Evolution of antimicrobial resistance and serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from children with invasive and noninvasive pneumococcal diseases in Algeria from 2005 to 2012.

Pneumococcal infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. The introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) has dramatically reduced the incidence of pneumococcal diseases. PCVs are not currently being used in Algeria. We conducted a prospective study from 2005 to 2012 in Algeria to determine antimicrobial drug resistance and serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae from children with pneumococcal disease. Among 270 isolated strains from children, 97 (36%) were invasive disease; of these, 48% were not susceptible to penicillin and 53% not susceptible to erythromycin. A high rate of antimicrobial nonsusceptibility was observed in strains isolated from children with meningitis. The serotype distribution from pneumococci isolated from children with invasive infections was (by order of prevalence): 14, 1, 19F, 19A, 6B, 5, 3, 6A and 23F. Multidrug resistance was observed in serotypes 14, 19F, 19A and 6B. The vaccine coverage of serotypes isolated from children aged <5 years was 55.3% for PCV7, 71.1% for PCV10 and 86.8% for PCV13. Our results highlight the burden of pneumococcal disease in Algeria and the increasing S. pneumoniae antibiotic resistance. The current pneumococcal vaccines cover a high percentage of the circulating strains. Therefore, vaccination would reduce the incidence of pneumococcal disease in Algeria.

Renal function and blood pressure in patients treated with cyclosporin A for uveitis.

Renal function has been evaluated in 21 patients treated with cyclosporin A (CyA) for 9 months for idiopathic uveitis. Serum creatinine, which was 82 mumol.l-1 before treatment, was significantly elevated after 1 month (111 mumol.l-1). After 9 months of treatment, and despite a decrease in CyA dosage, the mean plasma creatinine remained elevated at 132 mumol.l-1. Hypertension developed in 6 patients, five of them being concomitantly treated with corticosteroids. In 8 patients serum creatinine 3 months after CyA had been stopped had decreased from 148 to 93 mumol.l-1. Two of those patients remained hypertensive 3 months after CyA treatment had ceased. In patients with idiopathic uveitis CyA induces a reversible increase in serum creatinine. However the reversibility of such a biochemical marker does not preclude a histopathological lesion. Chronic renal damage may be responsible for the persistence of hypertension after cessation of CyA treatment.

[Generalized BCG infection, with a favorable outcome, in a 3-month-old immunocompetent infant]. / Infection généralisée à BCG d'évolution favorable chez un nourrisson de 3 mois sans déficit immunitaire reconnu.

A 3 month-old infant vaccinated with BCG at birth presented with granulomatous hepatitis with BCG isolated in the liver. Splenomegaly, infiltrates in both pulmonary apices and hilar adenopathies were simultaneously present. No immune deficiency could be found. Complete recovery followed specific polychemotherapy. Parenchymal calcifications appeared in the liver, spleen, lungs and mesenteric ganglia.