[Sociodemographic risk factors of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome].

Background: Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) is caused by new world hantaviruses, among which Andes hantavirus (ANDV) is endemic to Chile and Southern Argentina. The disease caused by ANDV produces plasma leakage leading to enhanced vascular permeability and has a high case fatality rate (35%), mainly due to respiratory failure, pulmonary edema and myocardial dysfunction, hypoperfusion and shock. Host sociodemographic and genetic factors might influence the course and outcome of the disease.

[Hantavirosis: clinical and epidemiological characteristics of pediatric patients in Chile].

Background: The first cases of Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome in children were described in the United States and represented 8% of the total reported cases; in Chile, the proportion of pediatric cases represents 15% of all national cases.

Aim: To describe the epidemiology and clinical course of 82 children reported to the Chilean Ministry of Health up to 2007 and to characterize more extensively a subgroup of 24 children whose detailed clinical data were available.

Results: Forty patients were under 10 years old.

[Listeria monocytogenes: report of a rise in pregnant women and literature review].

Listeria monocytogenes, rare pathogen in the general population, causes serious infections in patients at the extreme ages of life, pregnant woman, and those with immunosuppression. The clinical manifestations are essential to suspect the disease in patients at risk, allowing an early prescription of antimicrobial therapy, before the results of the cultures are available. Clinical course and prognosis depends on how early treatment is started and, in pregnant women, the gestational age.

[Genetic susceptibility to Andes Hantavirus: Association between severity of disease and HLA alíeles in Chilean patients].

Andes hantavirus (ANDV) infection in Chile has a variable clinical expression, and infected individuals may present with different grades of disease severity. This study aimed to determine if clinical expression of ANDV infection in Chilean patients is associated with the HLA system. HLA alíeles A, B, DRB1 and DQB1, were studied in two groups of patients with confirmed ANDV infection: 41 patients with a mild disease course (without respiratory failure and cardiovascular shock) and 46 patients with a severe disease course (with respiratory failure and shock).

[Prevalence of Bartonella henselae antibodies in Chilean children, adolescents and veterinary workers].

Background: Bartonella henselae is the causative agent of cat-scratch disease.

Aim: To study the seroepidemiology of Bartonella henselae in healthy Chilean children and in a population with occupational risk.

Material And Methods: Serum IgG antibodies were determined by indirect fluorescence technique in 181 children and adolescents and in 107 technical and professional workers involved in the care of cats.