Morbidity, mortality and antimicrobial resistance of pneumococcal infections in the Jamaican paediatric and adult populations.

Background: Pneumococcal infections are a leading global cause of morbidity and mortality, complicated by the increasing antimicrobial resistance of pneumococcal isolates.

Objective: To evaluate morbidity and mortality associated with both invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and non-IPD in Jamaica in both the paediatric and adult population. Pneumococcal isolates (n= 94) were collected over a 2-year period (2008-2009).

A case of Candida orthopsilosis associated septic arthritis in a patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).

We report a case of persistent Candida orthopsilosis associated septic arthritis. Repeated isolation of C. orthopsilosis from tissue and joint fluid was confirmed by identification of the ITS region of the rRNA gene using a Candida-Specific Luminex based assay and gene sequencing of the D1/D2 regions.

Recombinant viruses initiated the early HIV-1 epidemic in Burkina Faso.

We analyzed genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships among 124 HIV-1 and 19 HIV-2 strains in sera collected in 1986 from patients of the state hospital in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Phylogenetic analysis of the HIV-1 env gp41 region of 65 sequences characterized 37 (56.9%) as CRF06_cpx strains, 25 (38.

A unique strain of community-acquired Clostridium difficile in severe complicated infection and death of a young adult.

Background: Clostridium difficile is the major cause of nosocomial antibiotic-associated diarrhoea with the potential risk of progressing to severe clinical outcomes including death. It is not unusual for Clostridium difficile infection to progress to complications of toxic megacolon, bowel perforation and even Gram-negative sepsis following pathological changes in the intestinal mucosa. These complications are however less commonly seen in community-acquired Clostridium difficile infection than in hospital-acquired Clostridium difficile infection.

Trichosporon asahii among intensive care unit patients at a medical center in Jamaica.

We investigated an increase in Trichosporon asahii isolates among inpatients. We identified 63 cases; 4 involved disseminated disease. Trichosporon species was recovered from equipment cleaning rooms, washbasins, and fomites, which suggests transmission through washbasins.

Disseminated trichosporonosis in a burn patient: meningitis and cerebral abscess due to Trichosporon asahii.

A 44-year-old diabetic female presented to a hospital in Jamaica with thermal burns. Trichosporon asahii was isolated from facial wounds, sputum, and a meningeal swab. Dissemination of the fungus was demonstrated in stained histological sections of the meninges and a brain abscess at autopsy.