In order to evaluate the seroprevalence of the american trypanosomiasis, syphilis, toxoplasmosis, rubella, hepatitis B infection, hepatitis C infection and human immunodeficiency virus infection among pregnant women attended at the Hospital Universitário Regional Norte do Paraná, Londrina State University, Paraná, a retrospective study of the serologic results performed in the prenatal routine during the period of June 1996 to June 1998 was carried out. The rates of seropositivity were as follows: american trypanosomiasis = 0.9%, syphilis = 1.6%, toxoplasmosis = 67% (IgG) and 1.8% (IgM), rubella = 89% (IgG) and 1.2% (IgM), hepatitis B surface antigen = 0.8%, hepatitis C virus = 0.8% and human immunodeficiency virus infection = 0.6%. An association between the increase in the seroprevalence of Chagas' disease and patient age was detected (p=0.006). The results underscore the importance of the serological tests in perinatal care, to prevent both the congenital and perinatally transmitted forms of theses infectious diseases.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of pneumococcus colonization among HIV-infected outpatients aged 0 to 18 years. To determine the resistance to penicillin of the microorganisms observed, to identify their serotypes, and to determine whether there are associations between known risk factors and colonization in this group. Material and method:This was an observational and crosssectional study in which nasopharynx swabs were collected from 112 children on the occasion of their monthly appointments and a questionnaire applied to the mothers. The material collected was processed at the microbiology laboratory of the hospital in accordance with National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) regulations and serotyping was performed at the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC). Data were analyzed statistically using the chi-square test and with univariate and multivariate analysis with multiple logistic regression. Results:The prevalence rate of nasopharyngeal colonization by pneumococci was 28.6%, with a 15.6% rate of resistance to penicillin (6.2% intermediate resistance and 9.4% full resistance). The serotypes identified were 6A, 6B, 7C, 9V, 11A, 13, 14, 15A, 16F, 18C, 19B, 19F, 23B, 23F, and 34. In this population there were no associations between pneumococcal colonization and the risk factors studied. Conclusions:The prevalence of pneumococcal colonization among HIV-infected children at our service was not higher than prevalence rates observed in healthy children and reported in the literature.

Over the past two decades, nosocomial infections caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producingOver the past two decades, nosocomial infections caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Klebsiella spp. have become a major problem all around the world (CDC 1998, Archibald 2004, Martins et al. 2005). This situation is of concern because there are limited antimicrobial options to treat patients infected with these pathogens (Bratu et al. 2005), and also because this kind of resistance can spread to a wide variety of Gramnegative bacilli, either Enterobacteriaceae (Knothe et al. 1983, Chanawong et al. 2001, Petroni et al. 2002, Calatayud 2005 or non-fermentative microorganisms (Poirel et al. 2003, Quinteros et al. 2003.Several risk factors for ESBL-producing Klebsiella spp. infections have been described, the most frequent being antimicrobial exposure, especially to third-generation cephalosporins (Naumovski et al. 1992, Lautenbach et al. 2001, Bermejo et al. 2003, and exposure to invasive procedures such as central venous catheters, mechanical ventilation, urinary catheterization and intraabdominal surgery (Piroth et al. 1998, Lautenbach et al. 2001, Menashe et al. 2001). It has also been demonstrated that this kind of infection increases length of stay among hospitalized patients (Cofsky et al. 2002, Stone et al. 2003, producing a significant economic impact (Stone et al. 2003).The literature is conflictive about the effect on mortality caused by ESBL-producing Klebsiella spp. compared to non-ESBL-producing Klebsiella spp., with some studies reporting a negative impact (Paterson et al. 1997, Kim et al. 2002, Bermejo et al. 2003, Martínez et al. 2005 and others finding no impact (Menashe et al. 2001, Kang et al. 2004.The purpose of the present study was to assess the risk factors and clinical impact associated with ESBL-producing strains, compared to non-ESBL-producing strains among in-patients at a university hospital with documented infection caused by Klebsiella spp. MATERIALS AND METHODSThe University Hospital of the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto (HC-FMRP) is a general hospital located in Ribeirão Preto city, at the state of São Paulo. It has 847-bes, distributed in 29 wards with several clinical and surgical specialties. It has six intensive-care units, being their areas of activities: neonatology, pediatry, general care of adults, cardiology, thoracic surgery, and neurosurgery.The research project was submitted to the local Ethics Committee and was approved. 2003). We considered the E-test  to be positive when it showed at least a 4-fold decrease in the MIC for the combination side, compared to the cephalosporin alone side (NCCLS 2000). Strains were considered to be ESBL-producers when they tested positive in at least one detection test. K. pneumoniae ATCC 700603 was used as a positive control and E. coli ATCC 25922 as a negative control for the ESBL detection tests.Clinical data were collected from the medical records and also from physical examination of the patients...

Consideram os Autores que a pesquisa de anticorpos IgM no soro é tática capaz de revelar recentes infecções pós-transfusionais. Por isso, decidiram usar esse tipo de mensuração relativamente a grupo constituído por 101 politrans-fundidos, tendo abordado especificamente as aquisições de doença de Chagas e toxoplasmose. Através da investigação que realizaram, só em duas oportunidades encontraram anticorpos IgM anti-Trypanosoma cruzi ou anti-Toxoplasma gondii e, portanto, não evidenciaram expressivo panorama tradutor de processos há pouco tempo contraídos, como ainda, por meio de anticorpos IgG não identificaram números expressivos de pessoas com essas protozooses. No entanto, detectaram a expressiva taxa de 4,9% de casos de doença de Chagas muito provavelmente decorrentes da hemoterapia. A despeito da relevância não acentuada dos resultados que obtiveram, julgaram os Autores ser válido estimular a efetivação de outros estudos congêneres e correlatos, aptos a contribuir para aqui-latamento de riscos pertinentes à prática hemoterápica.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of pneumococcus colonization among HIV-infected outpatients aged 0 to 18 years. To determine the resistance to penicillin of the microorganisms observed, to identify their serotypes, and to determine whether there are associations between known risk factors and colonization in this group. Material and method:This was an observational and cross-sectional study in which nasopharynx swabs were collected from 112 children on the occasion of their monthly appointments and a questionnaire applied to the mothers. The material collected was processed at the microbiology laboratory of the hospital in accordance with National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) regulations and serotyping was performed at the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC). Data were analyzed statistically using the chi-square test and with univariate and multivariate analysis with multiple logistic regression. Results:The prevalence rate of nasopharyngeal colonization by pneumococci was 28.6%, with a 15.6% rate of resistance to penicillin (6.2% intermediate resistance and 9.4% full resistance). The serotypes identified were 6A, 6B, 7C, 9V, 11A, 13, 14, 15A, 16F, 18C, 19B, 19F, 23B, 23F, and 34. In this population there were no associations between pneumococcal colonization and the risk factors studied. Conclusions:The prevalence of pneumococcal colonization among HIV-infected children at our service was not higher than prevalence rates observed in healthy children and reported in the literature.