Epstein-Barr virus infection leading to multiorgan involvement in an immunocompetent man.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a commonly asymptomatic widespread human herpes virus affecting over 90% of the population. It mostly originates complications like simple sore throat and infectious mononucleosis but severe manifestations are rare. Herein we report a 30-year-old immunocompetent man who presented with fever, sore throat, general weakness, and drowsiness. The diagnosis was formulated based on the positive RT-PCR test for EBV DNA and serological detection of IgM antibody against viral capsid antigen. The patient developed severe meningoencephalitis, myocarditis, and bowel perforation and passed away after 72 days of hospitalization.

Predictive performance of qSOFA in confirmed COVID-19 patients presenting to the emergency department.

Objectives: It is critical to quickly and easily identify coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients who become severely or even critically ill. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the accuracy of the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) score in predicting the severity and mortality of COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective observational study of COVID-19 patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) between June 22, 2021, and November 21, 2021. The clinical characteristics of the participants were collected by the emergency physicians. The correlation of the qSOFA, Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome criteria (SIRS), Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI), and confusion, urea, respiratory rate, blood pressure, 65 years of age and older (CURB-65) scores for 14-day mortality were evaluated. The area under a receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve analysis was calculated to compare the effectiveness of qSOFA, SIRS, PSI, and CURB-65 to predict severe disease. Results: Eight hundred and ninety-four subjects were included. Of them, 721 patients (80.6%) survived after 14 days of admission. The mean age was 58.92 ± 17.80 years, and 551 subjects (61.6%) were male. Nonsurvived patients were significantly older (51.09 ± 23.60 vs. 38.10 ± 18.24, P = 0.004) and had more comorbidities (diabetes mellitus, respiratory, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular disease) in comparison with survived patients. For COVID-19 mortality prediction, the AUROCs of qSOFA, CURB-65, PSI, and SIRS score were 0.799 (95% confidence interval [CI 0.771-0.825]), 0.829 (95% CI [0.803-0.853]), 0.830 (95% CI [0.804-0.854]), and 0.759 (95% CI [0.730-0.787]), respectively. All scores were good predictors of COVID-19 mortality. Conclusion: The qSOFA was more successful than SIRS in predicting mortality for COVID-19 patients and was similar to CURB-65 and PSI. Therefore, the qSOFA score can be considered a simple and rapid screening tool for identifying high-risk patients.

The Effect of Vitamin B6 in the Prevention of Hematological Adverse Effects of Linezolid in Patients with Chronic Osteomyelitis: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.

Background: Due to the contradictory results of the effects of Vitamin B6 in reducing the hematotoxic effects of linezolid, the present study aimed to investigate the possible role of Vitamin B6 administration in reducing linezolid-related hematological toxicities in patients with chronic osteomyelitis. Materials and Methods: In a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial, patients with chronic osteomyelitis were randomly divided into two groups (n = 40 each): the intervention group received Vitamin B640 mg twice daily from the beginning of treatment with linezolid and the control group received placebo with linezolid, both for 21 days. Blood variables including hemoglobin (Hb), white blood cells (WBC), and platelets (PLT) were measured at baseline and at the end of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd weeks (days 7, 14, and 21) of the intervention. Results: There was no significant difference between the groups regarding the count of WBC and PLT and level of Hb at evaluated time points. Furthermore, there was a significant decreasing trend in all parameters within both groups; however, the decreasing trend of both PLT and WBC was slower in the intervention (Vitamin B6) group compared to the placebo group. Conclusion: Vitamin B6 has no significant effect in the reduction of hematological adverse effects of linezolid in chronic osteomyelitis patients. However, it could retard the decreasing trend of WBC and PLT counts.

Physiologic Scoring Systems in Predicting the COVID-19 Patients' one-month Mortality; a Prognostic Accuracy Study.

