Publications by authors named "C Balczun"

Article Synopsis
  • Fungal infections pose significant health risks, especially for individuals with HIV in tropical regions, but data on their prevalence is limited, particularly in Ghana.
  • The study investigates the presence of specific fungi in the gastrointestinal tracts of Ghanaian patients using real-time PCR assays to analyze stool samples from both HIV-positive individuals and controls.
  • Results showed that the targeted fungi were unlikely to be part of the gut microbiota in these populations, suggesting that their detection should not be seen as normal flora and has implications for public health screening strategies.
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Here, we report the simultaneous isolation of from blood cultures and from a skin ulcer in an elderly woman who suffered from atopic dermatitis and psoriasis and developed acute cellulitis of both arms requiring hospital treatment. To the best of our knowledge, has not been previously reported to cause invasive infections in humans. This case highlights how chronic diseases and older age increase the susceptibility to bacterial infections with environmental bacteria of low virulence.

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Phlebotomine sand flies of the genus Sergentomyia are considered to be of minor importance as vectors of Leishmania parasites pathogenic to humans, but are known to transmit lizard parasites of the subgenus Sauroleishmania, including L. (S.) adleri.

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Saliva of hematophagous insects contains many different compounds, mainly acting as anticoagulants. Investigating the bacteriolytic compounds of the saliva of the bloodsucking Triatoma infestans photometrically between pH 3 and pH 10 using unfed fifth instars and nymphs up to 15 days after feeding, we found bacteriolytic activity against lyophilized Micrococcus luteus was stronger at pH 4 and pH 6. After feeding, the activity level at pH 4 was unchanged, but at pH 6 more than doubled between 3 and 7 days after feeding.

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Colonization and infection with bacteria with acquired antibiotic resistance are among the risks for soldiers on international deployments. Enterobacterales with resistance against third-generation cephalosporines are amongst the most frequently imported microorganisms. To contribute to the scarcely available epidemiological knowledge on deployment-associated resistance migration, we assessed the molecular epidemiology of third-generation cephalosporine-resistant isolated between 2007 and 2016 from German soldiers after deployments, with a particular focus on the African Sahel region.

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