Human prion diseases: An overview.

Prion diseases are a group of neurodegenerative diseases. The disease-causing agent is a protein (PrP), that is normally produced in the nervous system, aggregated in an abnormal form. The abnormal protein, known as prion (PrP), is capable of self-propagation promoting the misfolding of the normal protein (PrP).

Update on the Diagnosis of Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are one of the most frequent and universal Public Health problems. Health professionals should be aware of the possibility of STIs due to their high morbidity and the presence of sequelae. The delay in the diagnosis is one of the factors that justifies the difficulty to infections control.

A rare case of pleural effusion due to Prevotella dentalis.

Prevotella dentalis is a Gram-negative anaerobic rod involved in various human diseases, especially oral infections. We report a rare case of a pleural effusion due to this microorganism in an elderly patient. An 88-year-old man with chronic respiratory disease presented with a left pleural effusion for more than 1 month.

Clinical and microbiologic characteristics of pleuro-pulmonary infection due to Streptococcus intermedius.

The clinical and microbiological characteristics of pleuro-pulmonary infection (PPI) caused by Streptococcus intermedius is described, including 6 cases in the literature and 9 cases handled at the present centre. Out of the 15 patients, 12 were male; mean age at diagnosis was 62.06 ± 15 years.