Introduction : It is critical to quickly and easily identify severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and predict their mortality. This study aimed to determine the accuracy of the physiologic scoring systems in predicting the mortality of COVID-19 patients. Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was performed on COVID-19 patients admitted to the emergency department (ED). The clinical characteristics of the participants were collected by the emergency physicians and the accuracy of the Quick Sequential Failure Assessment (qSOFA), Coronavirus Clinical Characterization Consortium (4C) Mortality, National Early Warning Score-2 (NEWS2), and Pandemic Respiratory Infection Emergency System Triage (PRIEST) scores for mortality prediction was evaluated. Results: Nine hundred and twenty-one subjects were included. Of whom, 745 (80.9%) patients survived after 30 days of admission. The mean age of patients was 59.13 ± 17.52 years, and 550 (61.6%) subjects were male. Non-Survived patients were significantly older (66.02 ± 17.80 vs. 57.45 ± 17.07, P< 0.001) and had more comorbidities (diabetes mellitus, respiratory, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular disease) in comparison with survived patients. For COVID-19 mortality prediction, the AUROCs of PRIEST, qSOFA, NEWS2, and 4C Mortality score were 0.846 (95% CI [0.821-0.868]), 0.788 (95% CI [0.760-0.814]), 0.843 (95% CI [0.818-0.866]), and 0.804 (95% CI [0.776-0.829]), respectively. All scores were good predictors of COVID-19 mortality. Conclusion: All studied physiologic scores were good predictors of COVID-19 mortality and could be a useful screening tool for identifying high-risk patients. The NEWS2 and PRIEST scores predicted mortality in COVID-19 patients significantly better than qSOFA.

COVID-19-associated mucormycosis: A review of an emergent epidemic fungal infection in the era of COVID-19 pandemic.

At a time when the COVID-19's second wave is still picking up in countries like India, a number of reports describe the potential association with a rise in the number of cases of mucormycosis, commonly known as the black fungus. This fungal infection has been around for centuries and affects those people whose immunity has been compromised due to severe health conditions. In this article, we provide a detailed overview of mucormycosis and discuss how COVID-19 could have caused a sudden spike in an otherwise rare disease in countries like India. The article discusses the various symptoms of the disease, class of people most vulnerable to this infection, preventive measures to avoid the disease, and various treatments that exist in clinical practice and research to manage the disease.

Association of systemic complications with mortality in coronavirus disease of 2019: A cohort study on intensive care unit patients.

Background: Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, concerns raised by the growing number of deaths worldwide. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and extrapulmonary complications can correlate with prognosis in COVID-19 patients. This study evaluated the association of systemic complications with mortality in severely affected COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was done on 51 intensive care unit (ICU)-admitted COVID-19 adult patients who were admitted to the ICU ward of Khorshid hospital, affiliated with Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Only the patients who had a definite hospitalization outcome (dead vs. survivors) were included in the study. Daily clinical and paraclinical records were used to diagnose in-hospital complications in these patients. Results: The sample was comprised of 37 males (72.5%) and 14 females (27.4%). The median age of patients was 63 years (Min: 20, Max: 84), with the mortality rate of 47.1%. In total, 70.6% of patients had at least one coexisting disorder. Chronic kidney disease was associated with the worse outcome (29.16% of dead patients against 3.70 of survived ones). Mechanical ventilation was used in 58.8% of patients. Patients who had received invasive ventilation were more likely to die (87.50% of dead patients against 7.40 of survivors), Complications including sepsis and secondary infections (odds ratio: 8.05, confidence interval: 2.11-30.63) was the strongest predictors of mortality. Conclusion: Complications including sepsis and secondary infections can increase the risk of death in ICU-admitted COVID-19 patients. Therefore, it is substantial that the physicians consider preventing or controlling these complications.

