RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS RESEARCH IN AFGHANISTAN: BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS WITH THE DATABASE PUBMED.

Background: Infectious diseases research in a low-income country like Afghanistan is important.

Methods: In this study an internet-based database Pubmed was used for bibliometric analysis of infectious diseases research activity. Research publications entries in PubMed were analysed according to number of publications, topic, publication type, and country of investigators.

Infectious diseases of Khmer immigrants in the United States: review of published reports.

Infectious diseases are influenced by where patients have lived or travelled in the past, e.g., infection with Schistosoma mekongi can be acquired during freshwater contact in Cambodia, but not in the United States.

Infectious diseases of Afghan immigrants in the United States: review of published reports.

Infectious diseases of immigrants may differ from patients born and resident in the same country, especially if immigrants from Africa or Asia live in Europe or North America. Because the available information is limited published reports of infections of Afghan immigrants in the United States and other countries were analysed. Four reports from the US and 15 reports from other countries were identified [7, (46.

A novel mechanism of rapid nuclear neutrophil extracellular trap formation in response to Staphylococcus aureus.

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are webs of DNA covered with antimicrobial molecules that constitute a newly described killing mechanism in innate immune defense. Previous publications reported that NETs take up to 3-4 h to form via an oxidant-dependent event that requires lytic death of neutrophils. In this study, we describe neutrophils responding uniquely to Staphylococcus aureus via a novel process of NET formation that did not require neutrophil lysis or even breach of the plasma membrane.

Helminthic infections mimicking malignancy: a review of published case reports.

Background: Infectious diseases, including infections with helminths, can initially present similarly to malignancies. The goal of the article is to review reports of helminthic infections that are initially diagnosed as malignancy.

Methodology: The database PubMed was searched for English language references published as of July 2009.

Case histories of infectious disease management in developing countries: Phnom Penh and Kabul.

Healthcare in developing countries is affected by severe poverty, political instability and diseases that may be of lesser importance in industrialized countries. The aim of this paper was to present two cases and histories of physicians working in hospitals in developing countries and to discuss the opportunities for clinical investigation and collaboration. Cases of patients in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with histoplasmosis, cryptococcal meningitis, crusted scabies, cerebral lesions and human immunodeficiency virus and of patients in Kabul, Afghanistan, with liver cirrhosis, nephrotic syndrome and facial ulcer are discussed.

Prevalence and predictors of positive tuberculin skin test results in a research laboratory.

Latent tuberculosis was studied in a research laboratory. A prevalence of positive tuberculin skin test results (>or= 15 mm) of 20% was found and the main predictors were place of birth in a foreign country with high prevalence of tuberculosis and a history of contact with patients with untreated active tuberculosis.

Mycetoma fungal infection: multiple organisms as colonizers or pathogens?

We describe a patient with mycetoma or Madura foot, in which histopathological stains of the bone and surface cultures suggested three different organisms including Nocardia species as the cause. Criteria for the diagnosis of the organisms, differentiation between colonizer and pathogen, and significance of mixed infections are discussed.

Overuse of prothrombin and partial thromboplastin coagulation tests in medical inpatients.

Introduction: In the monitoring of anticoagulant therapy, prothrombin time (PT) is used to measure the effect of warfarin, whereas the partial thromboplastin time (PTT) measures the therapeutic effect of unfractionated heparin. Low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) does not require routine monitoring.

Objective: We collected data on the frequency of simultaneous PT and PTT requests, where only one or neither is indicated, and estimated the potential cost savings if ordering was appropriate.

Unilateral paralysis of the diaphragm during pregnancy: case report and literature review.

Unilateral diaphragmatic paralysis is usually asymptomatic and diagnosed incidentally and often does not need any additional diagnostic workup, but in the setting of pregnancy it may require additional investigations. We describe a patient in her last trimester of pregnancy (36th week) who presented to the hospital with symptoms suggestive of upper respiratory tract infection and with a chest radiograph showing left diaphragmatic eventration, for which she underwent thoracotomy and cesarean section. In the report, we review the normal respiratory changes associated with pregnancy and discuss the management of patients with diaphragmatic paralysis and pregnancy.

Phagocytosis of Salmonella montevideo by human neutrophils: immune adherence increases phagocytosis, whereas the bacterial surface determines the route of intracellular processing.

Complement-opsonized particles become immune adherent to complement receptor 1 (CR1 or CD35) on human erythrocytes, allowing particles to be ingested by phagocytes in the liver and the spleen. We investigated the role that immune adherence plays in the uptake and killing of Salmonella montevideo by human neutrophils. Exposure to serum induced loss of flagella and facilitated immune adherence, which was followed by more-efficient phagocytosis and killing, compared with that after exposure to serum-opsonized, free bacteria.

Case report: Dexatrim (Phenylpropanolamine) as a cause of myocardial infarction.

Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) is a sympathetic amine used in over-the-counter cold remedies and weight-control preparations worldwide. Its use has been associated with hypertensive episodes and hemorrhagic strokes in younger women. Several reports have linked the abuse of PPA with myocardial injury, especially when overdose is involved.