Clinical relevance of molecular testing methods in the diagnosis and guidance of therapy in patients with staphylococcal empyema: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Efficient detection tools for determining staphylococcal pleural infection are critical for its eradication. The objective of this meta-analysis was to assess the diagnostic utility of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) in suspected empyema cases to identify staphylococcal strains and avoid unnecessary empiric methicillin-resistant (MRSA) therapy.

Methods: From inception to July 24, 2021, relevant records were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library.

Kinetics of IgA and eosinophils following a low-dose, predominantly Haemonchus contortus infection of Boer goats.

Aims: Most breeds of goat are more susceptible to nematode infection than sheep, and this appears to be a consequence of less effective immune responses. Several papers have considered the effectiveness of eosinophils and immunoglobulin A (IgA) in goats but differences in the induction of responses have not been studied in the same detail. The aim of this study was to look at the induction of eosinophil and IgA responses in Boer goats reared indoors under intensive conditions.

Alteration in apyrase enzyme attenuated virulence of Shigella flexneri.

Virulence of Shigella is attributed to the genes presence in chromosome or in the megaplasmid. The apy gene which is located in the megaplasmid of Shigella species encodes for apyrase enzyme, a pathogenesis-associated enzyme causing mitochondrial damage and host cell death. In this study we constructed an apy mutant of Shigella flexneri by insertional activation using a kanamycin resistant gene cassette.