Respiratory infections are the greatest single contributor to the overall burden of disease worldwide [1]. Polymicrobial infections are becoming increasingly recognized in terms of both prevalence and their effect on disease severity, causing many common diseases such as oral infections, otitis media, chronic wound infections, and implanted medical device infections, as well as chronic pulmonar...

Plasma gelsolin (pGSN) functions as part of the "extracellular actin-scavenging system," but its potential to improve host defense against infection has not been studied. In a mouse model of primary pneumococcal pneumonia, recombinant human pGSN (rhu-pGSN) caused enhanced bacterial clearance, reduced acute inflammation, and improved survival. In vitro, rhu-pGSN rapidly improved lung macrophage ...

Ivan Bristow is Lecturer, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton; Manfred Mak is Podiatrist, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore When discussing tissue viability in the lower limb, much attention is focused on the role of bacterial infection. However, fungal skin infection is a more frequent and more recurrent pathogen which often goes undetected by the practitioner and patient ...

There is a high incidence of upper respiratory viral infections in the human population, with infection severity being unique to each individual. Upper viruses have been associated previously secondary bacterial infection, however, several cross-sectional studies analyzed literature indicate that an inverse relationship can also occur. Pathobiont abundance and/or dysbiosis impair epithelial int...

BACKGROUND The clinical consequences of co-infection with two or more respiratory viruses are poorly understood. We sought to determine if co-infection with pandemic 2009-2010 influenza A H1N1 (pH1N1) and another respiratory virus was associated with worse clinical outcomes. METHODS A retrospective cohort study was performed of all hospitalized patients with a positive respiratory viral panel...

The Gram-negative bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila is a heterogeneous organism that causes the disease known as motile aeromonad septicaemia, which is responsible for serious economic loss in seabream culture due to bacterial infections. However, the immune mechanisms involved in this disease in fish are still poorly understood. For the purpose of this study, gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.) s...