Epidemiologic impact of blood culture practices and antibiotic consumption on pneumococcal bacteraemia in children.

This study examined the roles of two different diagnostic approaches to children with fever of unknown origin in determining the patterns of pneumococcal bacteraemia in two Spanish regions by comparing their main epidemiologic characteristics. Whereas a blood culture is routinely obtained in this setting in Navarre, this is not generally the case in Majorca. Additionally, the potential role of antibiotic consumption in each region was also analysed.

Pulmonary and systemic hepatocyte and keratinocyte growth factors in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: The potential role of growth factors in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has begun to be addressed only recently and is still poorly understood. For this study, we investigated potential abnormalities of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) in patients with COPD.

Methods: To this end, we compared the levels of HGF and KGF, measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and in serum in 18 patients with COPD (62 +/- 9 yrs, forced expiratory volume in one second [FEV1] 57 +/- 12% ref, X +/- standard deviation of mean), 18 smokers with normal lung function (58 +/- 8 yrs, FEV1 90 +/- 6% ref) and 8 never smokers (67 +/- 9 yrs, 94 +/- 14% ref).

Hypermutation is a key factor in development of multiple-antimicrobial resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains causing chronic lung infections.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most relevant pathogen producing chronic lung infections in patients with chronic underlying diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF), bronchiectasis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Hypermutable (or mutator) P. aeruginosa strains, characterized by increased (up to 1,000-fold) spontaneous mutation rates due to alterations of the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system have been found at high frequencies in the lungs of CF patients, but their role in other chronic processes is still unknown.