EchiNam: multicenter retrospective study on the experience, challenges, and pitfalls in the diagnosis and treatment of alveolar echinococcosis in Belgium.

Objectives: The aim of this retrospective study was to collect epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, imaging, management, and follow-up data on cases of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) diagnosed and/or followed up within the Namur Hospital Network (NHN) in order to gather information on the challenges, pitfalls, and overall experience in the diagnosis and treatment of AE.

Methods: EchiNam was a multicenter retrospective study. Patients diagnosed and/or treated for probable or confirmed AE in the NHN between 2002 and 2023 were included in the study.

Estimation of antimicrobial resistance of Belgium, 2022.

BackgroundAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) of (MG) is a growing concern worldwide and surveillance is needed. In Belgium, samples are sent to the National Reference Centre of Sexually Transmitted Infections (NRC-STI) on a voluntary basis and representative or robust national AMR data are lacking.AimWe aimed to estimate the occurrence of resistant MG in Belgium.

Nationwide Harmonization Effort for Semi-Quantitative Reporting of SARS-CoV-2 PCR Test Results in Belgium.

From early 2020, a high demand for SARS-CoV-2 tests was driven by several testing indications, including asymptomatic cases, resulting in the massive roll-out of PCR assays to combat the pandemic. Considering the dynamic of viral shedding during the course of infection, the demand to report cycle threshold (Ct) values rapidly emerged. As Ct values can be affected by a number of factors, we considered that harmonization of semi-quantitative PCR results across laboratories would avoid potential divergent interpretations, particularly in the absence of clinical or serological information.

Financial consequences of hospital-acquired bacteraemia in three Belgian hospitals in 2003 and 2004.

The financial and human costs of hospital-acquired infections are increasingly recognised in many healthcare systems. This study seeks to quantify excess expenditures on hospital-acquired bacteraemia (HAB) in three Belgian general hospitals in 2003 and 2004. Patients with HAB were compared with patients in the same All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Groups (APR-DRGs) without HAB.

Polyclonal emergence and importation of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains harbouring Panton-Valentine leucocidin genes in Belgium.

Objectives: Worldwide spread of a limited number of Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL) -producing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clones has been reported in various communities. The objective of this study was to describe the molecular characteristics of the first PVL-positive MRSA strains isolated in Belgium.

Methods: Clinical MRSA isolates (n = 41) collected from 2002 to 2004 from Belgian patients were investigated for the PVL gene by PCR.

Hospital outbreak of gastroenteritis due to Norovirus in Belgium.

We report an outbreak of gastroenteritis due to Norovirus in a care unit in a Belgian hospital involving thirty-three people. The origin of the outbreak was traced to one nursing assistant. The virus strain identified by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and electron microscopy belonged to the genogroup II.

Surveillance of antibiotic resistance in clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae collected in Belgium during winter 2000-2001.

A total of 314 isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae collected by 10 different laboratories were tested for their susceptibility by using a microdilution technique following NCCLS recommendations. The following antibiotics were included: penicillin, ampicillin, amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, cefaclor, cefuroxime, cefotaxime, imipenem, ciprofloxacin, gemifloxacin, levofloxacin, erythromycin, clarithromycin, azithromycin, miocamycin, clindamycin and tetracycline. The insusceptibility rate (IR) to penicillin was 21.

Clinical data and cerebrospinal fluid findings in Lyme meningitis versus aseptic meningitis.

The purpose of this study was to characterise Lyme meningitis (LM) in a Belgian paediatric population and to suggest findings that could allow early distinction from aseptic meningitis (AM). The medical records of patients hospitalised between 1993 and 2000 and with a discharge diagnosis of LM (n=14) or AM (n=16) were retrospectively reviewed. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare data.

In vitro study on the antimicrobial activity of various antibiotics against clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae from Belgium collected during winter 1998-1999.

A total of 205 isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae obtained from 10 different centres were included in this study. The susceptibilities to penicillin, ampicillin, amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, cefaclor, cefuroxime, cefotaxime, imipenem, ciprofloxacin, gemifloxacin, grepafloxacin, levofloxacin, trovafloxacin, erythromycin, clarithromycin, miocamycin, clindamycin and tetracycline were determined by a microdilution technique following NCCLS recommendations. Decreased susceptibility to penicillin was 16.

Cutaneous lesions of disseminated cryptococcosis as the presenting manifestation of human immunodeficiency virus infection in a twenty-two-month-old child.

We report the case of a 22-month-old African boy with cutaneous lesions as the predominant feature of disseminated cryptococcosis (positive blood and cerebrospinal fluid cultures) and as the presenting manifestation of severe vertically acquired HIV infection (CDC C3 category). To our knowledge these cutaneous lesions have never been reported as the initial manifestation of AIDS in children.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis: benefits of intensive care?

Objectives: Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is increasingly recognized as a cause of acute respiratory failure in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treated with corticosteroids. For these patients admission in intensive care unit (ICU) is often required for life-support and mechanical ventilation. Whether this approach improves outcome is unknown.

Evaluation of the Abbott LCx Mycobacterium tuberculosis assay for direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in human samples.

Seven hundred thirty-seven clinical samples from 460 patients were processed for direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex by a semiautomated ligase chain reaction commercial assay, the LCx Mycobacterium tuberculosis Assay (LCx assay) from Abbott Laboratories. Results were compared to those of direct microscopy and standard microbiological culture. Of 26 patients (5.

[Manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections in non-immunodepressed patients].

Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) can be the etiologic agents of chronic pulmonary disease, lymphadenitis, skin and soft-tissue infection and disseminated disease in non-immunocompromised patients. The recognition of disease needs repeated isolation of the NTM from bronchopulmonary secretions or from tissue biopsies, and its identification by specific laboratory methods. A wide spectrum of clinical presentations and severity of disease can be found, from spontaneous healing to progressive and destructive lung disease, and death, according to predisposing conditions and mycobacterial species.

Particle counting assay for anti-toxoplasma IgG antibodies. Comparison with four automated commercial enzyme-linked immunoassays.

An assay for anti-toxoplasma IgG antibodies based on agglutination of latex particles was set up and compared with commercial immunoassays. The reaction was measured by instrumental counting of particles remaining unagglutinated. The running time was 45 min.

Pattern of antigens A and B distribution on the surface of AB group red blood cells--an argument in support of the concept of "genetic oscillation".

Using a mixture of mouse monoclonal antibodies anti red blood cell (RBC) AgA and human antibodies anti RBC AgB coupled to fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) conjugated goat antimouse monoclonal antibodies and to phycoerythrin (PE) conjugated goat antihuman monoclonal antibodies, we obtained the distribution of these antigens on the AB RBC surface. The analysis of 30 samples of 30,000-100,000 RBCs each was carried out using flow cytometry and revealed three kinds of AB RBC populations: (1) a population characterized by maximum concentration of AgA and minimum concentration of AgB; (2) a complementary population characterized by minimum concentration of AgA and maximum concentration of AgB; (3) an intermediary equilibrated population with about equal concentrations of the A and B antigens. This pattern corresponds to the pattern of oscillating genetic activity defined as "genetic oscillation", a concept amply discussed in the paper.

Ionic, electrical, and secretory effects of inhibitors of arachidonic acid metabolism in mouse pancreatic beta-cells.

Mouse islets were used to study the effects of inhibitors of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways on insulin release, ionic fluxes, and beta-cell membrane potential. The cyclooxygenase inhibitors, Na-salicylate and Na-acetylsalicylate, potentiated glucose-induced insulin release, despite a decrease in Ca influx evidenced by inhibition of the Ca-dependent electrical activity in beta-cells and 45Ca efflux from islets perifused with a medium containing Ca. This paradox can probably be explained by a mobilization of intracellular Ca (acceleration of 45Ca efflux in the absence of Ca) with subsequent activation of K+ channels (acceleration of 86Rb efflux) and repolarization of the membrane.

B cell adrenoceptors and sulphonylurea-induced insulin release in mouse islets.

Interactions of tolbutamide and glibenclamide with B cell adrenoceptors have been reported. This study evaluated the possible role of such interactions in the stimulation of insulin release. Mouse islets were incubated in the presence of 10 mmol/l glucose alone or with tolbutamide (10 mumol/l) or glibenclamide (0.

Effects of putative activators of K+ channels in mouse pancreatic beta-cells.

1 The vasodilator and antihypertensive properties of pinacidil, cromakalim (BRL 34915), nicorandil and minoxidil sulphate may be due, at least in part, to their ability to open K+ channels in vascular smooth muscles. In this study, mouse pancreatic islets were used to determine whether these drugs affect insulin release by acting on K+ channels of beta-cells. Their effects were compared to those of diazoxide.

Highly potent and stereoselective effects of the benzoic acid derivative AZ-DF 265 on pancreatic beta-cells.

1. Mouse islets were used to define the characteristics and study the mechanisms of the stimulation of insulin release by compound AZ-DF 265, 4-[[N-(alpha-phenyl-2-piperidino-benzyl) carbamoyl]methyl] benzoic acid, a substituted benzoic acid with an asymmetric carbon atom. 2.

Inosine partially mimics the effects of glucose on ionic fluxes, electrical activity, and insulin release in mouse pancreatic B-cells.

The purine ribonucleoside inosine is known to be metabolized in islet cells (its ribose moiety feeds into the pentose-phosphate cycle) and stimulate insulin release, but the mechanisms of this stimulation have not been established. These were investigated with mouse islets. In the absence of glucose, 5 mM inosine decreased 86Rb+ efflux from islet cells, depolarized the B-cell membrane, induced electrical activity (slow waves of membrane potential with bursts of spikes on the plateau), accelerated 45Ca2+ efflux and stimulated insulin release with the same efficiency as 10 mM glucose.

Stimulation of insulin release by benzoic acid derivatives related to the non-sulphonylurea moiety of glibenclamide: structural requirements and cellular mechanisms.

A decrease in membrane permeability to K+ is the first critical event occurring in pancreatic B-cells upon stimulation by hypoglycemic sulphonylureas. Compound HB 699 (4-[2-(5-chloro-2-methoxybenzamido)ethyl]benzoic acid), the non-sulphonylurea moiety of glibenclamide stimulates B-cells by the same mechanisms as glibenclamide itself. Selected derivatives of HB 699 were used to test, with isolated mouse islets, whether this property is due to the benzoic acid end of the molecule (not present in glibenclamide) or to another active site (also present in glimenclamide).

Adamantane derivatives: a new class of insulin secretagogues.

Adamantane derivatives were found to increase insulin release in vitro. Mouse islets were used to study the mechanisms and molecular requirements of that hitherto unrecognised property. At a non-stimulatory concentration of glucose (3 mM), 1-adamantanamine (1 mM) reversibly inhibited 86Rb efflux from islet cells, depolarized the beta-cell membrane, induced electrical activity, stimulated 45Ca uptake and efflux, and triggered insulin release.