Primary abdominal actinomycosis in a diabetic woman--an intractable disease.

Primary abdominal actinomycosis is very unusual. Only five previous cases have been reported in the English literature. We describe the case of a 57-year-old diabetic woman with primary abdominal actinomycosis, refractory to several antimicrobial regimens and surgical procedures.

Endocarditis caused by Blastoschizomyces capitatus and taxonomic review of the genus.

Blastoschizomyces capitatus Salkin, Gordon, Samsonoff et Rieder was found to be the etiologic agent of endocarditis in a patient with a prosthetic mitral valve. Cultures inoculated with peripheral blood and portions of the valve yielded B. capitatus.

[Pyogenic liver abscess caused by Streptococcus milleri].

Streptococcus milleri is a facultative anaerobic pathogen of the viridans group associated with serious suppurative infections, mainly abscesses. We saw 3 cases of liver abscess due to this organism in 1990 in women aged 43, 59 and 67 years, respectively. The coccus was grown from blood cultures in 2 of the cases and from abscess drainage in the 3rd.

Different mechanisms generating sequence variability are revealed in distinct regions of the hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein gene from maize and related species.

The sequences of the genes coding for a hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein from two varieties of maize (Zea mays, Ac1503 and W22), a teosinte (Zea diploperennis) and sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) have been obtained and compared. Distinct patterns of variability have been observed along their sequences. The 500 bp region immediately upstream of the TATA box is highly conserved in the Zea species and contains stretches of sequences also found in the sorghum gene.

Once daily cefixime compared with twice daily trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole for treatment of urinary tract infection in infants and children.

We conducted a randomized prospective multicenter study to compare the safety and efficacy of once daily oral cefixime (8 mg/kg) to twice daily oral trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX) (8/40 mg/kg/day) for the treatment of acute urinary tract infection in children ages 6 months to 13 years. Seventy-six patients (38 in each group) were studied. Thirty-seven percent were younger than 3 years of age.

Failure of ceftriaxone in the treatment of acute brucellosis.

In an open, multicenter study conducted in Israel in 1989, 18 patients with acute brucellosis were randomized to receive either less than or equal to 2 g of intramuscularly administered ceftriaxone daily for at least 2 weeks or doxycycline for 4 weeks plus streptomycin for 2 weeks. All 10 patients treated with the combination of doxycycline plus streptomycin responded promptly, and their infections did not relapse during 6 months of follow-up. Of eight patients treated with ceftriaxone, six did not respond initially; when ceftriaxone was replaced by the combination of doxycycline and streptomycin, patients responded immediately.

Cefonicid versus cefuroxime: an in vitro study of 1,000 Enterobacteriaceae.

Cefuroxime and cefonicid, two common representatives of the second-generation cephalosporins, were compared for their spectrum of activity against 1,000 isolates of gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae. Cefuroxime had an overall advantage of 6.3% over cefonicid.

[Cutaneous myiasis].

Modern air travel facilitates the importation of tropical diseases. We saw a 24-year-old man who returned from South America with cutaneous myiasis caused by larvae of the human botfly Dermatobia hominis. The larvae were expressed by pressure from 2 lesions, on the neck and the loin, and the pockets were disinfected with alcohol.

Single-dose ornidazole versus seven-day metronidazole therapy of giardiasis in Kibbutzim children in Israel.

The efficacy of single-dose ornidazole versus seven days metronidazole in the treatment of giardiasis was tested in a randomized study of 75 Kibbutzim children in Israel. All the children treated were clinically cured, and the parasites disappeared from stool examinations after the first follow-up. By the end of the study (21 days after the beginning of treatment), all the patients remained free of symptoms, but cysts of Giardia lamblia were found in the stools of three children from the ornidazole group (p = 0.

Risk factors for infection in fracture war wounds (1973 and 1982 wars, Israel).

The development of post-surgical wound infection was compared in two groups of soldiers who sustained fractures or amputations on the battlefield during the first month of the 1982 and 1973 wars. Risk factors for the development of post-surgical wound infection were sought. In the 1982 group, numbering 184, the four variables independently associated with infection were multiple operations during the follow-up period; drains inserted in the first operation; extensive tissue loss; and blood transfusion during the first operation.

A new family of repetitive nucleotide sequences is restricted to the genus Zea.

