Are the human papillomavirus genotypes different in cervical cancer and intraepithelial neoplasia in Jewish Israeli women, a low-risk population?

Objectives: Israel is traditionally considered to have the lowest prevalence of cervical cancer compared with that in other countries of the Western world. The aim of the present study was to establish the human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes distribution among Israeli Jewish women with premalignant and cervical cancer.

Methods: Fifty-two specimens with invasive cervical cancer and 50 specimens with high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2/3) were identified.

Bartonella koehlerae, a new cat-associated agent of culture-negative human endocarditis.

Bartonella koehlerae is reported for the first time to be a human pathogen that causes culture-negative endocarditis. It is also shown that this species, isolated twice before from domestic cats, can be recovered as well from a stray cat population in Israel. This work follows a recent report of the same case in which the causative agent was misidentified as B.

Insight into the intrinsic sensitivity of the PCR assay used to detect CMV infection in amniotic fluid specimens.

Background: PCR detection of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) DNA in amniotic fluid (AF) is the most sensitive tool for diagnosis of fetal infection, but has sub-optimal sensitivity. It has been suggested that inhibition by AF reduces the sensitivity of this assay, however this assumption has never been thoroughly studied. Several PCR assays have been shown to improve sensitivity, but comparative studies are insufficient to choose the optimal approach.