Prevalence of Bacterial surgical site infection in traumatic patients undergoing orthopedic surgeries: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Infection at the surgical site is one of the most common postoperative complications. Due to the high prevalence of orthopedic surgery site infection, epidemiologic studies that evaluate the frequency distribution of bacterial infection and related risk factors seem crucial. In the present study, we aimed to investigate and evaluate the prevalence of bacterial infections in traumatic operated patients. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study that was performed in 2011-2020 on all trauma cases with closed fractures re-admitted to the traumatic referral hospital due to surgical site infection after orthopedic surgeries. Data regarding surgical site culture and antibiogram and the most effective antibiotics were also collected from medical documents of patients. RESULTS: During this study, 5950 people underwent traumatic closed fracture surgeries, of which 238 (4%) were readmitted due to infection. Data of 157 patients were analyzed and showed that the most common site of infection was knee in 46 patients (29.3%). Data also showed that gram-positive bacteria were detected in 55 patients (56.7%) while gram-negative micro-organisms were found in 42 patients (43.3%). Based on the statistical analysis, vancomycin was the most effective antibiotic in staphylococcus infections. There was also a significantly higher risks of bacterial surgical site infection for tibial injury (OR = 1.18, P < 0.001), knee injury (OR = 1.50, P < 0.001), presence of Staphylococcus (OR = 1.50, P < 0.001) and also Enterobacter (OR = 1.50, P < 0.001) both in the crude and adjusted models. CONCLUSION: The prevalence rate of infection was 4% and the most common bacteria was Staphylococcus aureus. Vancomycin was also the most effective antibiotic in patients. We suggest that more studies should be conducted on the use of prophylactic antibiotics.

COVID-19, An early investigation from exposure to treatment outcomes in Tehran, Iran.

BACKGROUND: There is a growing need for information regarding the recent coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). We present a comprehensive report of COVID-19 patients in Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were studied. Data on potential source of exposure, demographic, clinical, and paraclinical features, therapy outcome, and postdischarge follow-up were analyzed. RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 58 years, and the majority of the patients (72.7%) were above 50 years of age. Fever was present in 45.2% of the patients on admission. The most common clinical symptoms were shortness of breath (74%) and cough (68%). Most patients had elevated C-reactive protein (92.3%), elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (82.9%), and lymphocytopenia (74.2%) on admission. Lower lobes of the lung were most commonly involved, and ground-glass opacity (81.8%) was the most frequent finding in computed tomography scans. The administration of hydroxychloroquine improved the clinical outcome of the patients. Lopinavir/ritonavir was efficacious at younger ages. Of the 70 discharged patients, 40% had symptom aggravation, 8.6% were readmitted to the hospital, and three patients (4.3%) died. CONCLUSION: This report demonstrates a heterogeneous nature of clinical manifestations in patients affected with COVID19. The most common presenting symptoms are nonspecific, so attention should be made on broader testing, especially in age groups with the greatest risk and younger individuals who can serve as carriers of the disease. Hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir (in younger age group) can be potential treatment options. Finally, patients discharged from the hospital should be followed up because of potential symptom aggravation.

A Narrative Review of COVID-19: The New Pandemic Disease.

Nearly every 100 years, humans collectively face a pandemic crisis. After the Spanish flu, now the world is in the grip of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). First detected in 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, COVID-19 causes severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. Despite the initial evidence indicating a zoonotic origin, the contagion is now known to primarily spread from person to person through respiratory droplets. The precautionary measures recommended by the scientific community to halt the fast transmission of the disease failed to prevent this contagious disease from becoming a pandemic for a whole host of reasons. After an incubation period of about two days to two weeks, a spectrum of clinical manifestations can be seen in individuals afflicted by COVID-19: from an asymptomatic condition that can spread the virus in the environment, to a mild/moderate disease with cold/flu-like symptoms, to deteriorated conditions that need hospitalization and intensive care unit management, and then a fatal respiratory distress syndrome that becomes refractory to oxygenation. Several diagnostic modalities have been advocated and evaluated; however, in some cases, diagnosis is made on the clinical picture in order not to lose time. A consensus on what constitutes special treatment for COVID-19 has yet to emerge. Alongside conservative and supportive care, some potential drugs have been recommended and a considerable number of investigations are ongoing in this regard.

Prospective Study of Irrational Prescription of Teicoplanin in a Large Academic Hospital: A Dilemma of Antimicrobial Resistance.

