Seroprevalence of Leishmania infection among asymptomatic renal transplant recipients from southern Spain.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this article is to assess the seroprevalence of Leishmania infection among asymptomatic renal transplant recipients in a population in the south of Spain. METHODS: Serum samples were screened for immunoglobulin-G antibodies against Leishmania with an indirect fluorescent antibody test. RESULTS: Of 625 examined serum samples, 30 (4.8%) samples were positive for Leishmania antibodies. Thirteen samples showed titers of 1:80, 15 samples showed titers of 1:160, and 2 samples showed titers of 1:320. None of the patients with positive serology to Leishmania showed signs or symptoms compatible with leishmaniasis. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of Leishmania infection found among asymptomatic renal transplant patients reinforces the need for attention in evaluation of these patients in endemic areas.

Update on the Diagnosis of Sexually Transmitted Infections. / Actualización en el diagnóstico de las infecciones de transmisión sexual.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are one of the most frequent and universal Public Health problems. Health professionals should be aware of the possibility of STIs due to their high morbidity and the presence of sequelae. The delay in the diagnosis is one of the factors that justifies the difficulty to infections control. Diagnostic tests allow the introduction of aetiological treatment and also lead to treating symptomatic and asymptomatic patients more effectively, as well as to interrupt the epidemiological transmission chain without delay. In this review we have made an update of the main existing diagnostic methods for the more important STIs.

[Tuberculous prosthetic knee joint infection: a case report and literature review]. / Artritis tuberculosa sobre prótesis de rodilla: descripción de un caso y revisión de la literatura.

OBJECTIVE: Prosthetic late infection occurs in the second month after surgery in the context of haematogenous spread from another source. Prosthetic mycobacterial infection is a rare complication whose clinical management is not standardized. CASE: Patient of 77 years with no personal history except for diabetes and a prosthetic replacement of right knee with osteoarthritis three years ago. Patient goes to hospital emergency box for 6 months pain in the right knee with mechanical inflammatory signs but no fever associated. After their return within 5 days and clinical worsening is reporting growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in knee aspirate and antitubercular treatment is established for 9 months. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging studies also confirmed the diagnosis of tuberculosis spondylitis in the clinical context of the patients. After surgery, M. tuberculosis was again isolated from intraoperative samples and therefore the patient received another batch of treatment for 9 months. After a year of monitoring, the development was acceptable but few months later, the patient died for cardiovascular causes. In the literature review, 15 publications with a total of 17 clinical cases of prosthetic infection by M. tuberculosis were found from 1980 to 2014. CONCLUSIONS: Prosthetic tuberculous arthritis, although it is a rare presentation, it should be noted, especially in patients with predisposing conditions with a history of tuberculosis infection.

Evaluation of a new chemiluminescence immunoassay for laboratory diagnosis of syphilis.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate diagnostic performances of automated chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) in comparison with Treponema pallidum hemagglutination test (TPHA). The specificity of CLIA was 98.9% and 99.6% for TPHA, whereas the sensitivity was 98% and 96%, respectively. Considering the suitability for automation, CLIA may represent a suitable alternative.

Actualización en el diagnóstico de las infecciones de transmisión sexual / Update on the Diagnosis of Sexually Transmitted Infections

Las infecciones de transmisión sexual (ITS) son uno de los problemas de salud pública más frecuentes y universales. Debido a que las ITS son responsables de una alta morbilidad, así como de secuelas graves, es muy importante que todos los profesionales de la salud las tengan en cuenta en el momento de valorar al paciente. La dificultad en el control de las ITS se debe principalmente al retraso diagnóstico. Las pruebas diagnósticas permiten realizar un manejo etiológico, así como facilitar un tratamiento más efectivo tanto de los pacientes sintomáticos como de los asintomáticos, y finalmente permitirán interrumpir de una forma más precoz la cadena epidemiológica de transmisión. En la presente revisión se ha llevado a cabo una actualización acerca de los principales métodos diagnósticos existentes en las ITS más relevantes

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are one of the most frequent and universal Public Health problems. Health professionals should be aware of the possibility of STIs due to their high morbidity and the presence of sequelae. The delay in the diagnosis is one of the factors that justifies the difficulty to infections control. Diagnostic tests allow the introduction of aetiological treatment and also lead to treating symptomatic and asymptomatic patients more effectively, as well as to interrupt the epidemiological transmission chain without delay. In this review we have made an update of the main existing diagnostic methods for the more important STIs