Scabies Among Elderly Korean Patients with Histories of Leprosy.

A scabies epidemic, traced by the hospital-based surveillance system, was reported in a Korean leprosarium. A total of 200 symptomatic cases were found during 2012-2014 among 570 elderly former leprosy patients. Most of cases were classic type scabies (87%) and aged 75 years and older (72%). Surveillance system for early diagnosis and prompt intervention was applied and the scabies epidemic was controlled effectively in this long-term care facility.

Could Mycobacterium leprae Infection Be an Occupational Disease? A Survey in Healthcare Workers From an Endemic Area in the Amazonian Region.

A serologic survey was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of Mycobacterium leprae infection among healthcare workers and associated factors. Of 280 workers, 26 (9.3%) were positive using immunoglobulin M serology for PGL-I M. leprae antigen. Exposure to leprosy patients in the workplace was significantly associated with seropositivity (P=.044).

Molecular epidemiology of a hepatitis C virus outbreak in a leprosy sanatorium in Japan.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) outbreak that occurred between 1940 and 1999 in a closed leprosy sanatorium located on a small island in Japan was analyzed. The analysis of 318 nucleotides in the NS5B region of HCV allowed us to establish the existence of at least three different HCV strains in this sanatorium.

Bacterial contamination of the hands of doctors: a study in the medicine and dermatology wards.

BACKGROUND: Doctors' hands are a common source of bacterial contamination. Often, these organisms are found to be virulent species with multidrug-resistance patterns. These are the sources of nosocomial infections in many patients. AIMS: The present study was undertaken to find out the prevalence of bacterial contamination in the hands of doctors in the Medicine and Dermatology wards of a tertiary care hospital. METHODS: The hands of 44 doctors were swabbed and cultured at entry to ward and at exit. Then, tap water and alcohol swab wash techniques were used and further swabs were done at each step. Thus, each doctor was sampled four-times for the study. The antibiotic-sensitivity pattern of the organisms was determined by the disc-diffusion method. RESULTS: There was a significant contamination of the doctors' hands at entry (59.1%) and at exit (90.9%). Overall, Staphylococcus was the predominant organism (59% at entry and 85% at exit); coagulase-negative ones were more prevalent at entry (32%) and coagulase-positive ones were more prevalent at exit (54%). There was no difference in the hand contamination rates of junior and senior doctors. Also, the contamination rates were similar in the Medicine and Dermatology wards. Among the gram negative organisms, Escherichia coli (4.5%), Pseudomonas (4.5%), Enterococci (13.6%) and Klebsiella (9%) were the main ones isolated. Gram negative organisms were significantly more prevalent at exit (P = 0.009) compared with their numbers at entry. Hand washing techniques reduced the contamination rates significantly, 76% with tap water wash and further 16.5% with alcohol swab. The removal rate for both groups of organisms was similar. Also, coagulase-positive and -negative Staphylococci showed equal rates of removal with hand washing (P = 0.9793). The organisms were found to be resistant to most of the commonly used antibiotics; the beta-lactam group was especially largely resistant both for gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Both cheaper ones like cloxacillin (50-100%) and very costly ones like cefepime (100%) were equally vulnerable to resistance. Even newer antibiotics like linezolid and vancomycin showed a significant resistance to Staphylococcus. In gram negative organisms, drugs like ceftazidime and gentamicin showed 100% resistance. CONCLUSION: This study shows the high level of contamination of doctors' hands. It emphasizes the need for proper hygienic measures in day to day practice in hospitals to reduce the level of nosocomial infections. Also, it shows that most of the commonly used antibiotics will be ineffective in nosocomial infections.

Hepatitis C virus infection in a Japanese leprosy sanatorium for the past 67 years.

