Post-COVID-19-pandemic changes and clinical characteristics of invasive group a streptococcal infections from 2015 to 2023.

Purpose: Since winter 2022, invasive GAS (iGAS) infections have re-emerged in Europe, causing severe diseases in children and adults. We aimed to examine whether this reported post-pandemic increase was associated with an increased disease severity and/or a shift in clinical disease phenotypes.

Methods: We performed detailed clinical phenotyping of patients hospitalized with iGAS infections at a 1410-bed tertiary German Medical Center from 01/2015 to 09/2023.

A sex-specific association of leukocyte telomere length with thigh muscle mass.

Objectives: Telomeres are DNA-protein complexes at the ends of linear chromosomes that protect against DNA degradation. Telomeres shorten during normal cell divisions and therefore, telomere length is an indicator of mitotic-cell age. In humans, telomere shortening is a potential biomarker for disease risk, progression and premature death.

The role of bacterial colonisation in severity, symptoms and aetiology of hand eczema: The importance of Staphylococcus aureus and presence of commensal skin flora.

Background: The role and causality of the microbial ecosystem on the skin in relation to the development of hand eczema (HE) is still unknown.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of different bacterial colonisations in HE patients and their association with the severity, symptoms and aetiology of the disease.

Methods: In a retrospective cohort study of 167 HE patients, bacterial swabs from lesional skin were collected for culturing.

Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibition attenuates disease progression by reducing renal immune cell invasion in mice with hemolytic-uremic syndrome.

Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) can occur as a complication of an infection with Shiga-toxin (Stx)-producing . Patients typically present with acute kidney injury, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia. There is evidence that Stx-induced renal damage propagates a pro-inflammatory response.