Increased risk for Entamoeba histolytica infection and invasive amebiasis in HIV seropositive men who have sex with men in Taiwan.

Background: Incidence of Entamoeba histolytica infection and clinical manifestations and treatment response of invasive amebiasis (IA) in HIV-infected patients have rarely been investigated before.

Methodology/principal Findings: At the National Taiwan University Hospital, medical records of HIV-infected patients who received a diagnosis of IA between 1994 and 2005 were reviewed. The incidence of amebiasis was investigated in serial blood and stool samples from 670 and 264 HIV-infected patients, respectively, using serological and specific amebic antigen assays.

Molecular analysis of group A streptococcal isolates associated with scarlet fever in southern Taiwan between 1993 and 2002.

Collected between 1993 and 2002 at a Taiwanese university hospital, 77 group A streptococcus isolates associated with scarlet fever were grouped by emm typing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The predominance of an emm1 clone before 1996 and the presence of genetically diverse emm1 and emm4 strains thereafter were found.