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A Colorado family purchased 6 hamsters from a pet store, all of whom died within a week from a diarrheal illness. One, however, managed to bite a 3-year-old child on the index finger before dying. One week later, the child developed fever and painful left axillary lymphadenopathy, as well as sloughing of skin at the site of the bite.
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Health-care providers should be vigilant for LGV, especially among MSM exposed to persons from Europe, and be prepared to diagnose the disease and provide appropriate treatment to patients and their exposed sex partners.
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A 52-year-old female pet store employee presented to a Florida Emergency room with a 2-day history of a febrile illness. She was hypotensive and, despite receiving antibiotic therapy in an ICU setting, died within 12 hours of admission.
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HHV6 DNA was detected in 57 of 5638 (1%) cord blood samples, while HHV7 DNA was detected in none of 2129 cord blood samples. Congenital HHV6 infections were clinically and virologically distinct from postnatal HHV6 infections.
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Previous studies have suggested that aseptic loosing of joint prostheses may be caused by infection with non culturable bacteria. This study found that PCR testing of operative specimens for bacterial 16s RNA did not identify the presence of bacteria if adequate microbiologic processing of specimens was performed and was negative.
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In this small, retrospective analysis, surgical drainage of epidural abscesses was not associated with improved outcomes, even in patients who presented with neurological deficits.
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A 46-year-old male presented to a San Jose, California, hospital emergency department with with bilateral diplopia dysphagia, dysphonia, and weakness of his proximal arms. He had been seen in several other medical care facilities over the previous days without diagnosis. The patient regularly self-injected with black tar heroin and had been doing so for 8 years.
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Invasive aspergillosis among neutropenic patients could be reliably diagnosed using a commercial test Fungitell to detect the cell wall component (1->3)-ß-D-glucan of certain fungi, including Aspergillus. However, diagnosis was more accurate when both (1->3)-ß-D-glucan and galactomannan were detected.
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Hydrocortisone administration to patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia was associated with improved oxygenation, radiographic clearing, hospital length-of-stay, and patient survival.
