Nocardiosis: A Neglected Disease.

Nocardiosis is a neglected tropical disease. It has varied geographical presence and a spectrum of clinical presentations. This review aims to focus on the epidemiology of nocardial infections with a systematic approach to their diagnosis and treatment.

Bioterrorism: Clinical and public health aspects of anthrax.

Bioterrorism is intentional use of bioweapons (bacteria, viruses, or fungi or their toxins) to harm people, animals, agriculture, or environment of a country. Its impact can cause high mortality and morbidity and serious disruption of economy and social and political life. Countries must be fully equipped to respond through adequate surveillance systems and management, containment, and preventive policies.

Antimicrobial resistance among blood culture isolates of Salmonella enterica in New Delhi.

Introduction: Enteric fever is a global public health problem, especially in developing countries. Antimicrobial resistance is a major issue enteric fever management. This study examined current pattern of antimicrobial susceptibility among Salmonella enterica isolates from enteric fever cases at a tertiary care centre in New Delhi, India.

Sexually transmitted infections.

In developing countries, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) account for 10% to 20% of adult patients attending government health facilities. A young population, with 36% younger than 15 years, unbalanced male/female ratio(1000:933), increasing urbanization, illiteracy, poverty, sexual promiscuity, and lack of health education account for a high prevalence of STIs. Epidemiologic surveillance system and laboratory diagnostic facilities, especially point-of-care diagnosis, are inadequate in India.

Blastomycosis in India: report of an imported case and current status.

We report a case of disseminated blastomycosis in a female resident of Delhi, who acquired the infection during travel to the USA, which was successfully treated with oral itraconazole. In addition, we present a critical literature review, indicating that blastomycosis is endemic in India but its areas of endemicity, prevalence, and the natural habitat of the etiologic agent, remain undetermined. The diagnosis of blastomycosis was made by examination of Gomori's methenamine silver stained sections of tissue obtained from a biopsy of a subcutaneous, abdominal nodular.

HIV and malnutrition: effects on immune system.

HIV or human immunodeficiency virus infection has assumed worldwide proportions and importance in just a span of 25 years. Continuous research is being done in many parts of the world regarding its treatment and vaccine development, and a lot of money has flown into this. However, fully understanding the mechanisms of immune depletion has still not been possible.

Comparison of an automated system with conventional identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

The present study was designed to compare a fully automated identification/antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) system BD Phoenix (BD) for its efficacy in rapid and accurate identification and AST with conventional manual methods and to determine if the errors reported in AST, such as the (very major errors) VME (false susceptibility), (major errors) ME (false resistance), and (minor errors) MiE (intermediate category interpretation) were within the range certified by FDA. Identification and antimicrobial susceptibility test results of eighty-five clinical isolates including both gram-positive and negative were compared on Phoenix considering the results obtained from conventional manual methods of identification and disc diffusion testing of antibiotics as standards for comparison. Phoenix performed favorably well.

Cytomegalovirus infection in non-immunosuppressed critically ill patients.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an important and common cause of mortality and morbidity in immunocompromised patients such as those with HIV/AIDS, transplant recipients on immunosuppressive therapy, and malignant hematological disease. After primary infection with CMV the virus becomes latent in multiple organs and can later be reactivated during severe dysregulation of the immune system. A large population carry dormant virus and are thus at risk for reactivation.

Conjugate vaccines for enteric fever: proceedings of a meeting organized in New Delhi, India in 2009.

Enteric fever is responsible for significant morbidity in South Asia and high prevalence of severe disease is seen in children under two years of age. Effective typhoid vaccines are available, but they cannot be used for children under two years of age and also have some limitations in older age groups. Participants supported development of a Salmonella Typhi conjugate vaccine able to induce effective, long-lasting immunity in young children.

The burden of enteric fever.

Enteric fever is a disease of developing countries associated with poor public health and low socio-economic indices. Cases of enteric fever occurring in travelers returning to the United States and the UK suggest that it is present across the developing world but that the Indian subcontinent represents a hotspot of disease activity. The best figures available for the global burden of enteric fever support this and suggest that Africa (50/ 100,000) has a far lower burden of disease than Asia (274/100,000).

Species prevalence and antibacterial resistance of enterococci isolated in Kuwait hospitals.

This study investigated the species prevalence and antibacterial resistance among enterococci isolated in Kuwait hospitals. They consisted of 415 isolates of Enterococcus faecalis (85.3 %), Enterococcus faecium (7.