Improvement of intestinal permeability with alanyl-glutamine in HIV patients: a randomized, double blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Context: Glutamine is the main source of energy of the enterocyte and diarrhea and weight loss are frequent in HIV infected patients.

Objective: To determine the effect of alanyl-glutamine supplementation on intestinal permeability and absorption in these patients.

Methods: Randomized double-blinded, placebo-controlled study using isonitrogenous doses of alanyl-glutamine (24 g/day) and placebo (glycine, 25 g/day) during 10 days.

Seroprevalence of herpes simplex 1-2 antibodies in Brazil.

Objective: To estimate the seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 antibodies in Brazil and to analyze factors associated.

Methods: Cross-sectional study including subjects aged 1-40 years from the general population in four different geographical areas in Brazil between 1996 and 1997. All subjects were stratified by age and gender and 1,090 of them were included in the final analysis.

[Nasopharyngeal colonization by Streptococcus pneumoniae in children with sickle cell disease receiving prophylactic penicillin].

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of nasopharyngeal pneumococcus colonization in children with sickle cell disease undergoing penicillin prophylaxis, to identify risk factors for colonization and to serotype and determine antibiotic resistance in pneumococci obtained from those children.

Methods: Between April 9, 2002 and February 28, 2003, 188 nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from 98 children with sickle cell disease in follow-up at the Hospital São Paulo-Universidade Federal de São Paulo. Pneumococci were isolated and identified by standard methods.

Pediatric risk of mortality and hospital infection.

We studied the association of Pediatric Risk of Mortality scores with nosocomial infections among 341 critically ill patients admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit between June 1998 and December 2000. Through stepwise logistic regression analysis, the best predictors for nosocomial infections were device utilization ratio, antimicrobial therapy, and length of stay.

[Vaccination and the respiratory tract--what should we know?].

Objective: This article aims at presenting a review of the main vaccines used in the pediatric population with direct impact on the prevention of infectious processes of the respiratory tract in children.

Sources: Data from articles published in national and international scientific journals. The data were selected by means of direct search or search in the Lilacs and Medline databases.

[Use of statistical process control charts in the epidemiological surveillance of nosocomial infections].

Objective: To monitor occurrence trends and identify clusters of nosocomial infection (NI) using statistical process control (SPC) charts.

Methods: Between January 1998 and December 2000 nosocomial infection occurrence was evaluated in a cohort of 460 patients admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of a university hospital, according to the concepts and criteria proposed by the National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System of the Centers for Disease Control, in the United States. Graphs were plotted using Poisson statistical distribution, including four horizontal lines: center line (CL), upper warning limit (UWL) and upper control limit (UCL).