BACKGROUND Cryptococcus gattii is a fungal pathogen causing an emerging outbreak in the United States Pacific Northwest (PNW). Treatment guidelines for cryptococcosis are primarily based on data from C. neoformans infections; applicability to PNW C. gattii infection is unknown. We evaluated the relationship between initial antifungal treatment and outcomes for PNW C. gattii patients. METHODS ...

Background: Although infectious diseases are the most common sources for the fever of unknown origin (FUO), but the spectrum of infectious diseases is changing overtime. The purpose of the study was to define the clinical spectrum and changing the pattern of FUO.Methods: This existing data based study was undertaken from 2007 to 2011. One hundred-six patients fulfilling the modified criteria fo...

[No Abstract] Nocardia is a genus of weakly gram-positive, filamentous, aerobic, relatively slow-growing and partially acid-fast bacteria. These bacteria are ubiquities in environmental resources such as water, soil, dust, decomposing animal feces, and vegetables. This group of bacteria can enter the human body through inhalation and traumatic cutaneous inoculation and cause Nocardia infection...

Pulmonary infections in the returned traveller are a common presentation. A wide variety of infections may present with pulmonary symptoms. It is important for clinicians to differentiate the cause of these symptoms. The risk of contracting certain travel-related pulmonary diseases depends on travel destination, length of stay, activities undertaken and co-morbidities. Some pathogens are found ...

Nontuberculous mycobacteria are common microorganisms in nature and are particularly found in soil and water. They cause pulmonary infections, lymphadenitis, disseminated infections, localized skin and soft tissue infections, tendon–bone–articular infections, and catheter infections. Mycobacterium xenopi is categorized as a slow-growing mycobacterium. Pulmonary infections caused by M. xenopi ha...

Williams-Campbell syndrome is a rare disease, characterized by a congenital deficiency of cartilage in the fourth to sixth order bronchi, leading to chronic respiratory failure with recurrent pulmonary infections. An effective and practical treatment has not yet been established. A 31-year-old man who was diagnosed as Williams-Campbell syndrome by inspiratory and expiratory computed tomography ...

This review details some of the advances that have been made in the recent decade in the diagnosis, treatment and epidemiology of pulmonary fungal infections. These advances have occurred because of increasing knowledge regarding the fungal genome, better understanding of the structures of the fungal cell wall and cell membrane and the use of molecular epidemiological techniques. The clinical i...