Association of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) Serum Serotype-Specific Anticapsular Immunoglobulin G Concentration and Risk Reduction for Invasive GBS Disease in South African Infants: An Observational Birth-Cohort, Matched Case-Control Study.

Background: Licensure of a group B Streptococcus (GBS) polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccine for protecting infants against invasive GBS disease (IGbsD) will likely need to be based on demonstrating vaccine safety in pregnant women, and benchmarking immunogenicity against a serological threshold associated with risk reduction of IGbsD. We investigated the association between naturally derived GBS serotype Ia and III IgG and risk reduction of IGbsD in infants ≤90 days of age.

Methods: In a matched case-control study, IGbsD cases were identified from a cohort of 38 233 mother-newborn dyads.

National sentinel site surveillance for antimicrobial resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates in South Africa, 2010 - 2012.

Background: The increasing rates of antimicrobial resistance observed in the nosocomial pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae are of major public health concern worldwide.

Objectives: To describe the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of K. pneumoniae isolates from bacteraemic patients submitted by sentinel laboratories in five regions of South Africa from mid-2010 to mid-2012.

Genotypic and demographic characterization of invasive isolates of Salmonella Typhimurium in HIV co-infected patients in South Africa.

Background: Non-typhoidal Salmonella are frequently food-borne zoonotic pathogens that may cause invasive disease in HIV-positive individuals.

Methodology: Invasive isolates (n = 652) of Salmonella Typhimurium from human patients in Gauteng Province of South Africa were investigated for the years 2006 and 2007. Bacteria were identified using standard microbiological techniques and serotyping was performed using commercially available antisera.

An algorithmic approach to intracranial mass lesions in HIV/AIDS.

We developed a diagnostic and therapeutic algorithm for intracranial mass lesions in patients with HIV/AIDS that obviates the need for neurosurgical intervention. The approach is based upon CD4(+) lymphocyte count, serum toxoplasma immunoglobulin G (IgG) serology, chest X-ray, routine lumbar puncture studies, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytology, CSF adenosine deaminase or Mycobacterium tuberculosis polymerase chain reaction testing, single positron emission-computed tomography (SPECT) scanning for intracranial enhancing lesions, and limited therapeutic trials. Over a 12-month period involving 26 patients, we found that the algorithm correctly identified the aetiology of focal intracranial lesions in all 23 evaluable patients.