Publications by authors named "M Karanika"
We studied the epidemiology and microbiology of Clostridium difficile and the characteristics of patients with C. difficile infection (CDI) in Crete in three groups of hospitalized patients with diarrhoea: group 1 [positive culture and positive toxin by enzyme immunoassay (EIA)]; group 2 (positive culture, negative toxin); group 3 (negative culture, negative toxin). Patients in group 1 were designated as those with definitive CDI (20 patients for whom data was available) and matched with cases in group 2 (40 patients) and group 3 (40 patients).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLegionnaires' disease is a known cause of severe pneumonia in a nosocomial setting. This study examined Legionella isolation in Greek hospitals. Water samples and swabs of showerheads from 41 hospitals were collected over a four-year period (2004-2007) from hot and cold water systems and cooling towers in Greece.
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- Bacterial meningitis is a critical condition often resulting in serious complications, particularly neurological issues in affected infants and children.
- A study analyzed a large registry of 2,477 children in Greece over 31 years to identify clinical and laboratory factors associated with complications and long-term sequelae following bacterial meningitis.
- Key findings indicate that the risk of severe lasting effects is significantly influenced by factors such as the presence of seizures, low glucose levels in cerebrospinal fluid, and specific meningitis pathogens, suggesting that these indicators could guide treatment strategies.
Article Synopsis
- Childhood meningitis remains a significant cause of death in many countries, prompting the need for rapid diagnostic methods and identification of prognostic factors to predict bacterial causes of the disease.
- A study analyzed 1,331 confirmed bacterial meningitis cases over 32 years and identified Neisseria meningitidis as the most common cause, followed by Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae.
- Diagnostic criteria were established for each bacteria, revealing specific symptoms and laboratory results that can lead to accurate predictions of the bacterial type, with high positive predictive values for Meningococcal Meningitis at 96.4% and for Streptococcus pneumoniae at 77.8%.
This study deals with the examination of quality of seawater bathing areas in Greece over a 10-year period and identifies risk factors for high bacteria indicator organism concentrations. Qualitative descriptive analysis was applied and the microbiological test results of 231,205 water samples were associated with pollution markers and other parameters. Measurements of Escherichia coli (99.
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