Evaluation of pathogen from the FilmArray meningitis/encephalitis panel and recommendations on atypical findings.

Background:  Infectious meningoencephalitis is a potentially fatal clinical condition that causes inflammation of the central nervous system secondary to the installation of different microorganisms. The FilmArray meningitis/encephalitis panel allows the simultaneous detection of 14 pathogens with results in about one hour.

Objective:  This study is based on retrospectively evaluating the implementation of the FilmArray meningitis/encephalitis panel in a hospital environment, highlighting the general results and, especially, analyzing the consistency of the test results against the clinical and laboratory conditions of the patients.

Evaluation of XGEN Multi Sepsis Flow Chip Molecular Assay for Early Diagnosis of Bloodstream Infection.

Among healthcare-associated infections that can affect a critically ill patient, bloodstream infections are one of the most frequent causes of mortality, especially in hospitalized patients. The objective of this work is to evaluate the performance of the XGEN Multi Sepsis Flow Chip for the rapid diagnosis of bloodstream infections compared with conventional tests. In total, 101 positive blood culture samples were included, and the results obtained by the phenotypic conventional method (culture with susceptibility profile) were compared with results obtained by the XGEN Multi Sepsis Flow Chip.

COVID-19-associated aspergillosis in a Brazilian referral centre: Diagnosis, risk factors and outcomes.

Background: COVID-19 patients on mechanical ventilation are at risk to develop invasive aspergillosis. To provide additional data regarding this intriguing entity, we conducted a retrospective study describing risk factors, radiology and prognosis of this emerging entity in a Brazilian referral centre.

Methods: This retrospective study included intubated (≥18 years) patients with COVID-19 admitted from April 2020 until July 2021 that had bronchoscopy to investigate pulmonary co-infections.

Long term persistence of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infection.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a case of a long-term persistence of SARS-CoV-2 infection (from March 26 to May 20, 2020) was identified at a private hospital in São Paulo, SP, Brazil. The long-term positivity for SARS-CoV-2 in reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction tests of a patient diagnosed with COVID-19 suggests, at least part of patients who recovered, may still carry and transmit the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This fact emphasizes the importance of having at least two negative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction test results for SARS-CoV-2.

Study protocol: epidemiological and clinical characteristics of acute viral hepatitis in Brazilian health services.

Introduction: Acute viral hepatitis is a disease of great clinical importance. This study proposes actions to better characterise cases of acute hepatitis in Brazil and to provide relevant information to institutionalised health policies within the Unified Health System. Available data on acute hepatitis in Brazil need to be re-evaluated regarding the different hepatotropic agent (hepatitis A to E virus) frequencies, as well as other agents that can cause similar clinical conditions, such as Herpes Simplex Virus 1 and 2(HSV1, HSV2), Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein Barr Virus (EBV), Human Herpes Virus 6 and 7 (HHV6, HHV7), arbovirus (yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya, Zika), parvovirus B19, adenovirus, parechovirus, enterovirus, HIV, leptospirosis, toxoplasmosis and syphilis, in addition to autoimmune hepatitis.