Contact tracing investigation after professional exposure to tuberculosis in a Swiss hospital using both tuberculin skin test and IGRA.

Setting: A 950 bed teaching hospital in Switzerland.

Aim: To describe the result of a contact investigation among health care workers (HCW) and patients after exposure to a physician with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis in a hospital setting using standard tuberculin skin tests (TST) and Interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA).

Method: HCW with a negative or unknown TST at hiring had a TST two weeks after the last contact with the index case (T0), repeated six weeks later if negative (T6).

Fatal and nonfatal AIDS and non-AIDS events in HIV-1-positive individuals with high CD4 cell counts according to viral load strata.

Background: This study compared the incidence of fatal and nonfatal AIDS and non-AIDS events in HIV-positive individuals with a CD4 cell count more than 350  cells/μl among viral load strata: low (<500  copies/ml), intermediate (500-9999.9  copies/ml) and high (≥ 10000  copies/ml).

Methods: Individuals contributed person-years at risk if their most recent CD4 cell count was more than 350  cells/μl.

Interhuman transmission as a potential key parameter for geographical variation in the prevalence of Pneumocystis jirovecii dihydropteroate synthase mutations.

Background: Pneumocystis jirovecii dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) mutations are associated with failure of prophylaxis with sulfa drugs. This retrospective study sought to better understand the geographical variation in the prevalence of these mutations.

Methods: DHPS polymorphisms in 394 clinical specimens from immunosuppressed patients who received a diagnosis of P.

Genotype 3 is associated with accelerated fibrosis progression in chronic hepatitis C.

Background/aims: While several risk factors for the histological progression of chronic hepatitis C have been identified, the contribution of HCV genotypes to liver fibrosis evolution remains controversial. The aim of this study was to assess independent predictors for fibrosis progression.

Methods: We identified 1189 patients from the Swiss Hepatitis C Cohort database with at least one biopsy prior to antiviral treatment and assessable date of infection.

Long-term trends of HIV type 1 drug resistance prevalence among antiretroviral treatment-experienced patients in Switzerland.

Background: Accurate quantification of the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) drug resistance in patients who are receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) is difficult, and results from previous studies vary. We attempted to assess the prevalence and dynamics of resistance in a highly representative patient cohort from Switzerland.

Methods: On the basis of genotypic resistance test results and clinical data, we grouped patients according to their risk of harboring resistant viruses.

Genetic diversity and ecological success of Staphylococcus aureus strains colonizing humans.

The genetic determinants and phenotypic traits which make a Staphylococcus aureus strain a successful colonizer are largely unknown. The genetic diversity and population structure of 133 S. aureus isolates from healthy, generally risk-free adult carriers were investigated using four different typing methods: multilocus sequence typing (MLST), amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis (AFLP), double-locus sequence typing (DLST), and spa typing were compared.

Cefuroxime prophylaxis is effective in noninstrumented spine surgery: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Study Design: Double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of 1 preoperative 1.5 g dose of cefuroxime in preventing surgical site infection after surgery for herniated disc.

Laparoscope use and surgical site infections in digestive surgery.

Objective: To compare surgical site infection (SSI) rates in open or laparoscopic appendectomy, cholecystectomy, and colon surgery. To investigate the effect of laparoscopy on SSI in these interventions.

Background: Lower rates of SSI have been reported among various advantages associated with laparoscopy when compared with open surgery, particularly in cholecystectomy.

Comparison of automated strategies for surveillance of nosocomial bacteremia.

Objective: Surveillance of nosocomial bloodstream infection (BSI) is recommended, but time-consuming. We explored strategies for automated surveillance.

Methods: Cohort study.

Short-term clinical disease progression in HIV-1-positive patients taking combination antiretroviral therapy: the EuroSIDA risk-score.

Objectives: To derive and validate a clinically applicable prognostic score for predicting short-term disease progression in HIV-infected patients taking combination antiretroviral therapy (cART).

Design And Methods: Poisson regression was used to identify prognostic markers for new AIDS/death in patients taking cART. A score was derived for 4169 patients from EuroSIDA and validated on 5150 patients from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS).

A whole-genome association study of major determinants for host control of HIV-1.

Understanding why some people establish and maintain effective control of HIV-1 and others do not is a priority in the effort to develop new treatments for HIV/AIDS. Using a whole-genome association strategy, we identified polymorphisms that explain nearly 15% of the variation among individuals in viral load during the asymptomatic set-point period of infection. One of these is found within an endogenous retroviral element and is associated with major histocompatibility allele human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B*5701, whereas a second is located near the HLA-C gene.

Importation of Acinetobacter baumannii into a burn unit: a recurrent outbreak of infection associated with widespread environmental contamination.

A burn patient was infected with Acinetobacter baumannii on transfer to the hospital after a terrorist attack. Two patients experienced cross-infection. Environmental swab samples were negative for A.

Polymorphisms in Toll-like receptor 9 influence the clinical course of HIV-1 infection.

Background: The clinical course of HIV-1 infection is highly variable among individuals, at least in part as a result of genetic polymorphisms in the host. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) have a key role in innate immunity and mutations in the genes encoding these receptors have been associated with increased or decreased susceptibility to infections.

Objectives: To determine whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TLR2-4 and TLR7-9 influenced the natural course of HIV-1 infection.

First case of bacteremia and multifocal cellulitis due to Helicobacter canis in an immunocompetent patient.

Bacteremia due to Helicobacter canis has been reported in a patient with X-linked hypogammaglobulinemia. Here we report on the first human case of H. canis bacteremia in an immunocompetent host.

Exogenous sources of pseudomonas aeruginosa in intensive care unit patients: implementation of infection control measures and follow-up with molecular typing.

Background: In 1998, a study in the intensive care unit (ICU) of our institution suggested possible transmission of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from faucet to patient and from patient to patient. Infection-control measures were implemented to reduce the degree of P. aeruginosa colonization in faucets, to reduce the use of faucet water in certain patient care procedures, and to reduce the rate of transmission from patient to patient.

Fibrinogen and fibronectin binding cooperate for valve infection and invasion in Staphylococcus aureus experimental endocarditis.

The expression of Staphylococcus aureus adhesins in Lactococcus lactis identified clumping factor A (ClfA) and fibronectin-binding protein A (FnBPA) as critical for valve colonization in rats with experimental endocarditis. This study further analyzed their role in disease evolution. Infected animals were followed for 3 d.