Factors Associated with In-Hospital Mortality in Adult Patients with Bacterial Meningitis.

: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between various clinical and laboratory findings and in-hospital mortality in community-acquired bacterial meningitis (BM). : We retrospectively analyzed 339 adult (≥18 years old) patients with bacterial meningitis who were admitted to the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Warsaw between January 2010 and December 2017. : Altogether, 56 patients (16.

(TTV) Infection in Patients with Encephalitis.

virus (TTV) is a ssDNA orphan virus belonging to the family, but some recent studies suggested its possible involvement in central nervous system (CNS) pathology. We analyzed serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples (CSF) from 109 patients with encephalitis for TTV infection using serological and molecular testing, virus quantitative measurement, and next-generation sequencing-based (NGS) phylogenetic analysis. TTV noncoding region (UTR) and/or open reading frame 1 (ORF-1) sequences were detected in serum of 86 (79%) patients and in nine (8%) patients in CSF.

Vaccination against COVID-19 among healthcare workers as a cocoon strategy for people living with HIV.

Introduction: Healthcare professionals working in infectious disease units are often engaged in the care of patients with HIV infection. A cocoon vaccination strategy may protect those who are immunocompromised from a severe course of COVID-19.

Methods: The research was conducted between January 2021 and June 2022.

Cardiovascular complications in the course of COVID-19 - lessons learned and implications for the future care of patients with viral respiratory diseases: Data from a single center retrospective observational study.

Background: Factors associated with cardiovascular complications of COVID-19 remain understudied.

Objectives: Here we investigate the occurrence and risk factors of arrythmias, myocardial infarction and/or stroke, and thromboembolism in the course of COVID-19.

Methods: We have performed an observational study with prospectively designed data collection.

Potential infection foci in the oral cavity and their impact on the formation of central nervous system abscesses: A literature review.

Despite advancements in preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic activities in medicine, inflammatory processes of the central nervous system remain a significant problem, posing a serious threat to life and health. Purulent central nervous system infections are unique, including abscesses of the brain and spine, which are severe infections occurring in 0.4% to 0.

Hospital Admission Factors Independently Affecting the Risk of Mortality of COVID-19 Patients.

Introduction: COVID-19 is a disease characterized by high in-hospital mortality, which seems to be dependent on many predisposing factors.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical symptoms, abnormalities in the results of laboratory tests, and coexisting chronic diseases that independently affected the risk of in-hospital mortality in patients with COVID-19.

Patients And Methods: We analyzed the records of patients with COVID-19 who were hospitalized from 6 March 2020 to 30 November 2021.

Enteroviral central nervous system infections in patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis.

Patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) are rarely tested for the presence of neurovirulent viruses other than tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV); however, such coinfections could be of clinical importance. The aim of the study was to search for the presence of neurotropic viruses in a LNB patients. Fourteen patients admitted with signs and symptoms of neuroinfection who were eventually diagnosed to have LNB (according to the guidelines of the European Federation of Neurological Societies) were subjects of the study.

Higher Immunological Response after BNT162b2 Vaccination among COVID-19 Convalescents-The Data from the Study among Healthcare Workers in an Infectious Diseases Center.

Introduction: The BNT162b2 vaccination studies did not specifically focus on groups that were heavily exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Therefore, we aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of the BNT162b2 vaccine among healthcare workers (HCWs). Methods: Study participants were recruited from hospital employees who received BNT162b2 vaccination at the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Warsaw.

The Clinical Course and Outcomes of Patients Hospitalized Due to COVID-19 during Three Pandemic Waves in Poland: A Single Center Observational Study.

Background: The first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Poland was reported on 4 March 2020. We aim to compare the clinical course and outcomes of patients hospitalized in the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Warsaw due to COVID-19 during three pandemic waves. Materials and methods: The medical data were collected for all patients diagnosed with COVID-19 hospitalized in our hospital from 6 March 2020 till 30 November 2021.

Is the definition of late diagnosis correct?

Background: The study analysed 1711 patients of the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Warsaw diagnosed with HIV infection in 2008-2010 and 2016-2018. Research was conducted examining the changes in CD4 cell counts before starting antiretroviral (ARV) treatment in order to find people who were misclassified as late-diagnosed.

Methods: Patients with late diagnosis were distinguished on the basis of the consensus definition.

The effectiveness of erysipelas prophylaxis depends on the cumulative dose of benzathine penicillin G.

Erysipelas is an acute infection due to S. pyogenes and is characterized by a high risk of relapses. The number of patients suffering from one or more recurrences varied depending on the study and accounted for between 16% and 47% of the total number of those affected.

Patients with Infections of The Central Nervous System Have Lowered Gut Microbiota Alpha Diversity.

There are multiple lines of evidence for the existence of communication between the central nervous system (CNS), gut, and intestinal microbiome. Despite extensive analysis conducted on various neurological disorders, the gut microbiome was not yet analyzed in neuroinfections. In the current study, we analyzed the gut microbiome in 47 consecutive patients hospitalized with neuroinfection (26 patients had viral encephalitis/meningitis; 8 patients had bacterial meningitis) and in 20 matched for age and gender health controls.

Factors associated with the risk of upper respiratory tract bacterial infections among HIV-positive patients.

Background: The risk and characteristics of upper respiratory tract (URT) bacterial infections (URT-BI) among HIV (+) patients is understudied. We analyzed factors associated with its occurrence and the spectrum of culturable pathogens among patients routinely followed at the HIV Out-Patient Clinic in Warsaw.

