Immunosuppression for inflammatory bowel disease does not influence Epstein-Barr viral load in the short-term.

INTRODUCTION: Immunomodulators and biologics are two of the main drugs used for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Some of these agents have been associated with certain infections and lymphoproliferative disorders, including Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Our aim was to determine the influence of immunosuppression in the EBV viral load in patients with IBD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively included naïve patients with IBD who were starting immunosuppressive therapy in four IBD Units. All patients were assessed at baseline and four months after starting immunosuppression for clinical disease activity, biomarkers, EBV serology (IgM VCA, IgG VCA and IgG EBNA) and viral load. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients were included. At baseline, all patients showed positive results for IgG VCA or IgG EBNA with undetectable EBV viral load. No patient showed detectable EBV viral load after starting the immunosuppressive therapy. CONCLUSION: Immunosuppression did not influence on EBV viral load in the short-term in naïve IBD patients.

Etiology of community-acquired pneumonia in a population-based study: link between etiology and patients characteristics, process-of-care, clinical evolution and outcomes.

BACKGROUND: The etiologic profile of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) for each age group could be similar among inpatients and outpatients. This fact brings up the link between etiology of CAP and its clinical evolution and outcome. Furthermore, the majority of pneumonia etiologic studies are based on hospitalized patients, whereas there have been no recent population-based studies encompassing both inpatients and outpatients. METHODS: To evaluate the etiology of CAP, and the relationship among the different pathogens of CAP to patients characteristics, process-of-care, clinical evolution and outcomes, a prospective population-based study was conducted in Spain from April 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007. Patients (age >18) with CAP were identified through the family physicians and the hospital area. RESULTS: A total of 700 patients with etiologic evaluation were included: 276 hospitalized and 424 ambulatory patients. We were able to define the aetiology of pneumonia in 55.7% (390/700). The most frequently isolated organism was S. pneumoniae (170/390, 43.6%), followed by C. burnetti (72/390, 18.5%), M. pneumoniae (62/390, 15.9%), virus as a group (56/390, 14.4%), Chlamydia species (39/390, 106%), and L. pneumophila (17/390, 4.4%). The atypical pathogens and the S. pneumoniae are present in pneumonias of a wide spectrum of severity and age. Patients infected by conventional bacteria were elderly, had a greater hospitalization rate, and higher mortality within 30 days. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides information about the etiology of CAP in the general population. The microbiology of CAP remains stable: infections by conventional bacteria result in higher severity, and the S. pneumoniae remains the most important pathogen. However, atypical pathogens could also infect patients in a wide spectrum of severity and age.

Utility of Differential White Cell Count and Cell Population Data for Ruling Out COVID-19 Infection in Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia.

INTRODUCTION: The main aim of this study was to assess the utility of differential white cell count and cell population data (CPD) for the detection of COVID-19 in patients admitted for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) of different etiologies. METHODS: This was a multicenter, observational, prospective study of adults aged ≥18 years admitted to three teaching hospitals in Spain from November 2019 to November 2021 with a diagnosis of CAP. At baseline, a Sysmex XN-20 analyzer was used to obtain detailed information related to the activation status and functional activity of white cells. RESULTS: The sample was split into derivation and validation cohorts of 1065 and 717 patients, respectively. In the derivation cohort, COVID-19 was confirmed in 791 patients and ruled out in 274 patients, with mean ages of 62.13 (14.37) and 65.42 (16.62) years, respectively (p<0.001). There were significant differences in all CPD parameters except MO-Y. The multivariate prediction model showed that lower NE-X, NE-WY, LY-Z, LY-WY, MO-WX, MO-WY, and MO-Z values and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio were related to COVID-19 etiology with an AUC of 0.819 (0.790, 0.846). No significant differences were found comparing this model to another including biomarkers (p=0.18). CONCLUSIONS: Abnormalities in white blood cell morphology based on a few cell population data values as well as NLR were able to accurately identify COVID-19 etiology. Moreover, systemic inflammation biomarkers currently used were unable to improve the predictive ability. We conclude that new peripheral blood biomarkers can help determine the etiology of CAP fast and inexpensively.

Prevalence of genosubtypes (PorA types) of serogroup B invasive meningococcus in the north of Spain from 2000 to 2003.

The composition of new vaccines against Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B is based on differences in the variable regions VR1 and VR2 of the class 1 outer-membrane protein (PorA) of meningococci. Genosubtyping of 96 N. meningitidis B isolates from blood or cerebrospinal fluid from 2000 to 2003 in the north of Spain allowed characterization of all the strains. Twenty-six genosubtypes or distinct PorA types were obtained. The most prevalent were P1.5-1, 10-8 (20 strains), P1.19, 15 (14 strains), P1.22, 9 (11 strains) and P1.5, 2 (nine strains), while 17 genosubtypes were represented by only one or two strains. The wide diversity of genosubtypes observed and their differences compared with those found in other regions reveals the difficulty in designing a useful outer-membrane vesicle vaccine applicable to different regions of the world.

[Analysis of discordance between tuberculin test and QuantiFERON-TB® Gold In-Tube in studies of contacts]. / Análisis de la discordancia entre la prueba de la tuberculina y el QuantiFERON-TB® Gold In-Tube en estudios de contactos.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Our objective is to compare the tuberculin skin test (TST) and the QuantiFERON-TB(®) Gold In-Tube (QFT) in the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTI) in a population of contacts of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, and to analyze the influence of different variables in the discordance. PATIENTS AND METHOD: From March 2008 to September 2010, among a population of 300,000 inhabitants of the Basque Country, we analyzed all contacts of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. All patients underwent the TST and the value of QFT was measured. Sociodemographic variables and vaccination were examined and we analyzed the discordance between the 2 tests. RESULTS: Seven hundred and four were included in the study, with a mean age of 27 years. Of these, 397 were vaccinated, with similar proportion between native and foreign. Increasing the age to 59 years (odds ratio [OR] 10.53, P<.001), being foreign (OR 2.71, P=.02) and vaccination (OR 4.22, P<.001) were predictors of the discordance between a positive TST and negative QFT. CONCLUSIONS: It seems that the QFT, alone or combined with the TST, is a safe method for the diagnosis of LTI and its use would contribute to a more specific selection of individuals who would need preventive treatment.