Viral suppression in the era of transition to dolutegravir-based therapy in Cameroon: Children at high risk of virological failure due to the lowly transition in pediatrics.

This study aimed to compare viral suppression (VS) between children, adolescents, and adults in the frame of transition to dolutegravir (DTG)-based antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the Cameroonian context. A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2021 through May 2022 amongst ART-experienced patients received at the Chantal BIYA International Reference Centre in Yaounde-Cameroon, for viral load (VL) monitoring. VS was defined as VL < 1000 copies/mL and viral undetectability as VL < 50 copies/mL.

Radiological Response Is Associated with Better Outcomes and Should Be Considered a Therapeutic Target in Crohn's Disease.

Background: The aim of the study was to identify factors associated with a radiological response and to assess the impact of radiological improvement in long-term outcomes in small bowel (SB) Crohn's disease (CD) patients.

Methods: We performed a retrospective study from June 2011 to June 2017 in the tertiary center, Claude Huriez Hospital in Lille, France. All SB CD patients, who underwent two magnetic resonance enterographies (MRE) 3-12 months apart, with at least 1-year follow-up after the second MRE, were included.

Long-term effect of computer-assisted decision support for antibiotic treatment in critically ill patients: a prospective 'before/after' cohort study.

Objectives: Antibiotic resistance has risen dramatically over the past years. For individual patients, adequate initial antibiotic therapy is essential for clinical outcome. Computer-assisted decision support systems (CDSSs) are advocated to support implementation of rational anti-infective treatment strategies based on guidelines.

Polystyrene-poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymer: the effect of polystyrene and spreading concentration at the air/water interface.

Polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-PEO) is an amphiphilic diblock copolymer that undergoes microphase separation when spread at the air/water interface, forming nanosized domains. In this study, we investigate the impact of PS by examining a series of PS-PEO samples containing constant PEO (~17,000 g·mol(-1)) and variable PS (from 3600 to 200,000 g·mol(-1)) through isothermal characterization and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The polymers separated into two categories: predominantly hydrophobic and predominantly hydrophilic with a weight percent of PEO of ~20% providing the boundary between the two.

Computer-assisted decision support for changing practice in severe sepsis and septic shock.

Computer-assisted decision support systems (CDSS) are designed to improve infection management. The aim of this prospective, clinical pre- and post-intervention study was to investigate the influence of CDSS on infection management of severe sepsis and septic shock in intensive care units (ICUs). Data were collected for a total of 180 days during two study periods in 2006 and 2007.

Outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in a surgical intensive care unit.

Infection control personnel performing surveillance activities noticed a cluster of patients with isolates of carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA) in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) of a German University Hospital. An outbreak investigation including a descriptive analysis, a case-control study comparing 15 CRPA case patients with 18 patients with carbapenem-susceptible P. aeruginosa, environmental sampling and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing of P.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization to improve the diagnosis of endocarditis: a pilot study.

Infective endocarditis is a rare but life-threatening disease associated with high mortality. Early diagnosis of the causative microorganism is critical to patient outcome. However, conventional diagnostic methods are often unsatisfactory in achieving this goal.

[Evidence-based anti-infective program "ABx" - Online-program for anti-infective therapy broadens functions for local adaptations].

National and international evidence based recommendations for anti-infective therapies in the intensive care unit are difficult to implement into daily clinical work. However, adequate and early applications of anti-infective therapies are important outcome factors for the clinical course of severe infections. With support of the German Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine and the Association of German Anaesthesiologists (DGAI/BDA) a web based anti-infective program was developed to address these issues.

Outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii carrying the carbapenemase OXA-23 in a German university medical centre.

A prolonged outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in a German university medical centre in 2006 was investigated; the investigation included a descriptive epidemiological analysis, a case-control study, environmental sampling, molecular typing of A. baumannii isolates using PFGE and repetitive-sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) typing, and detection of OXA-type carbapenemases by multiplex PCR. Thirty-two patients acquired the outbreak strain in five intensive care units (ICUs) and two regular wards at a tertiary care hospital within 10 months.

