Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic yeast present in the environment. Practitioners are familiar with the presentation and management of the most common manifestation of cryptococcal infection, meningoencephalitis, in patients with AIDS or other conditions of immunocompromise. There is less awareness, however, of uncommon presentations where experience rather than evidence guides therap...

Sarcandra glabra was a renowned herb traditionally used as herbal tea or food supplement to enhance mental efficiency and to recover from stress or fatigue in China. We investigated the effects of Sarcandra glabra extract (SGE), with chemical composition clearly showed by HPLC fingerprint as quality control, on immunologic response including natural killer (NK) cell activity and its antioxidati...

The incidence of children diagnosed with all forms of invasive cancer has significantly increased over the past 30 years. At the same time, high cure rates have also been achieved, with 5-year survival rates reaching 70-80% for most childhood malignancies. This improvement has been accomplished through significant advances in treatment, also resulting in the better management of infections duri...

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been associated with Hodgkin's disease (HD) in up to 50% of cases, but the subtype of EBV involved has only recently been studied. In this report, biopsy samples from 30 patients with HD were assessed for EBV sequences using both the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in situ hybridization (ISH). EBV sequences were localized to the malignant Reed-Sternberg cells an...

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a rapidly progressive and often fatal infectious disease described classically in patients who are highly immunocompromised. However, there has been increasing evidence that IA may affect critically ill patients without traditional risk factors. We present a case of a 47-year-old man without conventional risk factors for IA who presented with impending sepsis and ...

Abstract Background To determine the frequency of, and factors associated with, death in hospital following ICU discharge to ward. Methods The Large observational study UNderstand Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE was an international, multicenter, prospective cohort patients with severe failure, conducted across 459 ICUs from 50 countries globally. This aimed understand who sur...

cystoisospora belli, formerly isospora belli , as an opportunistic infection agent, is seen in immunocompromised patients like htlv-1. we describe here cystoiso­sporiasis in an htlv1 iranian female in mashhad, northwestern iran in 2012 who presented with a debilitating diarrheal illness and great weight loss. c. belli was de­tected in her stool by modified acid-fast staining and then by molecul...

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING 3 NEWLY ADMITTED PAtients. The first patient has marked hypoxemia requiring mechanical ventilation and is found to have nonspecific, bilateral, alveolar infiltrates on chest radiography. The second patient has had a severe change in mental status and on brain imaging has an enhancing lesion exerting a mass effect. The third patient has high fevers, ventilator-dependent re...