Endotoxin Translocation and Gut Barrier Dysfunction Are Related to Variceal Bleeding in Patients With Liver Cirrhosis.

Background: Bacterial infections are associated with the risk of variceal bleeding through complex pathophysiologic pathways.

Objectives: The primary objective of the present case-control study was to investigate the role of bacterial translocation and intestinal barrier dysfunction in the pathogenesis of variceal bleeding. A secondary objective was to determine independent predictors of key outcomes in variceal bleeding, including bleeding-related mortality.

Evolution of epidemiological characteristics of infective endocarditis in Greece.

Objective: The clinical profile, management and outcome of infective endocarditis (IE) may be influenced by socioeconomic issues.

Methods: A nationwide prospective study evaluated IE during the era of deep economic crisis in Greece. Epidemiological data and factors associated with 60-day mortality were analyzed through descriptive statistics, logistic and Cox-regression models.

Survival predictors after intubation in medical wards: A prospective study in 151 patients.

Introduction: In health care systems in need of additional intensive care unit (ICU) beds, the decision to mechanically ventilate critically ill patients in Internal Medicine (IM) Department wards needs to balance patients' health outcomes, possible futility, and logistics. We aimed to examine the survival rates and predictors in these patients.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled consecutive patients receiving mechanical ventilation during their care in the IM wards of a tertiary University hospital between April 2016 and December 2018.

The Greek study in the effects of colchicine in COvid-19 complications prevention (GRECCO-19 study): Rationale and study design.

Objective: Colchicine has been utilized safely in a variety of cardiovascular clinical conditions. Among its potential mechanisms of action is the non-selective inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome which is thought to be a major pathophysiologic component in the clinical course of patients with COVID-19. GRECCO-19 will be a prospective, randomized, open-labeled, controlled study to assess the effects of colchicine in COVID-19 complications prevention.

Emerging patterns of resistance in a cohort of Greek patients with recurrent UTIs: a pilot study.

Bacterial urogenital infections caused by multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs), are increasingly becoming a severe public health issue. The purpose of the present study was to examine the epidemiology of recurrent UTIs along with antimicrobial resistance patterns in a cohort of patients followed as outpatients at an Infectious Disease clinic of a tertiary care center in Greece. One hundred, sequential patients suffering from recurrent UTIs and coming for clinical evaluation, follow-up and treatment were examined; microbiological urine culture results were analyzed.

Molecular Analysis of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1)-Infected Individuals in a Network-Based Intervention (Transmission Reduction Intervention Project): Phylogenetics Identify HIV-1-Infected Individuals With Social Links.

Background: The Transmission Reduction Intervention Project (TRIP) is a network-based intervention that aims at decreasing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) spread. We herein explore associations between transmission links as estimated by phylogenetic analyses, and social network-based ties among persons who inject drugs (PWID) recruited in TRIP.

Methods: Phylogenetic trees were inferred from HIV-1 sequences of TRIP participants.

Molecular investigation of HIV-1 cross-group transmissions during an outbreak among people who inject drugs (2011-2014) in Athens, Greece.

New diagnoses of HIV-1 infection among people who inject drugs (PWID) rocketed in Athens, Greece between 2011 and 2014 (HIV-1 outbreak). Our aim was to identify, during that period, potential cross-group transmissions between the within-Greece PWID and other risk or national groups using molecular methods. Sequences from 33 PWID were outside the PWID-outbreak networks in Greece (PWID-imported transmissions).

Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitors and the Emergence of Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome (IRIS).

Background: Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) is a major concern when starting highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) in new patients and especially late presenters. This study attempts to identify risk factors for IRIS and investigate whether certain treatment regimens increase the probability of IRIS for patients at risk.

Methods: Retrospective single-centre study of HIV patients treated with HAART.

Detailed Molecular Surveillance of the HIV-1 Outbreak Among People who Inject Drugs (PWID) in Athens During a Period of Four Years.

Background: New diagnoses of HIV-1 infection among people who inject drugs (PWID) increased significantly during 2011 in Athens.

Objective: Our aim was to investigate the patterns of HIV epidemic spread among PWID and to estimate the transmission dynamics for the major local transmission networks (LTNs).

Methods: We analyzed sequences from 2,274 HIV-infected subjects sampled in Greece during 01/01/2011-31/10/2014.

Transmission Dynamics of HIV-1 Drug Resistance among Treatment-Naïve Individuals in Greece: The Added Value of Molecular Epidemiology to Public Health.

The presence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) drug resistance among drug-naïve patients remains stable, although the proportion of patients with virological failure to therapy is decreasing. The dynamics of transmitted resistance among drug-naïve patients remains largely unknown. The prevalence of non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) resistance was 16.

Molecular Tracing of the Geographical Origin of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infection and Patterns of Epidemic Spread Among Migrants Who Inject Drugs in Athens.

Background: High numbers of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infections among people who inject drugs (PWID) have been diagnosed in Athens, Greece, since 2011. We aimed to trace the geographic origin of HIV-1 infection for migrants who inject drugs and to investigate whether transmissions occur more frequently among migrants than among Greek nationals.

