Objective: to determine the simultaneous presence of H. pylori in both the oral cavity and gastric mucosal in patients suffering digestive pathologies and to establish the possible association between the presence of H. pylori in the oral cavity and the gingivoperiodontal pathology. Study design: Patients with gastric symptoms (case group) and asymptomatic patients (control group) seen at the Gastroenterology Department of Dr. Julio C. Perrando Hospital (Resistencia, Argentina) were selected. Dental plaque and saliva samples from both groups were obtained. In the case group, gastric biopsy samples were also taken. H. pylori was detected in gastric biopsies by histological stains, and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was carried out on the oral samples. Results: Among the 98 patients (43 cases and 55 controls), 196 oral samples (saliva 98, dental plaque 98) and 43 gastric biopsias were obtained. H. pylori was detected in oral samples in 18/98 patients, in gastric biopsies in 38/43 patients, and in both samples in 15/43 patients. Conclusions: The presence of H. pylori in the oral cavity of patients suffering digestive pathologies is more frequent in those patients harbouring a gingivoperiodontal disease, and this fact could represent an obstacle for the eradication of the bacterium. At the same time, it could constitute a risk factor for gastrointestinal reinfection after treatment.

Salmonella Infantis has been the second most common serovar in Argentina in the last two years, being isolated mostly from paediatric hospitalised patients. In order to determine the clonal relationship among Salmonella Infantis strains, we examined 15 isolates from paediatric patient faeces in Argentina (12 geographically related and 3 geographically non-related) by using antimicrobial susceptibility, plasmid profiling, repetitive extragenic palindromic (REP) PCR, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC) PCR, and low-frequency restriction analysis of chromosomal DNA by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Four Spanish strains were included as controls of clonal diversity in molecular techniques. Antibiotype and plasmid profile was not useful as epidemiological tools. PFGE and REP-PCR were able to discriminate between Argentinean and Spanish isolates of Salmonella Infantis allowing to detect genetically related strains in three different cities. This finding indicates that a possible spread of a clone of this serovar in the North-eastern Region of Argentina has taken place in 1998.

Given that the Shigella species that were studied showed a high level of resistance to the most frequently used antibiotics, surveillance activities should be implemented in order to detect and control the appearance of new resistant strains. Applying epidemiological typing techniques can provide more precise information about the distribution and evolution of resistant strains of circulating microorganisms.

-Background -The clinical outcome of Helicobacter pylori infection has been associated with virulence factors. The presence of these factors is useful as molecular markers in the identification of the high risk for developing severe gastric pathologies. Objective -To correlate the presence of virulence markers cagA and bab2A of H. pylori in oral and gastric biopsy samples. Methods -An observational, prospective, descriptive, and cross-sectional study was carried out between September 2011 and September 2012. Patients suffering dyspepsia with indication for upper gastrointestinal video endoscopy who attended the Gastroenterology Service of the Hospital Dr. Julio C. Perrando were included. Epidemiological investigation was completed. To detect the bacteria and their virulence genes, samples of saliva, dental plaque and gastric biopsy were taken and processed by PCR.Results -Sixty-one patients were selected for this study (30 women and 31 men). H. pylori was detected in 31 gastric biopsies and 31 oral samples.Significant difference between oral and gastric samples was found in cagA genotype. Agreement between oral and gastric genotypes was found in 38.7% of samples from the same patient. Conclusion -This study is the first in provide information about the genotypes of the Argentinean Northeast H. pylori strains. Despite the high prevalence of H. pylori infection, the most of patients had less virulent genotypes in oral cavity and gastric tissue. The cagA/babA2 combination was not frequent in the samples studied. There was not a statistical correlation between the virulence genes and gastroduodenal or oral diseases. Although in some patients the same genotype was found both in oral and gastric samples, it cannot be ensure that they corresponding to the same strain because a DNA sequencing was not performed.

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Legionella spp. is an environmental bacterium that can survive in a wide range of physicochemical conditions and may colonize distribution systems of drinking water and storage tanks. Legionella pneumophila is the major waterborne pathogen that can cause 90% of Legionnaires' disease cases. The aim of this study was to detect the presence of Legionella spp. in household drinking water tanks in the city of Resistencia, Chaco. The detection of Legionella in water samples was performed by culture methods as set out in ISO 11731:1998. Thirty two water samples were analyzed and Legionella spp. was recovered in 12 (37.5%) of them. The monitoring of this microorganism in drinking water is the first step towards addressing the control of its spread to susceptible hosts.

Prevalencia y caracterización del síndrome de burnout en residentes 161 4 con baja RP. En tanto que de 6 (R2): 4 presentaron baja RP y 3 tuvieron entre alto y moderado CE y DP. Mientras que de 8 (R3): todos presentaron alta DP y 5 con alto CE y 3 con bajo RP. Se halló que el SBO en todos los casos fue moderado. Conclusiones: Todos los residentes de la especialidad de Clínica Pediátrica de este hospital presentaron valores compatibles con SBO, siendo el componente más afectado la alta DP.

We studied the bacteriology ofmaxillary sinus aspirates obtain ed from patients diagnosed with chronic sinusitis. We recovered 659 strains from 510 aspirates; of these, 572 (86.8 %) were aerobes and 87 (13.2 %) were anaerobes. Aerobes only were recovered from 310 of the 510 specimens (60.8%) and anaerobes only from 31 (6.1 %). Among the 572 aerobic bacteria, the most prevalent organisms were Streptococcus viridans (158 strains [27.6%]), Streptococcus pneumoniae (67 [11 .7 %}), Corynebacterium species (66 [11 .5 %]), Staphylococcus aureus (54 [9.4%]), Moraxella catarrhalis (38 [6.6%]), Hemophilus parainfluenzae (33 [5.8%]), and group C beta-hemolytic streptococci (26 [4.5%]). Amon g the 87 recovered anaerobes were species ofPep tostreptococcus (32 strains [36.8 %]), Prevotella (22 [25.3 %]), Actinomyces (13 [14.9 %]), Propionibacterium (11 [12.6%]), Fusobacterium (8 [9 .2 %]), and Veillonella (l [1.1%]). Beta-lactamase p roduction was detected in 115 ofthe 572 aerobic strains (20.1 %) and in 10 of the 87 anaerobic strains (11.5 %). Wefound that the prevalence and type of organisms we identified in chronic sinusitis did not differ substantiallyfrom those reported in pr evious studies. Our study is one ofthe more extensive reports on the type and prevalence ofpathogens in chronic sinusitis that has been publ ished to date.