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.

Accidental poisoning with autumn crocus.

We describe a case of a 43-yr-old female with severe multiorgan injury after accidental poisoning with Colchicum autumnale, which was mistaken for wild garlic (Allium ursinum). Both plants grow on damp meadows and can be confused in the spring when both plants have leaves but no blossoms. The autumn crocus contains colchicine, which inhibits cellular division.

Pediatric tick-borne encephalitis in 371 cases from an endemic region in Slovenia, 1959 to 2000.

Background: With the exception of Lyme borreliosis, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is the most prevalent tick-transmitted disease in Europe. Here we report clinical and epidemiologic features of the largest number of children with TBE reported to date and the longest (i.e.

Does end-stage kidney failure influence hepatitis C progression in hemodialysis patients?

Background/aims: The influence of end-stage kidney failure on the progression of liver disease in patients infected with hepatitis C virus and treated with hemodialysis is still controversial.

Methodology: Liver histology of 154 hepatitis C virus infected non-uremic patients was compared with liver histology of 13 hepatitis C virus infected uremic patients treated with hemodialysis.

Results: In either group of altogether 167 patients, no normal liver histology was found.

Comparative evaluation of three commercial assays for quantitative measurement of hepatitis B virus DNA in serum samples.

Background/aims: Quantitative determination of HBV DNA in serum samples is indispensable for predicting disease progression and for monitoring the antiviral treatment in patients with chronic HBV infection.

Methodology: Three commercial assays for quantification of HBV DNA: Digene Hybrid-Capture HBV DNA Assay, Bayer Quantiplex HBV DNA Assay and Roche Amplicor HBV Monitor Test were comparatively evaluated under the routine conditions of diagnostic virology laboratory, using 61 serum samples obtained from 55 Slovenian patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Results: HBV DNA was detected by Amplicor, Quantiplex and Hybrid-Capture in 38 (62.

Efficacy of chronic hepatitis C therapy with interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) in Slovenia.

Background/aims: Eighty Slovene patients with chronic hepatitis C were included in a prospective study conducted in the period 1997-1998 with the purpose to establish the efficacy of interferon alpha therapy. The average age of the patients was 39 years. In more than half of the patients (52%) the mode and time of onset of the infection were unknown.