To determine the role of recently recognized enteropathogens in childhood diarrhea in China, 221 children with diarrhea and 108 controls seen at the Beijing Children's Hospital were studied during April and May 1989. Stools were examined for ova, parasites, and rotavirus, cultured for bacterial pathogens, and probed for enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC), enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), and enteropathogenic adherence factor-positive (EAF+) E. coli. Pathogens were identified in 56.5% of children with diarrhea and 43.5% of controls (P = 0.04). Detection of enteropathogens was significantly greater in patients examined within 1 week of symptom onset (65%) than in patients examined later (39%; P = 0.01). ETEC was the most frequently detected pathogen in children with diarrhea, accounting for 20% of the cases. Other agents identified in patients included the following: salmonellae, 12%; rotavirus, 7%; EIEC, 7%; EHEC, 7%; members of the Aeromonas hydrophila group, 6%; EAF+ E. coli, 5%; Ascaris lumbricoides, 3%; shigellae, 3%; campylobacters, 2%; and Vibrio spp., 0.5%. The isolation rates of salmonellae (P = 0.02), EAF+ E. coli (P = 0.04), and mixed pathogens (P = 0.05) were significantly greater for diarrhea patients than for controls. Resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents occurred in 39% of the Salmonella isolates, 22% of the Aeromonas isolates, and 17% of the Shigella isolates. Multiresistant salmonellae (P = 0.05) and shigellae were recovered from diarrheal stools only. Ciprofloxacin, cefotaxime, and imipenem were the only agents tested to which all bacterial isolates were susceptible in vitro. These results suggest that both traditional and newly recognized agents are important causes of childhood diarrhea in Beijing and that therapy may be complicated by indigenous antimicrobial resistance.

The electrophoretic pattern formed by individual bacterial plasmid DNA molecules of differing molecular size was evaluated as an epidemiological marker among isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis from patients with prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE). Purified covalently closed circular plasmid DNA was obtained from selected isolates, and 79o of the plasmids were found to be <10 megadaltons in size; only these small plasmids were sought in subsequent screening gels. Crude cell lysates obtained by a rapid lysis technique and screened by agarose gel electorphoresis revealed the presence of one or more small plasmids in 54 of 58 (93%) PVE isolates; 79%o contained two or more. Among 45 plasmid-containing isolates from cases of sporadic PVE at three institutions there were no identical plasmid patterns, although several isolates differed by a single plasmid. In contrast, among nine isolates from a cluster of cases of PVE in Canada, two groups of three isolates each had identical plasmid patterns. Additional clinical data suggested that these isolates were epidemiologically related. Phage typing distinguished one of the groups with plasmid pattern identity, but not the other, from the three isolates with dissimilar patterns. Plasmid pattern analysis shows promise as an epidemiological marker for clinically important isolates of S. epidermidis.

The present article addresses the use of antiviral drugs in the management of seasonal influenza illness for the 2012/2013 season. It updates the previous document published in 2011 (1). Noteworthy guidance updates since 2011 include the following: Seasonal influenza in 2012/2013 is predicted to be caused by two human influenza A and one influenza B strain, all of which are anticipated to remain generally susceptible to oseltamivir.The predicted strains are A/California/7/2009 (H1N1) pdm09-like, A/Victoria/361/2011 (H3N2)-like and B/Wisconsin/1/2010-like (Yamagata lineage). All are included in the seasonal influenza vaccine and are susceptible to oseltamivir.Swine-variant H3N2v, which has rarely caused infection in humans exposed to infected swine within the past year in the United States, is susceptible to oseltamivir. It is not included in the current seasonal influenza vaccine.It is still considered that initiation of antiviral therapy more than 36 h to 48 h after onset of symptoms is beneficial in patients hospitalized with complicated influenza and severe illness.Oseltamivir continues to be recommended for the treatment of influenza in pregnant women.The use of antiviral drugs among measures to control outbreaks of influenza in closed facilities such as correctional institutions is now included in the present document.

