Infect. Dis. Rep., Volume 11, Issue 1 (February 2019) – 4 articles

The establishment of physical training programs for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) has several benefits. The study aimed to analyze the effect of resistance training using prediction of intensity by subjective perception of effort (SPE) on body composition, muscle strength, and TCD4+ lymphocyte levels in PLWHA. This a randomized controlled trial study. Participants (11 men and 8 women), were divided in two groups: exercise group (EG) and control group (CG). The EG was submitted to 12 weeks of a resistance-training program based in the prediction of intensity by SPE. Body mass percentages were evaluated using tetrapolar bioelectrical impedance and skinfold methods. We used Flow Cytometry to quantify CD4+ T lymphocytes. Patients showed significant changes in Body Fat Percentage (Δ%=-6.23%), Lean Body Mass (Δ%=2.45%), and CD4T lymphocytes levels (Δ%=15.77%). They also showed significant increase in muscular strength presented in the test for one repetition maximum in all the evaluated exercises. Our data suggest that exercising program prescribed by SPE is capable of improving immune function, body composition, and muscular strength in PLWHA. Full article

Measles is a respiratory disease caused by the measles virus (MV) belonging to the Paramyxovirus family and the Morbillivirus genus. Due to a failure in maintaining immunization coverage in some countries, measles is a re-emerging disease in the human population, especially in Africa. The aim of this study was to describe a measles epidemic in Gabon. At first, a syndromic surveillance was set up. Blood samples from febrile patients with maculopapular rash were taken and sent to the measles reference center in Cameroon for laboratory confirmation. Between March and May 2016, 79 clinically suspected cases were reported including 82.3% (n=65) and 17.7% (n=14) in Oyem and Libreville, respectively. In total, 39.2% (n=31) of children were 11 months-old, 34.2% (n=27) were children aged 1 to 4 years, 11.4% (n=9) were older children from 5 to 9 years, 6.3% (n=5) of children were aged 10 to 15 years and 8.9% (n=7) were 15 years and older. 53.3% (16/30) were laboratory confirmed. This measles outbreak reiterates the importance of maintaining a high level of vaccine coverage in Gabon for vaccine-preventable diseases, as well as the usefulness of a near-real-time surveillance system for the detection of infectious diseases. Full article

Health care-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial resistance constitute a major public health challenge. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence rate of HAIs and antimicrobial use in acute care hospitals in Kosovo. A multicenter study was performed in all hospitals in Kosovo. The standardized protocol for Point Prevalence Survey (PPS) on HAIs and antimicrobial use developed by European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) was used for this survey. A total of 915 patients were included in PPS. Countrywide prevalence rate of HAIs was 4.9%. The highest rate was noticed in tertiary care level in University Clinical Centre of Kosovo (UCCK) (7.2%). The most common type of HAI was surgical site infection, representing 35.5% of all reported HAIs. Prevalence of HAIs was highest in surgical departments (46.6%). The median length of stay before onset of HAI was 11 days (range: 3-27 days). Gram negative bacteria were the predominant microorganisms (61% of cases). From all patients, 520 (56.8%) of them were using at least one antibiotic. Ceftriaxone was the most prescribed antibiotic with 40.3%. Antibiotics were administered mainly through parenteral route (93.8%). Empiric treatment was the physician’s choice for prescribing in 87.1%. The main reason for antibiotic treatment was pneumonia (19.8%). Medical prophylaxis was reported in 10% of antibiotic prescriptions. Key recommendations driven by this study are to improve surveillance systems of HAI and antibiotic use, enhance infection prevention and control and establish antimicrobial stewardship program. Full article

Infective endocarditis is often caused by bacterial pathogens and can affect native and prosthetic tissue. Common pathogens in pediatric patients include Staphylococcus aureus, viridans group streptococci, enterococcal species and coagulase-negative staphylococci, though culture-negative cases are not uncommon. Coagulase-negative staphylococci present a conundrum to clinicians due to the potential of culture contamination. While Staphylococcus lugdunensis is a coagulase-negative staphylococcus, it is an emerging cardiotropic pathogen that presents similarly to Staphylococcus aureus. Here we report a case of a child with repaired tetralogy of Fallot found to have right-sided infective endocarditis caused by Staphylococcus lugdunensis. Full article