Quality control processes in allografting: A twenty-year retrospective review of a hospital-based bone bank in Taiwan.

Musculoskeletal allografts are now commonly used. To decrease the potential risks of transmission of pathogenic bacteria, fungi, or viruses to the transplant recipients, certain issues regarding the management of patients who receive contaminated allografts need to be addressed. We aimed to clarify the incidence and extent of disease transmission from allografts by analyzing the allografting procedures performed in the bone bank of our hospital over the past 20 years.

In vitro activity of aminoglycosides against clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii complex and other nonfermentative Gram-negative bacilli causing healthcare-associated bloodstream infections in Taiwan.

Background/purpose: Aminoglycosides possess in vitro activity against aerobic and facultative Gram-negative bacilli. However, nationwide surveillance on susceptibility data of Acinetobacter baumannii complex and Pseudomonas aeruginosa to aminoglycosides was limited, and aminoglycoside resistance has emerged in the past decade. We study the in vitro susceptibility of A.

Combination antifungal therapy for disseminated fusariosis in immunocompromised patients : a case report and literature review.

Fusarium species are the second leading cause of disseminated mold infections in immunocompromised patients. The high mortality caused by such infections is attributed to the high resistance of Fusarium species to current antifungal agents. We report the first case of disseminated fusariosis after the use of alemtuzumab, an anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody, in a patient who presented with striking cutaneous and oral cavity lesions.

Extremely high prevalence and genetic diversity of hepatitis C virus infection among HIV-infected injection drug users in Taiwan.

Background: An outbreak of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 infection among injection drug users (IDUs) occurred in Taiwan, and thereafter, injection drug use became the most frequent risk factor for HIV infection in Taiwan. We sought to study the prevalence of and genotypes causing hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among HIV-infected IDUs in Taiwan.

Methods: A multicenter, longitudinal cohort study of 990 HIV-infected IDUs was conducted from 1993 through 2006.