During a 12-month period, 23 patients aged 12 to 78 years were treated for 8 to 40 days (mean, 23 days) at home with intravenous (i.v.) antibiotics. Diseases treated included bone and joint infection (14 patients), blastomycosis (two), actinomycosis (two), staphylococcal bacteremia (two), endocarditis (two), and candidal pyelonephritis (one). After initial in-hospital training, patients self-administered their drugs through a heparin-lock i.v. cannula, which was changed regularly by a visiting home care nurse. Antibiotics administered included cloxacillin, penicillin G, cephalosporins, gentamicin, carbenicillin, and amphotericin B. Patient and family acceptance of the program was good, the program was therapeutically effective, and, apart from a decreased prevalence of phlebitis with the heparin lock at home, side effects were no different from those of in-hospital-treated patients. The cost of home therapy was $ 40 per patient-day compared with an estimated $ 137 had the patients remained in hospital. Most patients were able to resume normal activities while receiving home i.v. therapy.

Abstract. Deans GD, Stiver HG, McElhaney JE (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada). Influenza vaccines provide diminished protection but are cost-saving in older adults (Foresight). J Intern Med 2010; 267: 220-227.Influenza is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality in adults aged over 65 years. Although vaccination remains the most effective method of preventing influenza and its sequellae, current vaccination strategies provide less protection to older adults than to younger persons. Influenza vaccination in community-dwelling older adults is cost-effective, though there is room for improvement. Newer vaccine strategies considered for use in older adults include alternate routes of administration (intradermal or intranasal), addition of adjuvant, and novel methods of antigen presentation. Measuring cell-mediated immune response to new vaccines in addition to antibody response may correlate better with vaccine efficacy in this population. Whilst pandemic influenza A ⁄ H1N1 2009 (pH1N1) has largely spared older adults, the impact of pH1N1 vaccination has yet to be determined.

Intrathecal baclofen administered by means of an implantable pump is being increasingly used for successful treatment of spasticity. Meningitis following intrathecally administered baclofen is a rare but serious complication that is difficult to treat without removal of the pump. Because success rates with intravenously administered antibiotic drugs for the treatment of meningitis have been low, intrathecal administration of antibiotic agents is often required to eradicate the pathogen. The authors report the case of a patient in whom Staphylococcus epidermidis meningitis developed after insertion of an intrathecal baclofen pump. The patient was successfully treated by intrathecal coadministration of vancomycin and baclofen.

The present document outlines current guidelines and supporting literature relating to the use of antiviral drugs for chemoprophylaxis and influenza illness therapy in paediatric and adult settings. The focus is on the management of influenza in interpandemic periods. Where appropriate, the areas in need of additional research are identified. It will be necessary to update aspects of these guidelines as new information emerges. The recommendations that follow represent the results of a joint effort supported by the Canadian Paediatric Society and the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada.

The authors have reviewed the clinical manifestations and therapy of hydrocephalus shunt infections in 32 patients with a total of 35 shunt infections. These 35 infections accounted for 43 hospital admissions. First infections usually developed within 2 months following surgery. At the time of diagnosis, 89% of patients were febrile. Fever and cough as a symptom complex characterized the initial clinical presentation in six of 19 episodes of infection complicating ventriculoatrial (VA) shunts, as compared with none of 21 episodes in which infection complicated ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunts. Seven of 21 infectious episodes occurring in patients with VP shunts in situ were associated with significant abdominal pain and tenderness. These patients usually had no other clinical features to suggest shunt infection. Both of these symptom complexes often led to delays in diagnosis and treatment. Causative organisms included Staphylococcus epidermidis in 21, Staphylococcus aureus in seven, Gram-negative aerobic bacilli in seven, diphtheroids in five, Streptococcus species in four, and anaerobes in three. Five infections were polymicrobial in nature. Positive blood cultures were seen in 13 of 17 infectious episodes complicating VA shunts, as compared with only three of 13 other infections. When the shunt was completely removed, with or without replacement, all 13 patients were cured. When intravenous antibiotics were administered in conjunction with incomplete shunt removal, only eight of 15 courses resulted in cure. Intraventricular antibiotics were administered in four patients and all were cured. Therapy of shunt infections with parenteral antibiotics and incomplete shunt removal is associated with an unacceptably high failure rate.