Clinical features and costs of care for hospitalized adults with primary Epstein-Barr virus infection.

Purpose: To study the clinical and laboratory features of primary infection with the Epstein-Barr virus in adults who required hospitalization and to assess the difficulty in its diagnosis, the use of diagnostic procedures, and the associated costs of care.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively identified all adult patients who were diagnosed with primary Epstein-Barr virus infection in our region between 1988 and 1997 using strict serologic criteria. The added costs of unnecessary diagnostic tests and treatment were estimated.

High prevalence of "Simkania Z," a novel Chlamydia-like bacterium, in infants with acute bronchiolitis.

The newly described microorganism "Simkania Z" ("Z"), an obligate intracellular, penicillin-resistant microorganism most closely related to the chlamydiae, has been associated with adult community-acquired pneumonia. The possible involvement of "Z" in bronchiolitis in infants was examined in a prospective study of 239 infants with bronchiolitis and 78 controls. Other potential etiologic agents sought were respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenovirus, and cytomegalovirus.

Altered humoral immunity against cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus without detectable virus antigens and virus-DNA in the glomeruli of patients with IGA nephropathy in remission phase.

Herpes viruses, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), very often occur in the nasopharynx. A pathogenetic role of these viruses in immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgA NP) is a challenging hypothesis, since upper respiratory tract infections are frequently and closely related in time to the acute episodes of IgA NP. However, conflicting reports have been published in this field.

Hospitalization of Jewish and Bedouin infants in southern Israel for bronchiolitis caused by respiratory syncytial virus.

We conducted a prospective study to determine the clinical picture and impact of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) on hospitalization for acute bronchiolitis of pediatric patients less than 2 years of age belonging to two different ethnic groups in Southern Israel: Jews and Bedouins. All patients younger than 2 years of age hospitalized for bronchiolitis during a typical RSV season were enrolled. During the study period 120 patients with bronchiolitis were hospitalized, and 83 (69%) were RSV-positive.

Immunoglobulins A, G, and M to cytomegalovirus during recurrent infection in recipients of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

Occurrence and significance of specific IgA and IgM to cytomegalovirus (CMV) in recurrent CMV infection was evaluated in 21 allogeneic T lymphocyte-depleted bone marrow transplantation (BMT) recipients who had been previously CMV seropositive. Of 17 patients with CMV infection, viruria was detected in 94%, CMV-specific IgA in 88% and IgM in 76%, and a fourfold rise in IgG in 65%. The median time between BMT and detection of viruria was 69 days, of IgA 70, of IgM 62, and of IgG 88 days.