Background: The most common and most serious complication of varicella (chickenpox) in adults is pneumonia, which can lead to severe respiratory failure. Whether addition of corticosteroids to antiviral treatment benefits patients with varicella pneumonia is unclear.Objectives: To assess the effect of dexamethasone as adjunctive therapy for treatment of varicella pneumonia on the length of hospital stay, which might cause earlier resolution of varicella pneumonia.Patients and methods: Forty patients were diagnosed as varicella pneumonia and divided into two groups, the first one involved 20 patients who received dexamethasone and acyclovir, and the second one involved also 20 patients but they received placebo and acyclovir. We measured liver function test, kidney profile, complete blood count, blood glucose, C-reactive protein and the levels of interleukin-6 on the day of presentation, after 4 days of admission and on the day of discharge from the hospital.Result: The mean length of hospital stay in the dexamethasone group was 6.5 days compared with 7.1 days in the placebo group and was significantly different between two groups. The mean time of switching to oral administration of acyclovir was 3.4 days in the dexamethasone group and 4.2 days in the placebo group. The mean time of switching to oral was significantly lower in dexamethasone group than in placebo group.Conclusion: Adding of dexamethasone to acyclovir in patients with varicella pneumonia can reduce the length of hospital stay.
Objectives: To assess the value of PCT as a rapid and sensitive marker for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of lower respiratory tract bacterial infections necessitating antimicrobial treatment and comparing this marker with other markers of infections including C-reactive protein (CRP) and total white-blood cell counts (WBCs).Patients and methods: Sixty Patients were enrolled in the study, they were subjected to complete history taking, physical examination, laboratory investigations including complete blood count, blood gases, blood chemistry, bacteriological culture for sputum and blood, serology for atypicals, and PCR for respiratory viruses, serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and PCT levels were measured. The patients were divided into two groups, group 1 included 26 patients who were culture negative for bacterial infection and group 2 included 34 patients who were culture positive. Group 2 patients were given antibiotic therapy according to the culture sensitivity.Result: The results revealed that, there was no significant difference between group 1 and group 2 patients as regards age, sex, clinical manifestations, final diagnosis, white blood cell counts, blood gases, number of admitted patients, intensive care unit admission and length of hospital stay. A significant increase of PCT and CRP levels was detected in group 2 compared to group 1 at initial Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.diagnosis. At cutoff value >0.5 ng/ml, PCT gave a sensitivity of 94.1%, specificity of 88.4%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 91.4%, negative predictive value (NPV) of 92% and diagnostic efficiency of 91.6% for diagnosis of respiratory tract bacterial infections. However, at a cutoff value >8 mg/L, CRP gave a sensitivity of 85.2%, specificity of 76.9%, PPV of 82.8%, NPV of 80% and diagnostic efficiency of 81.7%. After antibiotic therapy PCT and CRP levels dropped in group 2 patients as compared to their pre-treatment levels.Conclusion: Serum PCT level could be used as a novel marker of lower respiratory tract bacterial infections for diagnosis, prognosis and follow up of therapy. This reduces side-effects of an unnecessary antibiotic use, lowers costs, and in the long-term, leads to diminishing drug resistance.
The rabies virus causes fatal encephalitis and can be transmitted through tissue or organ transplantation. In March 2015, a kidney recipient with no reported exposures to potentially rabid animals died from rabies after transplantation.
In late 2019, a novel coronavirus, now designated SARS-CoV-2, emerged and was identified as the cause of an outbreak of acute respiratory illness in Wuhan, a city in China, named as COVID-19. Since then the waves of the virus exponentially hit many countries around the globe with high rates of spread associated with variable degrees of morbidity and mortality. The WHO announced the pandemic state of the infection in March 2020 and by June 1st 2020 more than 6 million individuals and more than 370 thousands case fatalities were documented worldwide. In this article, we discussed many aspects regarding this emerged infection based on the available evidence aiming to help clinician to improve not only their knowledge but also their practices toward this infection.
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a critical condition that usually arises as a late complication of certain infections. Varicella zoster is (VZ) an extraneous antecedent infection that can cause GBS. We report a rare case of GBS following primary VZV infection in an adult.
Background The diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is mainly based on microscopic detection of P. jirovecii in the respiratory samples. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) can detect low levels of P. jirovecii DNA but cannot differentiate between infection and colonization. Therefore a new and more accurate assay have to be used. 1,3 BD-glucan (BD-glucan) with a threshold value of 100 pg/ml can differentiate P. jirovecii infection from colonization. Aim The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of qPCR and BD-glucan assays in differentiating pneumocystis infection from colonization in immunocompromised patients with help of radiological pulmonary infiltrates. Patients and methods This study consisted of 75 immunocompromised patients (37 renal transplanted patients and 38 HIV patients) who were admitted for radiological pulmonary infiltrates and who presented a clinical picture suspecting PJP. They were investigated using microscopic staining of their respiratory samples (induced sputum or bronchoalveolar lavage).By applying both qPCR and serum BD-glucan assays we can differentiate between P. jirovecii infection from colonization. Results In this study, the first group of 25 patients were diagnosed as definite PJP, the second group of 20 patients were diagnosed as having pneumonia with P. jirovecii colonization, and a third group of 30 patients were diagnosed as having pneumonia without colonization. The number of copies of fungal DNA detected by qPCR were significantly higher in a definite PJP than in those with pneumonia accompanied with P. jirovecii colonization. Also BD-glucan assays were significantly higher in definite PJP by applying a threshold value of 100 pg/ml. The sensitivity and specificity of qPCR for differentiation of PJP infection from colonization were 100 and 64%, respectively, whereas the sensitivity and specificity of BD-glucan were 100 and 96%, respectively. Conclusion Both BD-glucan and qPCR assays had high diagnostic values in differentiating definite PJP from P. jirovecii colonization, and by applying qPCR with two cutoff values combined with serum BD-glucan using a threshold value of 100 pg/ml.
Background Pulmonary complications (PCs) are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients. Pulmonary infiltrates in such patients pose a major challenge for clinicians because of the wide differential diagnosis of infectious and noninfectious conditions. It is rare for the diagnosis to be made by chest radiograph, and commonly these patients will need further invasive and noninvasive studies to confirm the etiology of the pulmonary infiltrates. Aim The aim of this research was to study the pattern of lower respiratory tract infection within the first year after HSCT. Patients and methods This is a prospective study of 60 patients receiving HSCT (because of hematological and nonhematological malignancy) at Kuwait Cancer Center within the first year after transplantation for any suspicious respiratory tract infection. Patients were subjected to sputum and blood examination along with bronchoscopic examination and bronchoalveolar lavage if indicated, and all samples were subjected to microbiological examination for diagnosis of the causative organism. Results Sixty patients were studied for PCs either infectious or noninfectious within the first year after HSCT. The most common complications were infectious complications (70%). Severe PCs were the main causes of death in 13 (21.6%) cases. The PCs were more common and recurrent in allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) recipients, in whom PCs contributed to death in 12 cases. Bacterial infection, pulmonary edema, and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage were seen more in the early post-BMT period (<100 days), whereas viral, fungal infection, graft-versus-host disease, and bronchiolitis obliterans were seen more in the late post-BMT period (>100 days). Conclusion Lower respiratory tract infection is a serious complication after BMT transplantation. Mixed bacterial and opportunistic infections are the most common etiologies. Pulmonary infiltrates in such patients pose a wide differential diagnosis of infectious and noninfectious conditions. PCs are a significant causes of death in BMT recipients.
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