Methods: Multiple cross-sectional studies were pooled to assemble all persons diagnosed with HIV-1 in Greece between 1 January 2011 and 31 October 2014.

Association Between Candiduria and Candidemia: A Clinical and Molecular Analysis of Cases.

The risk of developing candidemia after candiduria is reportedly very low, but it has not been adequately investigated. The aim of this study was to examine the molecular relatedness between Candida strains isolated from adult patients with candidemia and concomitant candiduria in association with the clinical characteristics of the cases. All episodes of candidemia occurring in a tertiary care academic hospital during a 5-year period were recorded prospectively.

Bacterial load and cytokine profile in patients with cirrhosis following therapy with proton pump inhibitors: a prospective cohort study.

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the presence of bacterial products and the cytokine profile in outpatients with cirrhosis before and after short-term (4-8 weeks) administration of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).

Methods: Seventeen patients with cirrhosis-male/female: 12/5; age: median 59.2 years (49-65); etiology: HBV±HDV 23.

Rapid Decline in HIV Incidence Among Persons Who Inject Drugs During a Fast-Track Combination Prevention Program After an HIV Outbreak in Athens.

Background: A "seek-test-treat" intervention (ARISTOTLE) was implemented in response to an outbreak of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among persons who inject drugs (PWID) in Athens. We assess trends in HIV incidence, prevalence, risk behaviors and access to prevention/treatment.

Methods: Methods included behavioral data collection, provision of injection equipment, HIV testing, linkage to opioid substitution treatment (OST) programs and HIV care during 5 rounds of respondent-driven sampling (2012-2013).

Dissemination of Methicillin-Susceptible CC398 Staphylococcus aureus strains in a rural Greek area.

A large collection of Staphylococcus aureus including a. 745 clinically significant isolates that were consecutively recovered from human infections during 2012-2013, b. 19 methicillin-susceptible (MSSA), randomly selected between 2006-2011 from our Staphylococcal Collection, c.

MLST typing of antimicrobial-resistant Propionibacterium acnes isolates from patients with moderate to severe acne vulgaris.

Molecular typing data on antimicrobial-resistant Propionibacterium strains are limited in the literature. We examined antimicrobial resistance profiles and the underlying resistance mechanisms in Propionibacterium spp. isolates recovered from patients with moderate to severe acne vulgaris in Greece.

Patterns of drug resistance among newly diagnosed HIV-1 infected patients in Greece during the last decade: the crucial role of transmission networks.

Introduction: The prevalence of drug resistance is approximately 10% in Europe and North America among newly infected patients. We aim to investigate the temporal patterns of resistance among drug naive HIV-infected individuals in Greece and also to determine transmission networking among those with resistant strains.

Materials And Methods: Protease (PR) and partial reverse transcriptase (RT) sequences were determined from 2499 newly diagnosed HIV-1 patients, in Greece, during 2003-2013.

An uncommon cause of acutely altered mental status in a renal transplant recipient.

Introduction: Neurological complications are quite frequent in patients after solid organ transplantation presenting with focal or generalized neurologic symptoms as well as altered mental status. Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome is a rare cliniconeuroradiological entity characterized by headache, altered mental status, cortical blindness, seizures, and other focal neurological signs and a diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging.

Case Report: We present a case of a 57-year-old woman with one episode of seizures and sudden onset of altered mental status (time and person perception) accompanied with headache at the thirtieth postoperative day after renal transplantation.

Determination of colistin A and colistin B in human plasma by UPLC-ESI high resolution tandem MS: application to a pharmacokinetic study.

The resistance of gram-negative bacteria to most available antibiotics and the lack of new antimicrobial agents have prompted the re-emergence of colistin (CS) as potent treatment against most gram-negative microorganisms. Optimal dosing with CS suffers from poor pharmacokinetic characterization mainly due to the analytical challenge of assaying CS in biological fluids and the limited information on quantitative analysis of CS in plasma using high resolution mass spectrometry (MS). Hence, a rapid, simple and accurate analytical method based on ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) combined with electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) on a hybrid quadrupole time of flight (QTOF) instrument has been developed and fully validated for the quantification of CS in human plasma.

Transmission dynamics of carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and anticipated impact of infection control strategies in a surgical unit.

Background: Carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (CPKP) has been established as important nosocomial pathogen in many geographic regions. Transmission from patient to patient via the hands of healthcare workers is the main route of spread in the acute-care setting.

Methodology/principal Findings: Epidemiological and infection control data were recorded during a prospective observational study conducted in a surgical unit of a tertiary-care hospital in Greece.

Increasing prevalence of HIV-1 subtype A in Greece: estimating epidemic history and origin.

Background: In North America and Europe, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection has typically been dominated by subtype B transmission. More recently, however, non-B subtypes have been increasingly reported in Europe.

Methods: We analyzed 1158 HIV-1-infected individuals in Greece by DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analyses of protease and partial reverse-transcriptase regions.