to bacterial pathogens.

Methods: This multicenter case-control study compared patients with COVID-19 with those with bacterial pneumonia, admitted between March 1 and May 31, 2020.

Increased mortality associated with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus in patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis: a single US cohort study.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is an established risk factor for bacterial infections, but its role in cryptococcosis is unclear. The study aimed to determine whether uncontrolled diabetes (HbA1c >7%) was an independent risk factor for mortality in cryptococcosis.

Methods: A retrospective case-control study partially matched by age and gender was performed in patients tested for infection at the University of Colorado Hospital from 2000 to 2019.

Diagnostic utility of a Ferritin-to-Procalcitonin Ratio to differentiate patients with COVID-19 from those with Bacterial Pneumonia: A multicenter study.

Importance: There is a need to develop tools to differentiate COVID-19 from bacterial pneumonia at the time of clinical presentation before diagnostic testing is available.

Objective: To determine if the Ferritin-to-Procalcitonin ratio (F/P) can be used to differentiate COVID-19 from bacterial pneumonia.

Design: This case-control study compared patients with either COVID-19 or bacterial pneumonia, admitted between March 1 and May 31, 2020.

Beta-Hemolytic Streptococcal Infective Endocarditis: Characteristics and Outcomes From a Large, Multinational Cohort.

Background: Beta-hemolytic streptococci (BHS) are an uncommon cause of infective endocarditis (IE). The aim of this study was to describe the clinical features and outcomes of patients with BHS IE in a large multinational cohort and compare them with patients with viridans streptococcal IE.

Methods: The International Collaboration on Endocarditis Prospective Cohort Study (ICE-PCS) is a large multinational database that recruited patients with IE prospectively using a standardized data set.

Recurrent Bacteremia as the First Manifestation of Hypogammaglobulinemia: a Case Report and Literature Review.

A 30-year-old woman with a past medical history of autoimmune hemolytic anemia presented with fever. Blood cultures grew . Her medical history was significant for four prior episodes of gastroenteritis and bacteremia.

Successful treatment of gonococcal osteomyelitis with one week of intravenous antibiotic therapy.

Gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In a minority of cases, a disseminated infection can occur including gonococcal osteoarticular disease. With the steep and sustained increase in STIs in the US, we could see invasive gonococcal disease more often.

Acute Dissemination With Encephalitis in the Era of Biological Therapies.

We report the case of a 65-year-old patient with pseudolymphoma who developed acute toxoplasmosis following 6 cycles of rituximab and bendamustine therapy. Acute toxoplasmosis in the setting of biological response modifiers, rather than reactivation, is a unique unreported infection. The patient developed severe disease with multi-organ involvement, including retinitis, myocarditis, and myositis.

Cutibacterium (formerly Propionibacterium) acnes infections associated with implantable devices.

Cutibacterium acnes (C. acnes), a Gram-positive biofilm-forming rod implicated in acne vulgaris, is increasingly recognized for its role in implant-associated infections. The diagnosis of C.