Oku-Komyo-En is one of the national leprosy sanatoria, located on a small island in Setouchi city, Okayama prefecture of Japan since 1938. Since autopsies were carried out routinely on almost all patients who had died in the sanatorium up to 1980, approximately 1,000 formalin-fixed autopsy tissue samples were available for analysis. When these samples were reviewed, the pathological data indicated a sharp rise in the death rate caused by cirrhosis of the liver and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) since 1960 and 1970, respectively. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a common cause of HCC in Japan. The presence of HCV RNA was demonstrated in paraffin sections prepared from the autopsied liver tissue fixed in formalin for a prolonged period of time, by employing nested RT-PCR using type-specific primers. The data showed that HCV RNA was detectable in samples of the liver archived as early as 1940, representing the liver tissues kept in formalin for up to 67 years. HCV genotypes 1b and 2a were found by RT-PCR at 85.7% and 14.3%, respectively, in patients with leprosy.

Mini outbreak of Kaposi's varicelliform eruption in skin ward: a study of five cases.

BACKGROUND: Kaposis varicelliform eruption (KVE) represents widespread cutaneous herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection in patients with preexisting dermatoses. Occasionally, this infection can present as a nosocomial infection in skin wards, if adequate bed-spacing and barrier nursing methods are not followed. We are reporting five cases of KVE; four cases acquired the infection in a makeshift ward after admission of the first case in May 2005, due to the renovation work of the regular skin ward. AIM: The purpose of this study is to create clinical awareness about this uncommon dermatologic entity and to stress upon the importance of bed-spacing and barrier nursing in skin wards. METHODS: Five cases of KVE, three females and two males with different primary dermatoses (pemphigus foliaceus--one, pemphigus vulgaris--two, paraneoplastic pemphigus--one and toxic epidemal necrolysis--one) were included in this study. Diagnosis was made clinically and supported with Tzanck smear and HSV serology. All the cases were treated with oral acyclovir. RESULTS: Four out of five cases of KVE recovered with treatment, one case of extensive pemphigus vulgaris with KVE succumbed to death. CONCLUSION: Mini outbreaks of KVE can occur in skin wards with inadequate bed-spacing and overcrowding of patients. Therefore adequate bed-spacing, barrier nursing and isolation of suspected cases are mandatory to prevent such life-threatening infections.

[Nosocomial infection of scabies in national hospitals and sanatoria in Japan].

The aim of this study was to investigate cases of nosocomial infection of scabies in the national hospitals in Japan. Questionnaires sent to 183 hospitals and sanatoria were returned by 93. Fifty-three cases in 24 institutions of nosocomial infection were reported in the past 5 years. No nosocomial infection was reported from 7 sanatoria for Hansen's diseases where the patients were relatively older and had higher ADL scores. It took 7.5 weeks on the average to eliminate nosocomial infection and more than 8 weeks were required to control them in the hospitals where more than 10 cases had occurred. Benzyl benzoate, gamma benzene hexachloride, and Pyrethroids, which were not approved as drugs for the treatment of scabies in Japan, were used in the all institutions where nosocomial infection occurred except for one institution. Problems to be solved were as follows; (1) delay of diagnosis and treatment, (2) lack of nursing staff, (3) difficulties of complete isolation due to lack of spaces, inability of patients to understand the need for isolation and also the psychological instability of the isolated patients, (4) recurrence due to the use of ineffective drugs, (5) insufficient information about the prevalence of scabies in the previous institutions, (6) misdiagnosis of non-scabies patients with itchy skin rash as the scabies, (7) inconsisitent care due to poor evaluation of skin lesions.

[Multicenter study on nosocomial candidiasis in the Republic of Argentina]. / Estudio multicéntrico sobre candidiasis nosocomial en la República Argentina. Groupo EMIFN.

A multicenter study was performed between April and September 1998 with the participation of 12 medical centers located in 8 different provinces and in the capital city of Argentina. The aim of this study was to determine the species distribution and the antifungal susceptibility profile of isolates causing nosocomial fungal infections. All the fungal isolates obtained were sent to the Mycology Department for reference identification and antifungal susceptibility testing. Eighty-nine isolates were received from different clinical specimens. The distribution of species obtained was C. albicans (50.6%), C. tropicalis (22.5%), C. parapsilosis (20.2%), C. krusei (3.4%), C. glabrata (2.2%) and Debaryomyces hansenii (1.1%). Most of the isolates (85/88) had MICs for amphotericin B < or = 1 microgram/ml, C. krusei showed resistance to fluconazole but was dose dependent susceptible to itraconazole, C. glabrata (2/2) were resistant against both drugs, most of the isolates of C. albicans, C. tropicalis and C. parapsilosis were susceptible to these triazole drugs. These data showed a different distribution of Candida species compared with results obtained in other countries. The low frequency of appearance of C. krusei and C. glabrata in our country suggests a reduced selective pressure by triazoles.

