Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB), the most common tick-borne diseases of the central nervous system in Central Europe, are frequently associated with pareses. The aim of this study was to characterise paretic complications in patients with TBE and LNB, including their severity, persistence and impact on the patients' quality of life. Our retrospective observational study included patients with aseptic CNS infection due to TBE virus or Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The chemokine CXCL13 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is used as a diagnostic marker of Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB). However, the elevated levels in other non-borrelial CNS infections and the lack of a clearly defined cut-off value are limitations of the test.
Methods: In our prospective study, we evaluated CSF CXCL13 levels in patients with LNB (47 patients), tick-borne encephalitis (TBE; 46 patients), enteroviral CNS infections (EV; 45 patients), herpetic CNS infections (HV; 23 patients), neurosyphilis (NS; 11 patients) and controls (46 patients).
Polysaccharide materials, including bagasse cellulose nanocrystals (BCNCs), chitosan nanofibers (ChNFs), and sodium alginate (SA), were blended with oregano essential oil (OEO) to make single- and multi-polysaccharide edible coating suspensions. The prepared suspensions were spray-coated on strawberry surface to form thin films with thickness varying from about 570 to 790 nm for single-polysaccharide coatings and 690-930 nm for multi-polysaccharide coatings. The coatings made with multi-polysaccharide were more effective in inhibiting fungal growth compared with single-polysaccharide coatings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcyclovir is an antiviral drug frequently used in clinical practice. It is indicated for the treatment of infections caused by herpes simplex virus and varicella zoster virus. The drug has a good safety profile; however, severe side effects may rarely occur during therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The aim of this study was to analyse epidemiological and clinical characteristics of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in adults before and after the introduction of the general childhood conjugate pneumococcal vaccination programme in the Czech Republic.
Material And Methods: The retrospective observational sentinel study included adults with IPD admitted to the Na Bulovce Hospital in Prague from 1/2000 through 12/2019. A case of IPD was defined as isolation of Streptococcus pneumoniae from a primarily sterile site.