Histoplasmosis peritonitis in an immunocompetent patient: case report.

Histoplasmosis is a fungal infection most frequently seen in immunocompromised patients. It is endemic in Central and South America and in Africa. The infection is usually asymptomatic in a healthy individual.

[Infectious diseases: what's new in 2023].

The year 2023 saw the publication of several studies in various areas of infectious diseases. The administration of corticosteroids decreased mortality in severe community-acquired pneumonia. Administration of doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis reduced the risk of bacterial sexually transmitted infections at the risk of resistance selection.

Providing care to patients in contact isolation: is the systematic use of gloves still indicated?

This article reviews the available evidence on the effectiveness of gloves in preventing infection during care provided to patients under contact precautions, and analyses the risks and benefits of their systematic use. Although hand hygiene with alcohol-based handrub was shown to be effective in preventing nosocomial infections, many publications put the effectiveness and usefulness of gloves into perspective. Instead, literature and various unpublished experiences point towards reduced hand hygiene compliance and increased risk of spreading pathogens with routine glove use.

[Management of acute diarrhea].

Acute diarrhea is one of the most common pathologies in resource-limited, as well as in industrialized countries. For the clinician the major challenge is to know when to perform diagnostic tests, how to interpret them, and particularly to recognize the situations where an antibiotic treatment is recommended. This will also avoid unnecessary treatments, costs, side effects and selection of resistant strains.

[Antibiotic resistance : situation in Europe and Switzerland, and impact for the physician].

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria constitute a major public health challenge worldwide. In Europe and Switzerland, the incidence of infections due to methicillin-resistant S. aureus has been decreasing during the recent years.

Universal screening and decolonization for control of MRSA in nursing homes: a cluster randomized controlled study.

Objective: The risk of carrying methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is higher among nursing home (NH) residents than in the general population. However, control strategies are not clearly defined in this setting. In this study, we compared the impact of standard precautions either alone (control) or combined with screening of residents and decolonization of carriers (intervention) to control MRSA in NHs.

[Miliary tuberculosis: unexpected autopsy finding in an elderly person].

Miliary tuberculosis is a rare disease that is difficult to diagnose because of its non-specific presentation. It should be suspected in elderly patients who complaint of failure to thrive, unexplained fatigue and weight loss. Using a clinical situation where the diagnosis was made only at autopsy, we briefly review the epidemiology of miliary tuberculosis and propose recommendations for the diagnosis and the prophylaxis of latent tuberculosis.

Comparison of automated strategies for surveillance of nosocomial bacteremia.

Objective: Surveillance of nosocomial bloodstream infection (BSI) is recommended, but time-consuming. We explored strategies for automated surveillance.

Methods: Cohort study.

Cardiac involvement in a patient with clinical and serological evidence of African tick-bite fever.

Background: Myocarditis and pericarditis are rare complications of rickettsiosis, usually associated with Rickettsia rickettsii and R. conorii. African tick-bite fever (ATBF) is generally considered as a benign disease and no cases of myocardial involvement due to Rickettsia africae, the agent of ATBF, have yet been described.

Malignant otitis externa due to Aspergillus niger.

The case is reported of a 73-y-old diabetic man with malignant otitis externa due to Aspergillus niger. Cure was achieved with a 3 week course of intravenous amphotericin B, followed by oral itraconazole for 3 months. The characteristics and the outcome of 13 reported cases of malignant otitis externa caused by Aspergillus sp.