background the prognostic value of blood culture testing in the diagnosis of bacteremia is limited by contamination. objectives in this multicenter study, the aim was to evaluate the contamination rates of blood cultures as well as the parameters that affect the culture results. materials and methods sample collection practices and culture data obtained from 16 university/research hospitals wer...

background and objectives: anaplasma phagocytophilum is a zoonotic, tick borne rickettsial pathogen. a. phagocytophilum has been detected in north america, europe, africa and asia by molecular methods. in iran we have little information about the distribution of this agent in human and animals. materials and methods: from march 2007 to july 2007, one hundred and fifty blood samples and correspo...

CONCERN about human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other bloodborne pathogens is rising throughout society as infection becomes more prevalent. Many members of the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) have expressed the need for an official statement from the Society that addresses practice issues unique to interventional radiology. As a result, the SIR Subcommittee on HIV and Bloodborne...

establishment of a vector-borne disease. For example, tick-derived saliva factors appear to inhibit inflammatory cytokine secretion thus preventing efficient immune responses against tick-borne Rickettsia (4); a defined molecule in the saliva of the Aedes aegypti mosquito (SAAG-4) has the potential to alter the Th-profile of the bite-induced immune response likely rendering the host unable to e...

Vector-borne disease transmission is a common dissemination mode used by many pathogens to spread in a host population. Similar to directly transmitted diseases, the within-host interaction of a vector-borne pathogen and a host's immune system influences the pathogen's transmission potential between hosts via vectors. Yet there are few theoretical studies on virulence-transmission trade-offs an...

Ticks require blood meal to complete development and reproduction. Multifunctional tick salivary glands play a pivotal role in tick feeding and transmission of pathogens. Tick salivary molecules injected into the host modulate host defence responses to the benefit of the feeding ticks. To colonize tick organs, tick-borne microorganisms must overcome several barriers, i.e., tick gut membrane, ti...