Evaluation of the immunochromatographic (Leptocheck) test for detection of specific antibodies against leptospires.

Background: Leptospirosis is a febrile worldwide zoonosis. Routine diagnosis of leptospiral infection is based on demonstration of specific antibodies with serological tests. Performance of the reference serological test, the microscopic agglutination test (MAT), requires significant expertise.

Impact of added fluvastatin to standard-of-care treatment on sustained virological response in naïve chronic hepatitis C Patients infected with genotypes 1 and 3.

Objectives: The combination of pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin is a standard-of-care (SOC) treatment for chronic hepatitis C (CHC), and it achieves a sustained virological response (SVR) in 41-52% of genotype 1 and in 73-79% of genotype 3 patients. In a few clinical trials, the combination of fluvastatin and SOC increased the SVR in genotype 1 patients.

Methods: This prospective study enrolled 179 naïve CHC patients.

Hepatitis C virus genotypes in 1,504 patients in Slovenia, 1993-2007.

In order to identify the main routes of hepatitis C (HCV) transmission and to determine the HCV genotype distribution and its dynamics during a 15-year period in Slovenia, HCV genotypes were detected using the INNO-LiPA HCV II (Innogenetics) test for serum samples obtained from 1,504 patients representing 72.6% of all patients with chronic hepatitis C diagnosed from 1993 to 2007. HCV genotype 1 was predominant (56%), followed by genotypes 3, 2, and 4, with a prevalence of 37.

Temporomandibular joint involvement caused by Borrelia Burgdorferi.

Background: Lyme borreliosis is an endemic disease in Slovenia with an incidence of around 150 patients per 100,000 inhabitants. Although the large joints are most typically affected in Lyme borreliosis, there are also periods of disease activity with arthritis or arthralgias involving smaller joints, including the temporo-mandibular joint.

Patients: During the years between 2000 and 2003, two patients with Lyme borreliosis affecting the temporo-mandibular joints were treated.

Propagation of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus due to the overloading of medical nurses in intensive care units.

Morbidity and mortality due to nosocomial infections are on the increase. The effectiveness of infection control has become an important indicator of the quality of hospital work, as well as contributing towards cost reduction. The aim of this three-year prospective study was to investigate the daily workload of medical nurses to see if there was a correlation with the spread of infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU) using a Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS).