Methicillin-resistant isolates with reduced vancomycin susceptibility from bloodstream infections in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Vancomycin has become the first-line therapy for most infections caused by methicillin-resistant staphylococci. To evaluate the vancomycin MIC, staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC) types and clonality of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) isolates recovered from neonates with true primary bloodstream infections (BSI). CoNS isolates were prospectively recovered from blood cultures of non-repetitive patients admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in a tertiary-care hospital during a 3-year period.

The influence of age, smoking, antiretroviral therapy, and esophagitis on the local immunity of the esophagus in patients with AIDS.

Studies have shown immunological and morphological alterations in the esophagus during the course of AIDS. Esophageal postmortem samples of 22 men with AIDS autopsied in a teaching hospital between 1982 and 2009 were collected. We carried out revision of the autopsy reports and medical records, morphometric analysis (Image J and KS-300 Kontron-Zeiss), and immunohistochemical (anti-S100, anti-IgA, anti-IgG, and anti-IgM) analysis of the esophagus.

Morphological and immunological changes in the skin of autopsied women with AIDS.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is characterized by decreased immunity, making a patient more susceptible to opportunistic infections which can have cutaneous manifestations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the local immunity of the skin through morphological and immunohistochemical analysis. Skin samples of 52 women, 27 without AIDS and 25 with AIDS, autopsied in an academic referral hospital in Brazil were evaluated.

The influence of gender and of AIDS on the immunity of autopsied patients' esophagus.

Previous studies have shown that males who have AIDS are more frequently affected by infectious diseases than females. The esophagus is the organ in the digestive tube that is more commonly affected by opportunistic infections during the syndrome. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of AIDS and of gender on local immunity of the esophageal epithelium.