Characteristics of medically attended influenza infection across age groups before the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon.

Background: Influenza represents a significant global health burden for individuals and society. This study assessed the burden of medically attended influenza at a tertiary medical center in Lebanon to describe the demographics, risk factors, and outcomes prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This was a retrospective review of patients who tested positive for the influenza virus during three seasons between July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2019, at the American University of Beirut Medical Center.

The Middle East and North Africa Diagnosis and Management Guidelines for Inborn Errors of Immunity.

Human inborn errors of immunity (IEI) are a group of 485 distinct genetic disorders affecting children and adults. Signs and symptoms of IEI are heterogeneous, and accurate diagnosis can be challenging and depends on the available human expertise and laboratory resources. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has an increased prevalence of IEI because of the high rate of consanguinity with a predominance of autosomal recessive disorders.

Increased blaOXA-23-like prevalence in Acinetobacter baumannii at a tertiary care center in Lebanon (2007-2013).

Introduction: Acinetobacter baumannii has become one of the most feared organisms in hospital-acquired infections during the past decades. Their multi-drug resistant profiles have rendered many broad-spectrum antibiotics ineffective. The purpose of this retrospective study is to describe and compare molecular characteristics of A.

Assessment of combination therapy in BALB/c mice injected with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae strains.

Monotherapeutic options for carbapenem resistant infections are limited. Studies suggest that combination therapy may be associated with better outcomes than monotherapies. However, this is still controversial.

Broad spectrum of autoantibodies in patients with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome and X-linked thrombocytopenia.

Using a protein microarray, a broad spectrum of autoantibodies were demonstrated in patients with either Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) or with X-linked thrombocytopenia (XLT), indicating that immune dysregulation is an integral component of both diseases.

Epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and molecular typing of salmonella typhi isolated from patients with typhoid fever in Lebanon.

The objective of this study was to examine the epidemiology and the clinical manifestations of typhoid fever as well as the susceptibility and strain relatedness of Salmonella typhi isolates in Lebanon from 2006 to 2007. A total of 120 patients with typhoid fever were initially identified from various areas of the country based on positive culture results for S. typhi from blood, urine, stools, bone marrow and/or positive serology.

Dubowitz syndrome: common findings and peculiar urine odor.

Background: Dubowitz syndrome is a rare, autosomal recessive disorder characterized by intrauterine and postnatal growth retardation, severe microcephaly, psychomotor retardation, hyperactivity, eczema, and characteristic dysmorphic facial features. Although many cases have been reported, the cause of this disease is still unknown.

Case: We present here the case of a Lebanese girl with Dubowitz syndrome in whom an unpleasant urine odor was persistently reported since birth.

DOCK8 functions as an adaptor that links TLR-MyD88 signaling to B cell activation.

The adaptors DOCK8 and MyD88 have been linked to serological memory. Here we report that DOCK8-deficient patients had impaired antibody responses and considerably fewer CD27(+) memory B cells. B cell proliferation and immunoglobulin production driven by Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) were considerably lower in DOCK8-deficient B cells, but those driven by the costimulatory molecule CD40 were not.

Genotypes and serotype distribution of macrolide resistant invasive and non-invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from Lebanon.

Background: This study determined macrolide resistance genotypes in clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae from multiple medical centers in Lebanon and assessed the serotype distribution in relation to these mechanism(s) of resistance and the source of isolate recovery.

Methods: Forty four macrolide resistant and 21 macrolide susceptible S. pneumoniae clinical isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility according to CLSI guidelines (2008) and underwent molecular characterization.

A Lebanese family with autosomal recessive oculo-auriculo-vertebral (OAV) spectrum and review of the literature: is OAV a genetically heterogeneous disorder?

Oculo-auriculo-vertebral (OAV) spectrum summarizes a continuum of ocular, auricular, and vertebral anomalies. Goldenhar syndrome is a variant of this spectrum and is characterized by pre-auricular skin tags, microtia, facial asymmetry, ocular abnormalities, and vertebral anomalies of different sizes and shapes. Most cases are thought to be sporadic.

Mutational spectrum of cystic fibrosis in the Lebanese population.

Background: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common autosomal recessive disease in Caucasians; it is however, considered to be rare in the Arab populations. Reports of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) mutations from Arabs, especially from the Lebanese population, are limited.

Methods: Twenty-two unrelated Lebanese families, with at least one child with CF, were studied.

Antiviral drug susceptibilities of seasonal human influenza viruses in Lebanon, 2008-09 season.

The emergence of antiviral drug-resistant strains of the influenza virus in addition to the rapid spread of the recent pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 virus highlight the importance of surveillance of influenza in identifying new variants as they appear. In this study, genetic characteristics and antiviral susceptibility patterns of influenza samples collected in Lebanon during the 2008-09 season were investigated. Forty influenza virus samples were isolated from 89 nasopharyngeal swabs obtained from patients with influenza-like illness.

Effects of interleukin-12 and interleukin-15 on measles-specific T-cell responses in vaccinated infants.

Understanding the infant host response to measles vaccination is important because of their increased mortality from measles and the need to provide effective protection during the first year of life. Measles-specific T and B-cell responses are lower in infants after measles vaccination than in adults. To define potential mechanisms, we investigated age-related differences in measles-specific T-cell proliferation, CD40-L expression, and IFN-gamma production after measles immunization, and the effects of rhIL-12 and rhIL-15 on these responses.