[Second consensus report on the use of antimicrobial agents in exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]. / Segundo documento de consenso sobre uso de antimicrobianos en la exacerbación de la enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica.

Aware of the importance of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a panel of experts belonging to the Spanish Society of Respiratory Medicine and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR), the Spanish Society of Chemotherapy (SEQ) and the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (SEMFyC) issued a statement of consensus in 2000 to serve as the basis for adequate antibiotic control of the disease. Three years later, in accordance with significant scientific progress made in this area, the statement has been thoroughly revised. The new paper in fact constitutes a second consensus statement on the use of antibiotics in COPD exacerbations. When several scientific associations expressed interest in joining the project and contributing to it the Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine (SEMES), the Spanish Society of General Medicine (SEMG) and the Spanish Society of Rural and General Medicine (SEMERGEN) their incorporation led SEPAR and SEMFyC to change the structure of the statement and certain aspects of its content. Additionally, a new group of antibiotics, the ketolides, has joined the therapeutic arsenal. Telithromycin, the single representative of the group for the moment, can be considered not only an alternative treatment but even the drug of choice in certain clinical settings that are analyzed in the new statement. Those developments, along with others, such as the increasingly recognized action of levofloxacin against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the steady action of amoxicillin with clavulanic acid when administered at recommended doses every 8 hours, provide new antimicrobial therapeutic protocols for COPD. Finally, the statement includes a scientific analysis of other groups of antimicrobial agents (macrolides, oral cephalosporins, etc.) and guidelines for both primary care physicians and specialists to follow when prescribing them.

[Consensus document on vaccination against influenza in health care workers]. / Consenso sobre la vacunación frente a la gripe en el personal sanitario.

Health care workers (HCW) are included each year among risk groups for vaccination against influenza. However, vaccination coverage among this group in our country is very low, not exceeding 25%. Convinced that one of the best tools to increase this coverage among professionals in our country are the scientific evidence, 19 scientific societies and associations professionals bringing together health professionals more directly related to influenza as an health problem, and the General Nursing Council, met to discuss and develop this consensus document in order to inform HCW about the appropriateness of their vaccination against influenza and the benefits that flow from it for themselves, for their patients and for the rest of the population. This recommendation is based on 3 pillars: argument of necessity, ethics and exemplary.

[Effect of specific treatment on the evolution of antibody titers against Chlamydia trachomatis measured by the immunofluorescence and complement fixation tests]. / Efecto del tratamiento especifico en la evolución de los títulos de anticuerpos anti-Chlamydia trachomatis medidos por las pruebas de inmunofluorescencia y fijación del complemento.

We have evaluated the results of a serologic study of 34 patients with a possible chlamydial infection, obtaining three successive serum samples that were assessed with microimmunofluorescence (IIF) and complement fixation (CF) tests, so as to establish a comparison between the antibody titer measured by each of them. CF detects antibodies against the genus antigen, whereas IIF detects antibodies against the type-specific antigen. The antibodies against both antigens decrease in a parallel fashion, although somewhat more slowly in those against group antigen. This difference is significant (p less than 0.05).