Seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 among health care workers in a Portuguese hospital.

Background: Health care workers (HCW) are presumably exposed to a higher risk of infection by SARS-CoV-2 and could possibly represent a source of transmission to susceptible patients. Thus, characterization of SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCW is necessary to better understand the determinants of viral transmission and properly implement strategies to prevent dissemination and protect HCW and vulnerable patients. The aim of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in a Portuguese tertiary hospital, in the period of July 2020 to March 2021, before the generalized use of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, characterize its evolution over time, and identify risk factors associated with seroconversion.

Treatment failure after multiple courses of triclabendazole in a Portuguese patient with fascioliasis.

Fascioliasis is a trematode flatworm infection caused by Humans are incidental hosts, and the infection is most often acquired by eating watercress grown in contaminated water in livestock-rearing areas. Triclabendazole is the only highly effective treatment, with a reported cure rate of >90%. Treatment failure may be due to several factors, though resistance is rare in humans and scarcely reported, most probably a reflection of the widespread use of anthelmintics in livestock.

Meningoencephalocele causing recurrent meningitis.

Patients with recurrent meningitis must be carefully studied to exclude risk factors including anatomic defects.

Non-falciparum malaria imported mainly from Africa: a review from a Portuguese hospital.

Background: Non-falciparum malaria (NFM) has been reported to be responsible for around 25% of imported malaria cases in Europe but is often neglected due to its less severe clinical course when compared to Plasmodium falciparum. Differentiation between species is however crucial for a correct approach. The objective of this study is to report the cases of this often missed aetiology of malaria in a tertiary hospital in Portugal.

Serial Tuberculosis Screening in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients Receiving Anti-TNFα Therapy.

Background And Aims: One of the adverse effects of the tumour necrosis factor alpha [[TNFα] monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases is a higher propensity for tuberculosis development. The aim of this study was to explore the utility and sensitivity of serial tuberculosis screening during anti-TNFα treatment.

Methods: A cohort of 46 inflammatory bowel disease patients receiving infliximab was prospectively recruited and followed for 26 months.

Artemether-lumefantrine and liver enzyme abnormalities in non-severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria in returned travellers: a retrospective comparative study with quinine-doxycycline in a Portuguese centre.

Background: Artemisinin-based therapy is the current standard treatment for non-severe malaria due to Plasmodium falciparum. The potential for asymptomatic liver toxicity of this therapy and its implication in clinical practice is currently unknown. The aim of this study is to assess the hepatic function in patients treated with a standard three-day artemisinin-based regimen and to compare it with the quinine-doxycycline regimen.