Serotype-cross-reactive memory T cells responding to secondary dengue virus (DENV) infection are thought to contribute to disease. However, epitope-specific T cell responses have not been thoroughly compared between subjects with primary versus secondary DENV infection. We studied CD8(+) T cells specific for the HLA-A*1101-restricted NS3(133) epitope in a cohort of A11(+) DENV-infected patients...

As shown in Table I, 97 guinea pigs were used in this study. Fifty-seven were exposed by placing a virus suspension on their normal skins. Of this number, 34 had screw-top capsules attached to them. Thirteen were exposed by spreading the virus suspension on their feed and cage litter. Ten were inoculated intracerebrally to establish the potency of the virus. The remaining 17 were not exposed ar...

OBJECTIVE To assess the role of environment, medical care and individual risks factors for P. aeruginosa colonization and infection. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING A French multicentric prospective study involved ten ICUs for a five months period. Every adult patient newly hospitalized in ICUs with no P. aeruginosa carriage up to 48 hours after admission was included and weekly screened before disc...

In a survey of virus cross-infection in paediatric wards there were 15 cross-infections due to respiratory syncytial (R.S.) virus and 16 due to influenza A, both during a four-month period, and 19 due to parainfluenza viruses over two years. The illnesses produced by these infections acquired in hospital ranged from a slight cold to severe pneumonia: in 17 of the 50 cases the illness involved t...

A panel of experts was convened by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) to update the 2010 clinical practice guideline on Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in adults. The update, which has incorporated recommendations for children (following the adult recommendations for epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment), includes ...

Bioluminescence-based ATP testing of solid surfaces has become well established in the food processing industry as part of general hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) measures. The rise in healthcare associated infections (HAIs) at the turn of the century focussed attention on the environment as a potential reservoir of the agents responsible for such infections. In response to ...

A method of typing Pseudomonas pyocyanea is described which makes use of the property of bacteriocine production. The method was applied in an epidemiological study of Ps. pyocyanea infection in a general hospital. It was found that the majority of strains believed on epidemiological grounds to be of common origin were allotted to the same pyocine type. In the course of this study, Ps. pyocyane...

Salmonella spp. and thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. are the most important causes of human bacterial diarrheal infections worldwide. These bacterial species are influenced by several factors like behaviour of the host, shedding, environment incl. directly or indirectly through ambient temperature, and the infections show seasonality. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the asso...

Introduction / objectives Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is an analysis method which aims to identify the root causes of preventable Health care associated infections (HCAIs). It is based on the concept that problems are best solved by attempting to address and take corrective action by eliminating the root causes rather than merely addressing the immediately obvious issues. The RCA tool developed b...

BACKGROUND Current healthcare policy advocates patient participation in treatment decision making. However, in asthma there is little evidence regarding patients' views on such involvement. This study explored the preferred and perceived level of involvement in treatment decisions, rationales for role preference, perceived facilitators of/barriers to involvement, and the interrelationship of ro...