Nonfatal gastric mucormycosis in a renal transplant recipient.

Mucormycosis historically has caused substantial morbidity with high mortality in renal transplant patients with disseminated and/or rhinocerebral infection and in patients with gastrointestinal illness regardless of predisposing conditions. We report the first successful treatment of gastric mucormycosis in a renal transplant recipient and review presumed pathogenic mechanisms of mucormycosis in renal transplant recipients as well as historical data.

Significant reduction in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ventilator-associated pneumonia associated with the institution of a prevention protocol.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the institution of a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus prevention protocol was associated with a decrease in methicillin-resistant S. aureus ventilator-associated pneumonia in long-term, acute care ventilator patients. DESIGN: A retrospective chart review comparing the number of episodes of clinical pneumonia per patient ventilator day in the 12 months preceding and 24 months following the introduction of the protocol. SETTING: University affiliated, long-term, acute care ventilator hospital. PATIENTS: Long-term, acute care ventilated patients who presented with clinical pneumonia. INTERVENTIONS: Addition of a methicillin-resistant S. aureus prevention protocol. In addition to universal precautions, the protocol consisted of mupirocin 2% ointment applied to the anterior nares, and whole body washing with chlorhexidine. All patients were given mupirocin and chlorhexidine twice weekly. Patients were cohorted in the same room if they were, or had been, infected or colonized with methicillin-resistant S. aureus in any anatomical location or at any time. This procedure replaced strict isolation of methicillin-resistant S. aureus-infected or colonized individuals. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Clinical pneumonia was diagnosed when a patient developed fever, bronchorrhea, increased white blood cell count, methicillin-resistant S. aureus isolated from the tracheal aspirate, and new or increasing infiltrate on chest roentgenograph. During the 12 months preceding the protocol, there were 0.2% episodes of methicillin-resistant S. aureus ventilator-associated pneumonia per ventilated patient day compared with 0.026% in the 24 months after the protocol (p < .001). The relative and absolute risk reductions associated with the introduction of the protocol were 87% and 6, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The period following the institution of the protocol showed a significant reduction in episodes of clinical pneumonia compared with the 12-month period preceding the use of the protocol (p < .001). Thus, we conclude that the introduction of this protocol is associated with a significant decrease in methicillin-resistant S. aureus ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Murine typhus: forgotten but not gone.

An occasional patient presents the classical symptoms of a disease that has become uncommon. Typhus is an example of such a disease, since it is now well contained through control of its rodent reservoir. It is readily treated with tetracycline or one of its long-acting analogues, doxycycline or minocycline. Because typhus is infrequently encountered, the physician may not initially include it in his differential diagnosis. Our case serves as a remainder that with the increasingly frequent movement of persons from one geographic area to another, the uncommon rickettsial infection, murine typhus, should continue to be in the differential of a febrile patient. Furthermore, our case underscores the importance of including typhus in the differential of typhoid fever.

Tuberculous osteomyelitis masked by concomitant staphylococcal infection.

A systematic and easily reproduced bone protocol was used over a 14-month period to evaluate bone histologically and by mycobacterial culture in patients with chronic osteomyelitis. On examination of 140 bone specimens, we found four patients with unsuspected tuberculous osteomyelitis whose diagnosis was obscured by a concomitant staphylococcal osteomyelitis. Three of the patients had axial skeleton involvement, and one had disease of the femur. No patient had a history of a positive skin test or of tuberculous disease, and none had coexistent pulmonary disease. The underlying granulomatous infection was initially revealed in one patient by histologic examination of bone and in three others only by mycobacterial culture of bone. Concomitant osseous tuberculosis should be excluded in patients with staphylococcal osteomyelitis. Evaluation using a bone protocol with histologic study and culture on Löwenstein-Jensen medium is effective in diagnosing occult osseous tuberculosis.

Rotavirus.

The consequences of rotavirus infection cannot be over-estimated. It kills millions of children and accounts for occasional illness in adults. The agent is a complex reovirus with a unique capsid that invades columnar epithelial cells disrupting ion transport and producing dehydration. There is no specific therapy, making the need for prevention paramount. Cases must be identified and enterically isolated with some authorities even encouraging respiratory isolation.