We have isolated a new family of moderately repetitive nucleotide sequences (about 2500 copies per haploid genome) specific to the genus Zea and absent in other graminaceous species. These sequences are interspersed in the genome and they show the same genomic organization pattern and similar copy number in all the Zea species examined. These two facts, consistency in the copy number and the same organization pattern, would indicate on the one hand that these sequences were amplified before the divergence of Zea species, and on the other hand that maize and all the teosintes could be considered as the same evolutionary population.

Comparison of single-dose administration and three-day course of amoxicillin with those of clavulanic acid for treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infection in women.

In a double-blind randomized study we compared a single-dose amoxicillin-clavulanate combination with a regular 3-day regimen in 109 women with cystitis. Clinical cure rates at 7 and 28 days posttreatment were 78 versus 87% and 67 versus 78%, respectively. The 3-day regimen was significantly better (P less than 0.

Long-term prophylaxis with norfloxacin versus nitrofurantoin in women with recurrent urinary tract infection.

A total of 102 women with recurrent urinary tract infections were included in this open randomized study; 55 received 200 mg of norfloxacin daily and 47 received 50 mg of nitrofurantoin daily over 6 months. Fifty-three and 41 women from the norfloxacin- and nitrofurantoin-treated groups, respectively, completed the 6-month follow-up period. Forty-four (81%) of the norfloxacin-treated patients and 27 (65%) of the nitrofurantoin-treated patients remained free of symptoms (P = 0.

[Antimicrobial susceptibility of organisms infecting the urinary tract in northern Israel].

Urinary tract infections (UTI), especially in women, are very frequent and require antimicrobial treatment. The choice of drug depends on the susceptibility of the infecting organism. In many cases treatment is begun before the identity and susceptibility of the organism/s cultured are known.

An outbreak of Shigella sonnei infection due to contamination of a municipal water supply in northern Israel.

An epidemic of more than 8000 cases of Shigella sonnei infection took place in four adjacent urban communities which share the same water supply. The epidemic was caused by massive faecal contamination of the drinking water due to a leak from a broken main sewage pipe into an adjacent drilled well. The infecting organism in most cases was S.

Long-term antimicrobial therapy in the prevention of recurrent soft-tissue infections.

Thirty-six patients who had suffered two or more episodes of erysipelas or cellulitis during the previous year were randomly divided into two equal groups; one group received erythromycin base 250 mg b.i.d.

Failure of prolonged treatment with ciprofloxacin in acute infections due to Brucella melitensis.

A randomized prospective, pilot study was performed to compare the efficacy of oral ciprofloxacin (750 mg or 1000 mg bd) with standard oral antimicrobial therapy (rifampicin plus doxycycline) in the treatment of acute infection with Brucella melitensis. All antimicrobial drugs were administered for 42 days. Although all patients responded rapidly, five of the six patients receiving ciprofloxacin relapsed following cessation of therapy.

Expression of a maize cell wall hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein gene in early leaf and root vascular differentiation.

The spatial pattern of expression for a maize gene encoding a hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein (HRGP) was determined by in situ hybridization. During normal development of roots and leaves, the expression of the gene was transient and particularly high in regions initiating vascular elements and associated sclerenchyma. Its expression was also associated with the differentiation of vascular elements in a variety of other tissues.

Clindamycin in the treatment of an outbreak of streptococcal pharyngitis in a kibbutz due to beta-lactamase producing organisms.

During the winter of 1987-88, an epidemic of streptococcal pharyngitis (SP) affected almost 25% of the 800 inhabitants of a community settlement (kibbutz), and failed to respond to treatment with penicillin and/or erythromycin, despite the fact that the streptococci were highly sensitive to penicillin (minimum inhibitory concentration: MIC less than 0.001 micrograms/ml). We suggested that the concomitant presence of beta-lactamase producing organisms in the pharyngeal cavities of the affected individuals with SP could inactivate the antibiotics, rendering the streptococci resistant to penicillin.

Oral ciprofloxacin treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa osteomyelitis.

Twenty-two adult patients with osteomyelitis due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa were enrolled in an open, prospective cooperative study to determine the efficacy of oral ciprofloxacin therapy in a dosage of 750 mg twice a day. Twenty patients received a complete course of treatment and could be assessed for efficacy. There were 12 men and 8 women, with a mean age of 55 years.

Urinary Mycobacterium fortuitum infection.

Mycobacterium fortuitum, a common saprophyte usually found in water and soil, can also be isolated from sputum and gastric secretions of healthy carriers. Under certain conditions, significant clinical infections due to M. fortuitum do occur.