Methods: All HIV (+) patients with available URT swab culture were included into analyses.

Late diagnosis of HIV infection in Warsaw: Estimating the scale of the problem and demographic trends.

Background: Late diagnosis of a significant number of people with HIV remains a problem. This study analysed 1711 patients from the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Warsaw who were diagnosed with HIV infection in 2008-2010 and 2016-2018.

Methods: Patients with late diagnosis and advanced disease were distinguished on the basis of the consensus definition.

The Beneficial Effect of the COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Dose among Healthcare Workers in an Infectious Diseases Center.

Introduction: Healthcare workers in Poland received a booster dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech, Manufacturer: Pfizer, Inc., and BioNTech; Moguncja, Germany) at the beginning of October 2021. Here, we report on the preliminary results of an ongoing clinical study into the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 of healthcare workers previously exposed to the virus, with or without evidence of past infection, in the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Warsaw before and after the vaccine booster dose.

Analysis of the occurrence of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) features in patients with sepsis: a prospective study.

HLH syndrome may mimic sepsis but requires entirely different treatment. The aim of the study was to assess the occurrence of HLH features in patients with sepsis and the influence these exert on the patients' prognosis. The prospective study included 108 patients with suspected sepsis who were routinely evaluated according to HLH criteria.

Search for Viral Infections in Cerebrospinal Fluid From Patients With Autoimmune Encephalitis.

Background: It has been reported that virus-mediated brain tissue damage can lead to autoimmune encephalitis (AE) characterized by the presence of antibodies against neuronal surface antigens. In the study, we investigate the presence of viruses in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients with AE using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)/PCR and shotgun metagenomics.

Methods: CSF samples collected from 200 patients with encephalitis were tested for the presence of antibodies against antiglutamate receptor (NMDAR), contactin-associated protein 2 (CASPR2), glutamate receptors (type AMPA1/2), leucine-rich glioma-inactivated protein 1 (LGI1), dipeptidyl aminopeptidase-like protein 6 (DPPX), and GABA B receptor, and those found positive were further analyzed with real-time RT-PCR/PCR for common viral neuroinfections and shotgun DNA- and RNA-based metagenomics.

Differences and similarities in clinical manifestations of Listeria monocytogenes and Mycobacterium tuberculous meningitis.

Introduction: Tuberculous meningitis (TbM) and meningitis caused by Listeria monocytogenes (LM) require different treatment regimens and have grave prognosis if therapy is delayed.

The Aim Of The Study: Comparison of clinical manifestations, laboratory features and outcome of TbM and LM.

Material And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed records of 402 patients with community acquired bacterial meningitis (BM) who were hospitalized between January 2010 and September 2019.

Next-generation sequencing in the diagnosis of viral encephalitis: sensitivity and clinical limitations.

Identification of pathogens causing viral encephalitis remains challenging, and in over 50% of cases the etiologic factor remains undetermined. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) based metagenomics has been successfully used to detect novel and rare infections, but its value for routine diagnosis of encephalitis remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to determine the sensitivity of shotgun metagenomic sequencing protocols, which include preamplification, and testing it against cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from encephalitis patients.

Decrease of T-cells exhaustion markers programmed cell death-1 and T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3 and plasma IL-10 levels after successful treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

During chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, both CD4 and CD8 T-cells become functionally exhausted, which is reflected by increased expression of programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3 (Tim-3), and elevated anti-inflammatory interleukin 10 (IL-10) plasma levels. We studied 76 DAA-treated HCV-positive patients and 18 non-infected controls. Flow cytometry measured pretreatment frequencies of CD4PD-1, CD4PD-1Tim-3 and CD8PD-1Tim-3 T-cells and IL-10 levels measured by ELISA were significantly higher and CD4PD-1Tim-3 and CD8PD-1Tim-3 T-cells were significantly lower in patients than in controls.

Advanced age and increased CRP concentration are independent risk factors associated with Clostridioides difficile infection mortality.

Clostridioides difficile (C.difficile) is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, toxin-producing anaerobic bacillus, which is one of the most common causes of health-care-associated infection developed mainly by elderly patients. The objective of this study was to assess mortality among the patients of the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Warsaw related to C.

Clinical Course and Outcome of Community-Acquired Bacterial Meningitis in Cancer Patients.

The aim of the study was to determine the course and outcome of bacterial meningitis (BM) in patients with cancer. We retrospectively reviewed files of patients with community-acquired BM, hospitalized in a single neuroinfection center between January 2010 and December 2017. There were 209 patients included in the analysis: 28 had cancer (9 women, 19 men; median age 76, IQR 67-80 years) and 181 were cancer-free (76 women, 105 men; median age 52, IQR 33-65 years) and constituted the control group.

The clinical course and outcome of Listeria monocytogenes meningitis: A retrospective single center study.

Background: The aim of the study was to determine clinical manifestations and outcome of Listeria monocytogenes meningitis (LM) and to compare with other forms of bacterial meningitis (BM).

Material And Methods: We analyzed records of all adult patients with BM who were hospitalized between January 2010 and December 2017 in the largest neuroinfection center in Poland.

Results: Out of 343 analyzed patients with BM 24 were diagnosed to have LM.

Chronic alcohol abuse affects the clinical course and outcome of community-acquired bacterial meningitis.

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of chronic alcohol abuse on the course and outcome of bacterial meningitis (BM). We analyzed records of patients with BM who were hospitalized between January 2010 and December 2017 in the largest neuroinfection center in Poland. Out of 340 analyzed patients, 45 (13.