Estudio multicéntrico sobre candidiasis nosocomial en la República Argentina. Groupo EMIFN / Multicenter study on nosocomial candidiasis in the Republic of Argentina

A multicenter study was performed between April and September 1998 with the participation of 12 medical centers located in 8 different provinces and in the capital city of Argentina. The aim of this study was to determine the species distribution and the antifungal susceptibility profile of isolates causing nosocomial fungal infections. All the fungal isolates obtained were sent to the Mycology Department for reference identification and antifungal susceptibility testing. Eighty-nine isolates were received from different clinical specimens. The distribution of species obtained was C. albicans (50.6), C. tropicalis (22.5), C. parapsilosis (20.2), C. krusei (3.4), C. glabrata (2.2) and Debaryomyces hansenii (1.1). Most of the isolates (85/88) had MICs for amphotericin B < or = 1 microgram/ml, C. krusei showed resistance to fluconazole but was dose dependent susceptible to itraconazole, C. glabrata (2/2) were resistant against both drugs, most of the isolates of C. albicans, C. tropicalis and C. parapsilosis were susceptible to these triazole drugs. These data showed a different distribution of Candida species compared with results obtained in other countries. The low frequency of appearance of C. krusei and C. glabrata in our country suggests a reduced selective pressure by triazoles.

Estudio multicéntrico sobre candidiasis nosocomial en la República Argentina. Groupo EMIFN / Multicenter study on nosocomial candidiasis in the Republic of Argentina

A multicenter study was performed between April and September 1998 with the participation of 12 medical centers located in 8 different provinces and in the capital city of Argentina. The aim of this study was to determine the species distribution and the antifungal susceptibility profile of isolates causing nosocomial fungal infections. All the fungal isolates obtained were sent to the Mycology Department for reference identification and antifungal susceptibility testing. Eighty-nine isolates were received from different clinical specimens. The distribution of species obtained was C. albicans (50.6), C. tropicalis (22.5), C. parapsilosis (20.2), C. krusei (3.4), C. glabrata (2.2) and Debaryomyces hansenii (1.1). Most of the isolates (85/88) had MICs for amphotericin B < or = 1 microgram/ml, C. krusei showed resistance to fluconazole but was dose dependent susceptible to itraconazole, C. glabrata (2/2) were resistant against both drugs, most of the isolates of C. albicans, C. tropicalis and C. parapsilosis were susceptible to these triazole drugs. These data showed a different distribution of Candida species compared with results obtained in other countries. The low frequency of appearance of C. krusei and C. glabrata in our country suggests a reduced selective pressure by triazoles.(AU)

[History of the changes in infectious diseases]. / Erkenntnisse zum Wandel von Infektionskrankheiten.

The spectrum of infectious diseases is not at all constant, it changes. This statement is relevant for the great epidemics as well as for nosocomial infections and simple infectious processes. The epidemiological situation of plague, lepra, cholera and diphtheria is discussed. As concerns nosocomial infections four periods are separated: the time before Semmelweis and Lister, the period of the introduction of antiseptic/aseptic measurements to the hospitals and the chemotherapy-time (period until 1965) and the time afterwards. The spectrum of nosocomial infections and its changes as observed in the Cologne area are presented. But also the types of a certain bacterial species are changing as discussed on the example of S. aureus phagetype 80/81. As far as known factors involved in these changes are mentioned. The increasing use of plastic materials in medicine (i.e. intravenous catheters, Spitz-Holtershunts, hipps, valves, etcetera) is the cause of infectious complications, S. epidermidis being the dominant organism.