Impact of adherence to standard operating procedures for pneumonia on outcome of intensive care unit patients.

Background: Pneumonia accounts for almost half of intensive care unit (ICU) infections and nearly 60% of deaths from nosocomial infections. It increases hospital stay by 7-9 days, crude mortality by 70% and attributable mortality by 30%.

Objective: Our purpose was to assess the impact of standard operating procedures adapted to the local resistance rates in the initial empirical treatment for pneumonia on duration of first pneumonia episode, duration of mechanical ventilation, and length of ICU stay.

Early outcome after surgery for active native and prosthetic aortic valve endocarditis.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Today, the in-hospital mortality of patients treated surgically for active aortic native and prosthetic valve endocarditis remains high. The study aim was to identify the preoperative and intraoperative predictors of early outcome.

Methods: Between January 2004 and December 2006, 75 patients (57 males, 18 females; mean age 61.

Fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) accelerates identification of Gram-positive cocci in positive blood cultures.

Sepsis is a life-threatening disease with a high mortality rate. Rapid identification of blood culture isolates plays a crucial role in adequate antimicrobial therapy in sepsis patients. To accelerate microbiological diagnosis, a comprehensive panel of oligonucleotide probes for fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) targeting Gram-positive cocci was compiled and evaluated on 428 positive blood culture specimens.

Susceptibility of common aerobic pathogens to tigecycline: results of a surveillance study in Germany.

Tigecycline is a novel antimicrobial agent for parenteral use encompassing a broad spectrum of bacterial pathogens, including multi-resistant organisms. Here, we report the results of the first nationwide surveillance trial that was conducted in order to evaluate the susceptibility of bacterial isolates to tigecycline in a European country prior to its clinical use. A total of 2,610 Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms recovered from hospitalized patients were tested.

Adherence to standard operating procedures is crucial for intensive care unit survival of elderly patients.

Elderly patients account for 42-52% of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and for almost 60% of all ICU days in the USA and up to 50% receive inappropriate antibiotic treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether adherence to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) reduced ICU mortality in an elderly population. The study included consecutive patients (n = 228) aged > or = 60 years with an ICU stay of > 72 h.

Preventive antibacterial therapy in acute ischemic stroke: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Pneumonia is a major risk factor of death after acute stroke. In a mouse model, preventive antibacterial therapy with moxifloxacin not only prevents the development of post-stroke infections, it also reduces mortality, and improves neurological outcome significantly. In this study we investigate whether this approach is effective in stroke patients.

[Strategies in the treatment of infections with antibiotics in intensive care medicine].

The treatment of infections is one of the central elements in post-operative intensive care and contributes significantly to outcome. Measures of quality of antibiotic therapy include survival, duration of ICU or in-patient stay and rates of organ failure, antibiotic resistance or nosocomial infection. The pre-requisites for antibiotic prescribing in the intensive care unit are as follows: the treatment has to be started early, the antibiotic must be effective against probable causative organisms, the patient's risk factors for infection with multi-drug resistant organisms must be taken into account, local patterns of resistance must be known, an effective dosage must be used and the duration of therapy should be adjusted to the patient's risk factors and probable causative organisms.

[Implementation of standard operating procedures for the initial empirical antimicrobial therapy for adults--a new computer program at the University Hospital Charité].

Nowadays 40-50 % of the patients receive inappropriate antibiotic treatment. Evidence based recommendations are not considered and there is an increasing burden of resistant pathogens. Therefore, standard operating procedures (SOPs) should be implemented considering guidelines and resistant species in the specific ICU.

[Melioidosis-like disease: infection with Burkholderia cocovenenans as rare differential diagnosis for Lymphadenitis colli].

Introduction: Neoplasms, autimmune disorders and infectious diseases as differential diagnoses of cervical lymphadenopathies also require the consideration of rare causes.

Case Report: A 25-year-old patient presented for further diagnosis and treatment of a colliquating, high febrile cervical lymphadenopathy. The patient from Thailand who had been living in Germany for 8 years reported she worked as rice farmer during the 1980s.