Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D Raoult.
Two cases of temporo-mandibular joint infection with several blood cultures positive for Staphylococcus aureus are reported. Positive diagnosis depended on the importance of the pain and trismus, as well as the lack of abscess formation. The rapid development of ankylosis requires treatment to be started as soon as the first signs appear.
In a retrospective study of 60 cases of leptospirosis, the association of thrombocytopenia and acute renal failure as previously reported was confirmed. However, increased mortality, in our experience, was not associated with either thrombocytopenia or acute renal failure.
15 bacterial meningitis (Haemophilus: 7, Meningococci: 3, Proteus: 1, Enterobacter: 2, E. coli: 1 and Klebsiella: 1) are treated with moxalactam. The diffusion of moxalactam into the cerebrospinal fluid is good and regular. Excellent clinical results are obtained.
The Mediterranean spotted fever is always present in the south of France. The actual incidence is unknown. The disease appears in summer. The diagnostic is based on the association of fever, "black spot" and exanthema and/or a seroconversion. Indirect immunofluorescence is the most used technique. Some patients have severe complications: neurologic, cardiovascular, renal, thrombopenia. These cases look like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. The treatment is based on tetracycline.
In a 54 year old, algerian male we found a inoperable hydatid disease of the pelvis. A treatment by flubendazole 4 g/day is started on February 1982. The patient presents a neck of the femur fracture, on April 1982; on September 1982 he had a myocardial infarctus and a second one in February 1983. On March 1983 he had a new femur fracture. The biological data show no difference in hypereosinophilia and serological exploration. In this case the result is poor.
The authors report a case of septicemia due to Leptotrichia buccalis in a patient with underlying lymphatic leukemia. It is the second case reported in the literature. This observation shows, once again, that bacteria known as "non virulent" can exhibit pathogenicity in immunosuppressed patients.
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The authors have observed a case of Fusobacterium necrophorum associate with Actinomyces odontolyticus septicemia, which appears to be the first case reported. In a 19 year old man, 15 blood cultures allowed to isolate both germs. Clinical manifestations were: acute-like abdomen, encephalitis, myocarditis and pleural effusion. Treatment with amoxicillin and metronidazole was successful.
The authors report a case of septicemia due to Leptotrichia buccalis in a patient with underlying lymphatic leukemia. It is the second case reported in the literature. This observation shows, once again, that bacteria known as "non virulent" can exhibit pathogenicity in immunosuppressed patients.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
A modification of the centrifugation-shell vial technique was used to isolate spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsias from triturated ticks which had previously been stored at -80 degrees C for up to 7 months. SFG rickettsias were successfully isolated in Vero cells from all 7 haemolymph positive ticks (Amblyomma hebraeum) used in the experiment. Attempts were also made to use these tick triturates to establish SFG rickettsial infections in tissue culture. Vero cells were used for 5 of the tick triturates and human embryonic lung cells (HEL) for the remaining 2. Infections were successfully established in 4 of the 5 Vero cell cultures, but in none of the HEL fibroblast cultures.
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In this report we attempt to evaluate the prevalence of antibodies against Rickettsia conorii, R. typhi, Coxiella burnettii, and Ehrlichia chaffeensis in central Tunisia. Five hundred sera from blood donors, collected between March and June 1993, were tested for these 4 antibodies using an indirect immunofluorescence antibody assay (IFA). Nine percent of the sera had antibodies against R. conorii (IgG > 1:32) by IFA, and 8% by Western blotting; with IFA, 3.6% had antibodies to R. typhi, 26% to C. burnetii (> 1:50), and none to E. chaffeensis. Infection rates with R. conorii and R. typhi did not differ significantly between the sexes, but fewer young people had antibodies to R. typhi. A significantly higher prevalence of antibodies to C. burnetii was noted for males with no difference between age classes. No significant difference was detected between urban and rural areas. This study confirmed the endemicity of rickettsioses, and revealed a high seroprevalence of Q fever, in central Tunisia.
Human vascular endothelial, Vero and human embryonic lung cells infected with rickettsiae for 24 h or 48 h were labelled for polymerized actin with NBD-phallacidin. Between 20 and 68% of the intracellular Rickettsia conorii had an actin tail of between 0.33 and 15 microns, with the longest tails being observed in Vero cells. In the case of R. typhi less than 1% of the organisms had actin tails and these were considerably shorter than those of R. conorii. These findings provide new information concerning the different cytopathic effects observed with the two rickettsial species.
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Scrub typhus, caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, is a rural zoonosis endemic in the Asian Pacific region. Doxycycline and chloramphenicol, the recommended drugs for treating this infection, may not be safe during pregnancy. We report on 5 patients with scrub typhus during pregnancy who were seen in India between October 2001 and February 2002. Four of the 5 women were treated initially with ciprofloxacin. Three women had stillbirths, 1 an abortion and 1 a low birthweight baby, which suggests that ciprofloxacin should not be used for treating pregnant women and that scrub typhus leads to severe adverse effects during pregnancy. Randomized controlled trials are urgently needed to ascertain the optimal drug choice, given that currently recommended drugs are contraindicated in pregnant women.