Cancer patients are predisposed to fungal infections caused by Candida albicans, especially to oral or respiratory tract candidiasis. The aim of this study was to estimate genetic diversity by RAPD-PCR (random amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction) of C. albicans isolated from upper respiratory tract of 100 patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Among 52 strains, 34 genotypes w...

BACKGROUND The effect of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) on invasive pneumococcal disease is frequently reported, but the impact on upper respiratory tract infections in a clinical setting is less documented. Our aim in this 5-year observational study was to investigate serotype changes in a large number of Streptococcus pneumoniae upper respiratory tract isolates following sequential int...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether treatment with clarithromycin for respiratory tract infections was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) events, arrhythmias or all-cause mortality compared with other antibiotics. DESIGN Retrospective cohort design comparing clarithromycin monotherapy for lower (LRTI) or upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) with other antibiotic monothera...

BACKGROUND Medicines are commonly accessed and used for management of illness in children without a prescription. This potentially increases the risk of unwanted treatment outcomes. We investigated medicine use practices in management of symptoms of acute upper respiratory tract infections among children (≤12 years) in households in Nakawa division, Kampala city. METHODS This was a cross-sect...

Sequential recordings were made in the first five months after birth of metabolic rate, environmental temperature, and body temperature during sleep at home in 17 infants, each with an older sibling. Further recordings were made whenever an older sibling developed an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), again four to six days later, and again two weeks later, aiming to achieve recordings b...

Physicians mention patients' expectations as a reason for prescribing antibiotics for common (viral) upper respiratory tract infections despite clinical evidence against their use and the physicians' better judgement. We aimed to assess the prevalence of such expectations and factors of influence (knowledge and attitudes) in Germany's general population. In November 2008, 1,778 persons register...

The aim of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of village doctors regarding the prescribing of antibiotics for children under 15 years with upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) in rural China. Twelve focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted in Xianning, a prefecture-level city in rural China, during December 2014. We conducted 6 FGDs with 35 village doct...

BACKGROUND Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is a major cause of hospitalization and mortality in HIV-infected African children. Microbiologic diagnosis relies predominantly on silver or immunofluorescent staining of a lower respiratory tract (LRT) specimens which are difficult to obtain in children. Diagnosis on upper respiratory tract (URT) specimens using PCR has been reported useful in adults, b...

Among 40 allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients who developed symptomatic respiratory syncytial virus infection, including 22 patients with lower respiratory tract infection, 19 received palivizumab (9 of whom had upper respiratory tract disease). Palivizumab did not prevent progression to lower respiratory infection and had no impact on the overall survival rate.