Bacteremia due to Staphylococcus aureus - the importance of appropriate management.

Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) is the most common cause of severe bloodstream infections with high incidence and lethality. The diagnosis of SAB must be followed by an appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic management. The aim of the study was to identify clinical and epidemiological characteristics of SAB cases treated in the Central Military Hospital Prague and to assess compliance with the guidelines for diagnosis and thera-py. A total of 65 patients with S. aureus blood culture positivity were enrolled in the retrospective study. Sixty SAB cases (92%) were caused by MSSA strains, and MRSA strains were detected in five patients (8%). The source of the infection was confirmed in 83% of patients. The average case fatality rate in the study cohort was 28%. The analysis of the quality of care suggested both diagnostic and therapeutic insufficiencies in 65% of SAB patients. Overall, the result of the study supports the importance of the role of infectious disease specialists played in the bedside management of patients with SAB.

[Immune response in the pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus infection]. / Imunitní odpoved v patogenezi infekce virem hepatitidy C.

The pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is regulated by the host immunity and several metabolic factors affecting liver metabolism, including oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and hepatic steatosis. Both innate and adaptive immunity play an important role in HCV infection. Cytotoxic lymphocytes have a crucial role in viral eradication or viral persistence. Major cause of viral persistence during HCV infection could be the development of a weak antiviral immune response to the viral antigens, with corresponding inability to eradicate infected cells.

The role of electron microscopy in the rapid diagnosis of viral infections--review.

Electron microscopy (EM) allows fast visualization of viruses in a wide range of clinical specimens. Viruses are grouped into families based on their morphology. Viruses from various families look distinctly and these morphological variances are the basis for identification of viruses by EM. The identification to the family level is often sufficient for the clinician or recognition of an unknown infectious agent. Diagnostic EM has two advantages over enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and nucleic acid amplification tests. After a simple and fast negative staining, EM allows fast morphological identification and differential diagnosis of infectious agents contained in the specimen without the need for special considerations and/or reagents. Nevertheless, EM has the disadvantage of being unsuitable as a screening method.