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J Romero-Vivas

Publications and source records attributed to J Romero-Vivas.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

The central nervous system and infection by Candida species.

In this paper we have reviewed the main clinico-pathologic disease groups of neurocandidiasis: the microabscesses, the macroabscesses, and the meningitis. Special attention has been paid to the predisposing conditions for the appearance of neurocandidiasis, the neuroimaging techniques, and the study of the cerebrospinal fluid, needed for diagnosis. We have also discussed the differential diagnosis with other illnesses. Treatment should be given with amphotericin-B and 5-fluorocytosine. The use of other antifungal drugs for neurocandidiasis is also discussed.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Reply

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Journal Article↗

Bacteremic pneumonia due to Staphylococcus aureus: A comparison of disease caused by methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible organisms.

We performed a prospective study of all patients with bacteremic pneumonia due to Staphylococcus aureus over a period of 6 years during an outbreak of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Patients with bacteremic pneumonia due to MRSA (32 cases) or methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA; 54 cases) were compared. The patients with MRSA pneumonia were older and were more likely than those with MSSA pneumonia to have predisposing factors for acquisition of the infection. There were no differences in clinical findings, radiological pattern, or complications in clinical evolution among patients with MRSA and MSSA pneumonia. Mortality was significantly higher among MSSA-infected patients treated with vancomycin than among those treated with cloxacillin (47% vs. none; P<.01). Multivariate analysis (stepwise logistic regression method) showed a relationship between mortality and the following variables: septic shock (odds ratio [OR], 61), vancomycin treatment (OR, 14), and respiratory distress (OR, 8).

Adult↗

Tuberculous meningitis. Clinical characteristics and comparison with cryptococcal meningitis in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and causes of meningitis in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. DESIGN: A prospective study of HIV-associated neurologic complications carried out from 1988 to 1992. SETTING: A tertiary care university hospital in Madrid, Spain. PATIENTS. A total of 142 patients, 65% of whom were injecting drug users. RESULTS: Thirty-six episodes of meningitis were diagnosed in 33 patients (23%). Of these, 17 cases (47%) were tuberculous meningitis (5 definite and 12 probable) and 7 (19%) corresponded to cryptococcal meningitis. Comparative studies of the tuberculous and cryptococcal meningitis cases showed injecting drug use as the most common form of HIV transmission in the tuberculous meningitis (P = .03) and a lower mean CD4+ cell count in the cryptococcal meningitis group (P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Tuberculous meningitis was the prime type of meningitis, which was associated with HIV transmission by injecting drug use. Cryptococcal meningitis appears in more advanced stages of HIV infection, which determines its characteristic presentation.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Mortality associated with nosocomial bacteremia due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

We prospectively studied all cases of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia that occurred during an extensive outbreak of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in our hospital over a 4-year period (January 1990 through September 1993). We report the results of a comparative analysis of the clinical characteristics and mortality rates among patients with nosocomial bacteremia caused by MRSA (84 cases) or methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA; 100 cases). The patients with MRSA bacteremia were older than those with MSSA bacteremia (69 years vs. 54 years, respectively; P < .01) and were more likely than those with MSSA bacteremia to have the following predisposing factors: a prolonged hospitalization (32 days vs. 14 days, respectively; P < .01); prior antimicrobial therapy (61% vs. 34%, respectively; P < .01); urinary catheterization (58% vs. 27%, respectively; P < .01); nasogastric tube placement (31% vs. 13%, respectively; P < .01); and prior surgery (45% vs. 31%, respectively; P = .05). Multivariate analysis with use of the stepwise logistic regression method showed a relationship between mortality and the following variables: methicillin resistance (odds ratio [OR], 3), meningitis (OR, 13), and inadequate treatment (OR, 11).

Aged↗

[Beta-lactamase producing bacteria in the pharyngeal flora of patients with acute pharyngitis].

BACKGROUND: Production of beta-lactamase by normal pharyngeal flora could account for penicillin treatment failure in patients with acute streptococcal pharyngitis. The aim of the present investigation was to study the beta-lactamase-producing bacteria (BLPB) in 58 patients with acute pharyngitis, and to investigate the impact of two antibiotics, amoxycillin vs amoxycillin/clavulanic acid in the pharyngeal microflora. METHODS: Rapid antigen detection tests for S. pyogenes and standard microbiologic cultures were performed on simultaneously obtained throat swabs from each enrolled patient. Patients with group A streptococcal pharyngitis (GASP) were randomized in two groups: patients treated with 10 days of oral amoxycillin (group I), and patients treated with 10 days of oral amoxicyllin/clavulanic acid (group II). Patients without GASP and without antibiotic treatment were considered as controls (group III). Cultures were repeated 15 days following the first culture. All of them were processed for aerobic and anaerobic organisms. RESULTS: S. pyogenes was recovered in 25 patients (43.1%) and BLPB were isolated in 64% of the treated patients and in 78% of the non-treated control patients. We observed that the number of patients harboring BLPB did not change significantly in the untreated control group. After treatment we detected a similar increase in the number of patients harboring BLPB in groups I and II. In the present study BLPB were found in more than 70% of the patients and the failure rate was less than 10%. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that production of beta-lactamase by pharyngeal organisms does not fully explain the failures of penicillin therapy for acute streptococcal pharyngitis.

