The community-acquired, monomicrobial, K. pneumoniae-associated liver abscess syndromes that typically occur in the USA are mainly noninvasive and affect Asian or Hispanic persons. However, this report provides an alert that CIKPLA syndrome can occur in North America, and physicians need to be aware of it.

Heterologous viruses have been examined for their ability to accelerate the course of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1. In this study, ACH-2 cells persistently infected with HIV-1 exhibited augmented HIV-1 replication as a result of superinfection with herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1. Using HSV-1 mutants with deletions in the genes encoding immediate-early proteins ICP0, ICP4, and ICP27, it was found that ICP0 and ICP27, but not ICP4, were essential for up-regulation of HIV replication. Northern blot analysis showed that this activation of HIV was characterized by an initial rise in the level of the small, subgenomic (2.0 and 4.3 kb) mRNA species, followed by an increase in the level of unspliced genomic (9.2 kb) mRNA. Such a shift in transcriptional phase recapitulates the early-to-late transition seen in single-step growth curves of acute HIV-1 infection. Thus, HSV can activate HIV-1 from latency in ACH-2 cells, this activation of HIV is independent of productive HSV replication since the delta ICP4 deletion mutant is replication-incompetent, and this activation is evident as an increase in the steady-state levels of HIV transcripts.

Nine episodes of chronic peritoneal dialysis (CPD)-associated peritonitis with vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) were described between November 1993 and February 1996 in our dialysis unit. During the time period, 216 patients were treated for 227 episodes of peritonitis. Of the patients developing peritonitis with VRE the mean age +/- SD was 56.3 +/- 9.7 years. There were 5 females, 4 males, 5 Caucasians and 4 African-Americans. Diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and gastrointestinal disease were present in 7, 8 and 7 of the 9 patients with VRE peritonitis, respectively. Patients were maintained on CPD therapy for an average of 29.9 +/- 19.2 patient months before developing VRE peritonitis. The prior rate of CPD associated peritonitis in the patients developing VRE peritonitis was significantly higher than the rate noted in the CPD patients not developing peritonitis with VRE (1 episode in 6.3 patient months vs. 1 episode in 12.5 patient months, P < 0.05). All 9 patients had used vancomycin in the six months prior to the development of VRE peritonitis and 78% had used a cephalosporin. The antimicrobial therapy used to eradicate peritonitis with VRE varied among the 9 patients with chloramphenicol used in 4 patients. The Tenckhoff catheter was removed in 6 of the 9 patients and was successfully reinserted in one patient. The catheter was not removed in 3 patients and 2 of these patients expired. Five of the 9 patients expired while being treated for VRE, 2 transferred to hemodialysis and 2 continued CPD therapy. VRE peritonitis is a major concern for patients maintained on CPD therapy. Future studies are needed with case controls to determine the significance of prior vancomycin and cephalosporin therapy, fecal VRE carriage and certain demographic data on the acquisition of VRE peritonitis. Furthermore, the optimal therapy and outcome may be better clarified through such a review.

No abstract

Lyme arthritis, caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, is a common tick-borne illness in New England and the upper Midwest. Most often, the disease affects the knee and has typically been reported as a cause of native joint infection. There has been only 1 case of Lyme periprosthetic joint infection (associated with a total knee arthroplasty) reported in the literature, and to our knowledge, no other reported cases of Lyme periprosthetic joint infections exist. In this article, we report on 2 patients diagnosed with prosthetic joint infections who were subsequently found to have Lyme prosthetic joint infections, with B burgdorferi as the infectious organism. We discuss the medical and surgical management of these patients.

No abstract

Lymphadenopathy can occur at any stage of HIV infection, with multiple aetiologies including reactive, infectious and malignant. An accurate and timely diagnosis has obvious implications for treatment. We report cryptococcal lymphadenitis as the presenting manifestation of HIV infection. The diagnosis in our patient was eventually confirmed with a lymph node biopsy. Fine needle aspiration cytology has been shown to be a rapid and cost-effective method, which has been used in the diagnosis of lymphadenopathy in HIV infection, and could have been used to make an earlier diagnosis in our patient.

No abstract