Meningitis in an HIV-Positive Horse Breeder Patient: A Case Study and Literature Review.

subsp. is a rare etiologic agent of bacterial meningitis in humans. The disease is a zoonotic infection and is transmitted through close contact with domestic animals, mainly horses.

Transmitted HIV Drug Resistance in Bulgaria Occurs in Clusters of Individuals from Different Transmission Groups and Various Subtypes (2012-2020).

Transmitted HIV drug resistance in Bulgaria was first reported in 2015 using data from 1988-2011. We determined the prevalence of surveillance drug resistance mutations (SDRMs) and HIV-1 genetic diversity in Bulgaria during 2012-2020 using polymerase sequences from 1053 of 2010 (52.4%) antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive individuals.

Assessment of hepatitis E seropositivity among HIV-infected patients in Bulgaria.

It is debatable whether HIV-infected patients are at greater risk for hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection compared with healthy subjects. The reported anti-HEV seroprevalence among different groups in Bulgaria varied from 9.04% to 25.

Renal Involvement in Mediterranean Spotted Fever: Clinical and Histopathological Data.

Objective: Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is a tick-borne rickettsial infection endemic to the Mediterranean coastline countries. As a result of growing tourism, imported cases have been registered in many nonendemic countries and regions. We present clinical laboratory parameters and histopathological data on renal impairment in patients with MSF.

Mediterranean spotted fever in child and adult patients: investigation from an endemic region in Bulgaria.

Objectives: Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is a tick-borne endemic disease caused by Rickettsia conorii conorii and transmitted to humans by the brown dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus. It is characterized by fever, maculopapular rash and a tick bite skin lesion "tache noire". The disease affects all age groups and usually has mild to moderate course.

Unusual Maculopapular Rash on the Scalp of a Patient with Mediterranean Spotted Fever.

Objective: To report a rare case of maculopapular rash on the scalp in a patient with Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF).

Clinical Presentation And Intervention: A 58-year-old woman with breast cancer and chemotherapy-induced alopecia contracted MSF. Her clinical features were typical, except for a maculopapular rash covering the scalp.

Guillain-Barré syndrome in a Child with Ongoing Viral Hepatitis A.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) belongs to the group of peripheral immune-mediated neuropathies often preceded by an inflammatory episode. GBS is rarely associated with hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection, the latter as a rule antecedent of the neurological disorders. This association is quite rare in childhood, and so far, only isolated cases have been described.

T-Lymphocyte Subset Absolute Counts in the Peripheral Blood of Mediterranean Spotted Fever Patients: Relations to Disease Severity.

Introduction: Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) in Bulgaria is caused by Rickettsia conorii conorii.

Aim: This study aims at investigating the absolute counts of T-lymphocyte subsets in the peripheral blood of patients with MSF in order to establish relationships with disease severity.

Materials And Methods: The absolute counts of T-lymphocyte subsets were tested in the blood of 62 patients in the acute stage of MSF.

Levels of certain endothelial biomarkers during the acute phase and convalescence in patients with different severity of Mediterranean spotted fever.

Introduction: Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is a tick-borne disease caused by Rickettsia conorii subspp. conorii. It is transmitted by the bite of the tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus.

Changes of Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-3 expression in the dermal microvascular endothelial cells and the epidermal layers of the eschar (tache noire) in patients with Mediterranean spotted fever.

Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is widely prevalent in many endemic regions in Bulgaria. The disease is still not quite thoroughly studied as to some aspects of its pathogenesis and especially to issues that concern the crucial signals for apoptosis in the target microvascular endothelial cells. To study the expression of Bcl-2 family proteins and Caspase-3 in the dermal capillary endothelial cells from skin papules and in the eschar (tache noire) epidermal layers of patients with MSF so that we can establish apoptotic processes and the time of their occurrence and deployment.

Mediterranean spotted fever--classification by disease course and criteria for determining the disease severity.

Introduction: Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) in Bulgaria is caused by Ricketsia conorii conorii with a major vector the dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus. The first cases of re-emerging MSF were reported in this country in the early 1990s after some 20 years of absence and then registered an annual increase until 2001-2003 after which the disease prevalence declined. MSF still poses a serious health problem in the country as severe, complicated cases with lethal outcome occur.

Immune memory and immune response in children from Bulgaria 5-15 years after primary hepatitis B vaccination.

Background: Bulgaria adopted the World Health Organization recommendation of routine universal infant vaccination against hepatitis B in 1991. Nevertheless, only a few studies evaluated the protection after the vaccination against hepatitis B, especially in children. The objective of this study was to investigate the duration of protection against hepatitis B in children aged 5-15 years after primary immunization, by measuring the immune and anamnestic immune response and possible breakthrough infections.

Some epidemiological features of the Mediterranean spotted fever re-emerging in Bulgaria.

Introduction: The Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF), caused by Rickettsia conorii conorii strain Malish, is transmitted by the brown dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus. In Bulgaria, cases of MSF occurred in two epidemic waves, the first in 1948-1970, (after there were no report of new cases more than for 20 years) and the second started in 1993 and is still going on. The AIM of the study was to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of the re-emerging MSF in Plovdiv city and its suburbs, which is the largest endemic region in the country.

Immune response and immunologic memory in medical personnel vaccinated with hepatitis B vaccine.

Unlabelled: The occupation-related nature of Hepatitis B viral infection in medical personnel has been well documented in a lot of studies. The only reliable way of prevention of this infection is immunisation with hepatitis B vaccine.

Aim: To follow-up the primary immune response after immunisation with recombinant vaccine and its duration in adult immunocompetent subjects.

Dynamics in serum cytokine responses during acute and convalescent stages of Mediterranean spotted fever.

Unlabelled: Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is a re-emerging rickettsiosis in Bulgaria after 20 years of absence (1972-1992), and it has since been affecting many people annually in the endemic regions of the country. The role of cytokines in MSF is still in the focus of research due to their complex participation in the immune pathogenesis of the disease.

Aim: To study the changes in the serum cytokine concentrations in MSF patients.

HIV/AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma with multiple skin-mucosal disseminations following ultraviolet (puva) photochemotherapy.

Unlabelled: HIV/AIDS infection in Bulgaria has spread over about 1200 registered patients and it is supposed that the number of the undetected cases is four times higher. Kaposi's sarcoma is rarely observed in our country and no cutaneous-mucosal dissemination is reported for the time being.

Aim: The aim of the study is to present a case of disseminated Kaposi's sarcoma in a HIV/ AIDS patient who underwent Psoralen--UVA radiation treatment (PUVA) for total alopecia.