Acute Disease↗

Epidemic outbreak of Serratia marcescens infection in a cardiac surgery unit.

Between 2 February and 16 April 1985, an outbreak of Serratia marcescens infection involving 10 male patients occurred in a cardiac surgery unit. All the patients had surgical wound infection, five also had osteomyelitis (four sternal, one costal), and another had peritonitis secondary to peritoneal dialysis. Three patients had concomitant bacteremia. All Serratia strains isolated produced a cherry-red pigment, and all had the same biochemical and antibiotic susceptibility pattern. An intensive search for the origin of the outbreak was initially unsuccessful, and it proved impossible to isolate S. marcescens from cultures of numerous samples taken from hospital personnel and from the environment. The fact that all patients were male and had been shaved for surgery by the same team of barbers led us to investigate the shaving procedures. We finally isolated a strain of pigmented S. marcescens, corresponding to that involved in the outbreak, from samples taken from the hands and equipment of the barbers. After suitable action had been taken, the epidemic terminated.

Barbering↗

Evaluation of aztreonam in the treatment of severe bacterial infections.

We investigated the clinical efficacy and safety of aztreonam in the treatment of 50 episodes of infection in 46 adult patients. The clinical condition of patients at the beginning of treatment was critical or poor in 28 of the episodes of infection. Episodes treated were 39 urinary tract infections (12 of them with concomitant bacteremia), 2 soft tissue infections, 8 patients with osteomyelitis (1 with concomitant bacteremia), and one episode of pneumonia. Significant isolated microorganisms were aerobic or facultative gram-negative rods and were responsible for the following episodes of infection (number of episodes): members of the family Enterobacteriaceae (49), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5), and Haemophilus influenzae (1). The overall rate of clinical response to aztreonam was 94% of the treated episodes. Colonization or superinfection or both occurred in 29 episodes, but only 8 episodes required antimicrobial therapy. Aztreonam seems to be an effective single agent therapy for many bacterial infections. Colonization and superinfection by Candida sp., Streptococcus faecalis or Staphylococcus aureus must be monitored.

Adolescent↗

Temocillin. In vitro activity compared with other antibiotics.

Temocillin is a recently developed penicillin with a methoxy group in the 6-alpha position. The in vitro activity of temocillin was studied using 932 recent clinical isolates of aerobic and anaerobic Gram-negative bacilli and Gram-positive cocci, and its activity was compared with that of other beta-lactam antibiotics. Temocillin was active against the Enterobacteriaceae, with narrow ranges of MICs and MIC90 values (less than or equal to 8 mg/L) for all isolates except Serratia marcescens and Enterobacter species. Moreover, the compound was active against 46 multiresistant Enterobacteriaceae strains. The drug was also strongly active against Haemophilus influenzae, with beta-lactamase-producing strains being as susceptible as non-beta-lactamase-producing strains. Temocillin showed no useful activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter or Gram-positive cocci, and had only discrete activity against the Bacteroides fragilis group. In general, temocillin displayed the same spectrum of activity against Enterobacteriaceae as third generation cephalosporins, but with a substantially lower intrinsic activity.

Enterobacteriaceae↗

[Pontiac fever].

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Adult↗

[Antiviral drugs].

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Antiviral Agents↗

Infection of the central nervous system by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (the new neurotuberculosis).

Neurologic complications of HIV infection are numerous. This review focuses on the clinical presentation, diagnostic particularities and therapeutic issues of neurotuberculosis. The pertinent literature describing this important infection is succinctly summarized with a particular emphasis on the discussion of differences in clinical presentation between HIV-infected and -uninfected patients.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Klebsiella bacteremia: an analysis of 100 episodes.

During a five-year period, 204 patients had klebsiella bacteremia at this institution; these cases constituted 6.6% of the total episodes of bacteremia. The incidence was 2.3 cases per 1,000 admitted patients. A random group of 100 cases was chosen for analysis in the present study. The disease was community acquired in 23%, nosocomially acquired in 77%, unimicrobial in 88%, or part of a polymicrobial bacteremia in 12% of episodes. Three-quarters of the episodes were caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae and the remaining one-quarter, by Klebsiella oxytoca. Portals of entry, in decreasing order of frequency, were urinary, respiratory, and biliary tracts. Twenty-four percent of the Klebsiella isolates were resistant to gentamicin. The most frequent clinical finding (in 96% of the cases) was fever. Shock occurred in 22% and pyogenic metastatic foci, in 5% of the patients. None of the patients had evidence of disseminated intravascular coagulation. Overall mortality was 25%, and factors associated with poor prognosis were inadequacy of antimicrobial chemotherapy, septic shock, type of underlying disease, and clinical condition of the patients.

Adolescent↗