Background: Neonatal septicemia is a serious life-threatening condition with high mortality. The accurate diagnosis of sepsis is one of the main challenges in emergency medicine. A great effort to reduce the neonatal mortality rate is put into looking for new reliable biomarkers. Among biomarkers, presepsin could be one of the most promising and reliable biomarker for early diagnosis of sepsis. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of presepsin in the early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. Methodology: By chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA), the level of presepsin was assessed in 40 full term neonates with suspected sepsis (Proven sepsis group: 23 patients with +ve blood culture & Probable sepsis group: 17 patients with-ve blood culture) and15 healthy full term neonates. Results: Presepsin level was found to be significantly higher in patient group than control group as well as in proven sepsis group than probable sepsis group. The cut off value for presepsin was 875pg/ml at which the sensitivity and specificity of presepsin were (95.7%, 87.5%) respectively. Presepsin level was found to be significantly higher in females than males. There was no significant difference in the presepsin level as regard mode of delivery nor onset of sepsis. Conclusion: Presepsin is a novel biomarker with high sensitivity and good specificity for sepsis and its measurement can be useful for early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.

Background/Aim: Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a recently discovered parvovirus associated with acute respiratory tract infections in children. The aim of this study was to define the epidemiological profile and the clinical characteristics associated with HBoV infection in a population of children hospitalized with respiratory tract infections at Benha University Hospital, especially in terms of HBoV load. Methods: 200 nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected and analyzed at the period from September 2010 to July 2011 from children with respiratory manifestations, their ages ranged from 1 month to 12 years. All samples were tested for HBoV DNA by quantitative real time PCR and tested by Ag detection immunofluorescence test for 8 of the most important viruses encountered in lower respiratory tract infections in infants & children namely, Adenovirus(ADV), Influenza A and B (Flu-A and B), Para influenza 1,2 and3 (PIV 1-3), Human metapnuemovirus (HMPV) and Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Results: Our results revealed that HBoV was the most prevalent virus 20/200 (10%) followed by RSV (8%) and HMPV (4%). 15/20 (75%) of HBoV+ samples were in co-infection with one of the tested viral agents and the majority of the co-infections, 10/15 (66.7%) were HBoV-RSV co-infection. The mean age of HBoV+ cases was 19.1 months and the majority 14/20 (70%) were under 2 years old. HBoV+ cases were concentrated in the winter season. No significant differences were found in term of age , gender or frequencies of respiratory manifestations between patients with sole HBoV infection and patients with coinfection with other viruses. The median viral load in patients with sole HBoV infection (196x10 5) was significantly higher than those who had co-infection with other respiratory viruses (0.033x10 5) (p=0.006). The manifestations observed in patients with serious lower respiratory tract infections, like tachypnea, dyspnea and cyanosis, were significantly presented more frequently in children with high HBoV loads than those with low HBoV load. On conclusion: HBoV is one of the most prevalent respiratory viruses and plays an important role in respiratory illness in children.

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Background: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) might has a role in the development and disease activity of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA).There are several disadvantages in the conventional methods for MIF genotyping and there is a strong need for convenient, flexible, accurate and inexpensive method. Objectives: This study was designed to study the application of single closed tube melting temperature (Tm)shift method in genotyping of gene in RA patients and to compare its result with the conventional PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and to investigate the potential association of these variants of MIF gene with susceptibility and activity of RA. Methodology: GC-rich tail was attached to 5'-end of one of the two allele specific forward primers, such that MIF alleles can be discriminated by the Tm of the PCR products. One hundred RA patients and 40 healthy controls were genotyped for MIF-173 G>C by both Tm-shift method and conventional PCR-RFLP. Results: The comparison of the PCR-RFLP and the Tm-shift method showed one discordant result in 140 samples tested. Retesting this sample with prolonged time of incubation with the restriction enzyme, corrected the result to become 100% agreement between the two methods. No significant association could be found between MIF-173 G>C SNP and risk of RA. C/C genotype is more prone to higher disease activity than other genotypes. Conclusion: The single closed-tube Tm-shift method is reliable, rapid and cost-effective and it is superior to conventional PCR-RFLP in genotyping of MIF.