OBJECTIVE: Teicoplanin is an antibiotic used to treat severe Gram-positive infections, especially those caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In this study, we aimed to evaluate the pattern of teicoplanin rational prescribing to identify the factors which affected rational utilization. In addition, the teicoplanin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was assessed in randomly selected isolates. METHODS: In this descriptive-analytical prospective study, a total of 256 patients were randomly selected to evaluate the pattern of teicoplanin use. The required data were gathered to assess the appropriateness of teicoplanin usage. Also, 100 teicoplanin Etests were used for measuring the MIC. FINDINGS: The results showed that the appropriateness rate of teicoplanin usage was 21.9%. The mean MIC was 2.24 ± 5.47 mg/L for the MRSA cultures (33 cultures), including 32 sensitive cultures (97%). In addition, the mean MIC was 28.71 ± 8.29 mg/L for the vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) cultures (67 cultures), including five sensitive cultures (7.5%). Moreover, the analysis revealed that only the hospitalization ward was statistically significantly related to irrational usage (P = 0.014). CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of the inappropriate use of teicoplanin will lead to the development of antimicrobial resistance. Furthermore, the high rate of VRE cultures resistant to teicoplanin proves that teicoplanin has no advantage over vancomycin for treating VRE infections. Finally, we recommend guidelines' development for the appropriate administration of teicoplanin.

Phenotypic and Genotypic Characteristics of Clostridium difficile Isolates in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in Iran.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Clostridium difficile isolates in type 2 diabetes patients with hospital-acquired diarrhea in four teaching hospitals in Isfahan, Iran. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 104 hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes and nosocomial diarrhea were included in the current study over a 2-year period (2015-2017). C. difficile isolates were characterized by conventional microbiological methods including the presence of toxin genes, antibiotic resistance testing and molecular methods including multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD). RESULTS: All 21 C. difficile isolates (20.2%) were detected from 104 studied patients. All isolates were susceptible to metronidazole and vancomycin. The antimicrobial resistance rates were distinctly higher for clindamycin and for moxifloxacin. Based on PCR amplification of tcdA and tcdB, 13 isolates (12.5%) carried both of these genes and were considered toxigenic. Thirteen toxigenic C. difficile strains were classified into two sequence types (STs), that is, ST54 and ST2 types. The RAPD-PCR amplification patterns of the detected toxigenic C. difficile revealed three distinct but related RAPD clusters. RAPD cluster 1 had the highest similarity with RAPD types 2 and 3. CONCLUSION: A relatively high rate of CDI was observed in patients with type 2 diabetes and was associated with poorer health outcomes. These patients were exposed to multiple antibiotics and other therapeutic agents. We recommend close screening for the coexistence of CDI and type 2 diabetes in patients with diarrhea using a combination of conventional and molecular methods.

Nocardia farcinica isolated meningitis in a patient with Behçet's disease: case report and literature review / Meningitis por Nocardia farcinica en un paciente con enfermedad de Behçet: caso y revisión de la literatura

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Prevalence of herpes simplex virus-1 in hospitalized adult patients with clinical diagnosis of meningoencephalitis using real-time polymerase chain reaction: A single-center, cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis of herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) meningoencephalitis is very important because antiviral therapy significantly decreases mortality and morbidity. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a reliable method with high sensitivity and specificity in detection of HSV-1. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of HSV-1 in patients with diagnosis of meningoencephalitis using real-time PCR. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cerebrospinal fluid samples were collected from 126 patients with clinical diagnosis of HSV-1 meningoencephalitis in Alzahra Referral Hospital in Isfahan, Iran. After deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction, real-time PCR was performed by fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay and participants underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging, as well. RESULTS: Among 126 patients, 68.3% were male and 31.7% were female. The mean age of the participants was 41.96 ± 22.36 years. Most of the participants were in the age group of 20-29 years. Three patients (2.4%) had positive and 123 patients (97.6%) had negative HSV-1 DNA test. Among three positive cases, two were in the age group of 20-29 years and one in the age group of ≥80 years. No HSV-2 DNA was detected. CONCLUSION: According to the estimated prevalence of HSV-1 meningoencephalitis in the current study, it seems that the prevalence of HSV-1 meningoencephalitis is not too high in our community; therefore, initial empiric acyclovir therapy is frequently overused.

Prevalence and antibiotic resistance pattern of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli in clinical specimens.

