Assessment of biofilms formation of bacterial and fungal isolates using qualitative Congo red agar and semiquantitative crystal violet microtiter methods.

Introduction. Sixty-five percent of human infections are caused by bacteria or yeasts able to form biofilms. This feature makes them more resistant to antimicrobials and antifungals.

Human Q Fever on the Guiana Shield and Brazil: Recent Findings and Remaining Questions.

Purpose Of Review: In this review, we report on the state of knowledge about human Q fever in Brazil and on the Guiana Shield, an Amazonian region located in northeastern South America. There is a contrast between French Guiana, where the incidence of this disease is the highest in the world, and other countries where this disease is practically non-existent.

Recent Findings: Recent findings are essentially in French Guiana where a unique strain MST17 has been identified; it is probably more virulent than those usually found with a particularly marked pulmonary tropism, a mysterious animal reservoir, a geographical distribution that raises questions.

Histoplasma capsulatum antigen detection tests as an essential diagnostic tool for patients with advanced HIV disease in low and middle income countries: A systematic review of diagnostic accuracy studies.

Introduction: Disseminated histoplasmosis, a disease that often resembles and is mistaken for tuberculosis, is a major cause of death in patients with advanced HIV disease. Histoplasma antigen detection tests are an important addition to the diagnostic arsenal for patients with advanced HIV disease and should be considered for inclusion on the World Health Organization Essential Diagnostics List.

Objective: Our objective was to systematically review the literature to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of Histoplasma antigen tests in the context of advanced HIV disease, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries.

[Superficial mycoses: casuistry of the Mycology Department of the Instituto Nacional de Higiene "Rafael Rangel", Caracas, Venezuela (2001-2014)].

The superficial mycoses are very common infectious diseases and therefore are a frequent reason for medical consultation. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic frequency of superficial mycoses in the Mycology Department of the Instituto Nacional de Higiene "Rafael Rangel" during 14 years (2001-2014). A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed to review the mycological records of patients with presumptive diagnosis of superficial mycosis.

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in Latin America. A public health problem?

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PcP) is a well-recognized major opportunistic infection in HIV-infected patients. During the 1980s, the HIV pandemic turned PcP into a major worldwide medical and public health problem. With the introduction of Pneumocystis chemoprophylaxis and the development of highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) for the treatment of HIV infection, there has been a decrease in PcP incidence in developed countries.

[Pneumocystosis in Venezuelan patients: epidemiology and diagnosis (2001-2006)].

The objective of this work was to investigate the epidemiology of pneumocystosis in Venezuelan patients utilizing a retrospective study during a six year period. One hundred and twenty nine clinical samples collected from patients with AIDS, cancer and non-AIDS-non-cancer low respiratory tract infection patients were processed by direct immunofluorescence technique. Pneumocystosis was diagnosed in 30 patients with a general frequency of 23.

Candida spp. in vitro susceptibility profile to four antifungal agents. Resistance surveillance study in Venezuelan strains.

The aim of this study was to determine in vitro susceptibility profiles of Venezuelan strains of Candida spp. to four antifungal agents. One hundred and forty five (145) isolates were recovered during a 1-year period (June 2006 to June 2007) from clinical specimens of patients with severe Candida spp.

[Distribution and antifungal susceptibility of Candida clinical isolations coming from six health care centers in the metropolitan area of Caracas, Venezuela (years 2003-2005)].

The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and antifungal susceptibility of Candida clinical isolations coming from patients with candidiasis in six health care centers of Caracas, Venezuela metropolitan area. The laboratory reports were retrospectively revised from January 2003 through August 2005. The isolated yeasts identification was carried out by conventional methods and antifungal susceptibility was evaluated by ATB-fungus (bioMérieux, France) and Etest (AB Biodisk, Solna, Sweden).