Development and evaluation of a novel fast broad-range PCR and sequencing assay (FBR-PCR/S) using dual priming oligonucleotides targeting the ITS/LSU gene regions for rapid diagnosis of invasive fungal diseases: multi-year experience in a large Canadian healthcare zone.

Background: This study evaluated the performance of a novel fast broad range PCR and sequencing (FBR-PCR/S) assay for the improved diagnosis of invasive fungal disease (IFD) in high-risk patients in a large Canadian healthcare region.

Methods: A total of 114 clinical specimens (CS) including bronchoalveolar lavages (BALs) were prospectively tested from 107 patients over a 2-year period. Contrived BALs (n = 33) inoculated with known fungi pathogens were also tested to increase diversity.

An unusual case of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae prosthetic joint infection from the Canadian Arctic: whole genome sequencing unable to identify a zoonotic source.

Background: Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae is a zoonotic pathogen that causes erysipeloid and is most frequently associated with exposure to domestic swine. Infection of native and prosthetic joints is a rarely reported manifestation.

Case Presentation: We describe a case of E.

Connecting chronic and recurrent stress to vascular dysfunction: no relaxed role for the renin-angiotensin system.

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is classically considered to be a protective system for volume balance and is activated during states of volume depletion. Interestingly, one of the major pathways activating the system is the sympathetic nervous system, also the primary mediator of the acute stress response. When one further examines the cells mediating the immune site of the response, which is primarily an inflammatory response leading to defense at a locally injured area, these cells all express the ANG II type 1 receptor (AGTR1).

Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants are induced by the endothelial cell intracellular milieu.

Recent studies have reported that Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants (SCVs) can cause highly persistent infections in humans and in cultured endothelial cells. To understand the process by which SCVs of S. aureus appear in subjects who have not received antibiotic treatment, bovine endothelial cells were coincubated with a wild S.