BACKGROUND: Extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae seem to have an extended antibiotic resistance, but have different resistance patterns throughout different sites and regions. This study aimed to evaluate the antibiotic resistance pattern of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred swab samples from patients hospitalized due to a clinical suspicion of any kind of infection (with manifestations such as fever, leukocytosis, and an active urinalysis result) were processed in Alzahra Microbiology Laboratory, Isfahan, Iran. Isolated E. coli were cultured on Mueller-Hinton agar and antibiotic susceptibility was tested by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method following the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute 2017 guidelines. RESULTS: ESBL-producing samples had higher antibiotic resistance rates than ESBL-non-producing samples: ceftriaxone (58.8% vs. 27.3%), cefotaxime (73.5% vs. 30.3%), ceftizoxime (76.5% vs. 33.3%), cefixime (79.4% vs. 40.9%), and cefpodoxime (73.5% vs. 53%), except for carbenicillin (29.4% vs. 48.5%). Imipenem and meropenem were the least resisted antibiotics in ESBL-producing samples (5.9% and 11.8%). CONCLUSION: ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae have a high resistance rate to third-generation cephalosporins and high susceptibility to imipenem and meropenem.

Meropenem Utilization Evaluation in a Referral Teaching Hospital in Iran.

OBJECTIVE: Inappropriate use of antibiotics is associated with detrimental effects including emergence of antibiotic resistance. This study aimed to evaluate the use of meropenem, an extended-spectrum antibiotic, in a referral teaching hospital to detect different types of errors in its prescription. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study performed over a 6-month period (2014-2015), hospitalized adult patients who received meropenem for any indication were randomly selected. The collected data included the indication for prescription and its correctness, the basis of prescription (empirical or culture based), administered dose, duration of treatment, the status of demanding sample culture in the case of empirical prescription, the status of dose adjustment in the case of renal impairment, and the treatment outcome. FINDINGS: Over the study period, 123 patients were evaluated. The most frequent indication for prescription of meropenem was pneumonia (31.7%) and soft-tissue infections (18.7%). Out of these prescriptions, 62.6% (77 prescriptions) were incorrect. All meropenem prescriptions were initially empirical. Furthermore, sample culture and antibiotic susceptibility test were requested for only 52% of patients (n = 66). Treatment duration was correct for 53.7% of patients. Seventeen patients (13.8%) received an inappropriate dose of the antibiotic. Furthermore, of 51 patients who needed meropenem dose adjustment because of renal impairment, 17 patients (33.33%) received unadjusted dose. CONCLUSION: High rate of errors exists in the utilization of meropenem in our hospital, especially in the rank order of selection for treatment (indication), dose adjustment, and treatment duration. Therefore, modification strategies are necessary to promote the rational use of meropenem in this center.

Colonization with hospital flora and its associated risk factors in neonates hospitalized in neonatal ward of a teaching center in Isfahan, Iran.

BACKGROUND: Due to the high incidence and prevalence of infection in neonatal ward, especially Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) reported by different studies and the important role of colonization with hospital germs in the development of nosocomial infections, we intended to evaluate the risk of colonization with hospital germs in neonates and its associated risk factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2016 in a Teaching Center in Iran. In total, 51 neonates were selected based on the inclusion criteria, and after recording their information in a checklist, samples were taken by swab from outer ear, axilla, and groin for culture. Neonates with negative culture from mentioned regions were enrolled in the study. The swab samples again were taken and sent for culture from mentioned regions in at least 3 days after hospitalization. Culture results from first and second sampling were collected and analyzed statistically. RESULTS: This study was conducted on 51 neonates. The mean gestational age among the neonates ranged from 35.25 (Week) ± 2.98. 22 girls (43.1%) and 29 boys (56.9%), most of them were born by cesarean. Based on the results of logistic regression, a significant association was found between the occurrence of colonization of hospital flora and the place hospitalization of the newborns (odds ratio (OR): 4.750; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.26-17.85). CONCLUSION: This study revealed that the only risk factors of colonization with hospital flora in neonates are the type of delivery and place of hospitalization. Based on findings of the study, it is recommended to focus on efforts in increasing the rate of natural birth as well as improving conditions of infection control in NICUs to reduce the number of incidences of colonization with hospital flora in neonates.