Listerial meningoencephalitis: AIDS and non AIDS patients

A total of 11 patients with listeriosis wereadmited to the Hospital Emilio Ribas - Säo Paulo, Brasil. The etiology Listeria monocytogenes in 2 Aids and Listeria spp in underlying conditions was established in the other patients. The age ranged from 20 to 60 years old and white: black; male:famele ratio was 3:1 for all them. Acute meningoencephalitis in 11; renal failure in 2; acute respiratory failure, septicemia and AIDS with drug multiform exantema, respectively in 1 were observed. Leukocytosis > 500 cells/mm elevado ao cubo; glucose < 45 mg/dl; protein > 90 mg/dl and Gram-positive rod strains with positive culture to Listeria spp were revealed in the cerebrospinal fluid study. These strains were resistant to betalactamin; colistin; streptomycin and amikacin and sensitive to kanamicin; gentamicin; tetracicline; erytromicin and chloramphenicol. Monotherapy (ampicillin) or associate (ampicillin/chloramphenicol) had not influence on death or improvement during the follow-up of patients. Listeral meningoencephalitis is similar to tuberculosis or other bacterial meningitis include in cerebrospinal fluid chemistries data

Isolation of Mycobacterium avium complex from bone marrow aspirates of AIDS patients in Brazil.

Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection has not been reported as a major opportunistic infection among patients with AIDS in Latin America or Africa. In this study, 125 AIDS patients who had persistent fever, anemia, and leukopenia were examined among 2628 AIDS patients admitted to Instituto de Infectologia Emilio Ribas between May 1990 and April 1992. From the bone marrow aspirates of the 125 patients, MAC was isolated from 23 (18.4%) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis was isolated from 9 (7.2%). Between 1985 and 1990, only 11 MAC isolations among 60,000 cultures obtained from human immunodeficiency virus-seronegative patients were documented in São Paulo. Hence, the minimal estimated rate of MAC infection in AIDS patients in this city was 23/2628, or 0.88%. These findings suggest that MAC infection is an important opportunistic infection, especially among a subset of patients with AIDS in Brazil who have clinical characteristics and risk activities similar to those associated with MAC infections in North America and Europe.

[A retrospective therapeutic study of neurocryptococcosis in 112 AIDS and non-AIDS patients]. / Estudo retrospectivo terapêutico da neurocriptococose em 112 aidéticos ou não.

UNLABELLED: A total of 112 AIDS and no AIDS cryptococcosis patients admitted at Emílio Ribas Hospital--São Paulo, Brazil, were treated with amphotericin B (AMB) or amphotericin B and 5 fluorocytosine (5FC). Age, race, predisposing and epidemiological factors, respiratory symptoms were evaluated. Goodman tests applied in three patients groups (I, II and III) with associate or unique therapy revealed: 1. prognostic factors: leukocytes ang glucose showed similar response in groups I, II and III and protein spinal fluid after 1.5g/AMB; 2. India ink tests and Cryptococcus culture were often positive until 1.0g/AMB; 3. significant hypokalemia during monotherapy. Hypo and hyperkalemia had similar data in associate therapy; 4. significant difference in adverse reactions often appeared above 0.7g AMB/250g 5FC; 5. early and late death were common in group III (unique) and group I (no AIDS) and III (2.5 to 4.0g) respectively; 6. similar remission and deaths were verified in AIDS/cryptococcosis. CONCLUSIONS: adverse reactions were observed above 0.75g/AMB plus 250g 5FC. Association was important in initial therapy and AMB maintenance permitted late relapses.

Aztreonam in the treatment of bacterial meningitis.

The monobactam aztreonam was used to treat 22 young patients with meningitis caused by gram-negative bacilli. Haemophilus influenzae was isolated from the CSF of 21 patients and Salmonella heidelberg from the CSF of 1. Dosages ranged from 100 to 200 mg/kg/day in 4 doses at 6-hour intervals. Minimal inhibitory concentrations were determined by the broth dilution method for all isolated strains, and values ranged from 0.05 to 2.0 micrograms/ml. Blood and CSF drug levels were determined by a microbiologic plate diffusion method, and mean values for CSF and blood were 1.4 and 14.9 micrograms/ml, respectively. The outcome was good in 21 patients; 1 patient died. Complications were mild; subdural effusion occurred in 6 cases and was managed clinically; asymptomatic hydrocephalus was seen in 4; seizure during the acute phase occurred in 6 cases; hypoacusis was noted in 2, and motor impairment was detected at the follow-up in 1 case. Aztreonam achieved good blood and CSF penetration and performed well in the treatment of 20 cases of H. influenzae meningitis and in the one case of S. heidelberg meningitis.

Cefoxitin penetration into cerebrospinal fluid in patients with purulent meningitis.

The penetration of cefoxitin into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was studied in 25 patients with purulent meningitis treated with antibiotics other than cefoxitin. Each patient received three 2-g doses of cefoxitin at 6-h intervals. Blood and CSF samples were obtained before and at 2, 4, or 6 h after the first and third doses. CSF cefoxitin concentrations were found in all patients and varied between 1.2 and 22.0 microgram/ml, with a majority of the concentrations falling within a range from 1.2 to 6.2 microgram/ml. The concentrations tended to be higher in CSF samples drawn after the third cefoxitin dose than in those drawn after the first cefoxitin dose, indicating an accumulation of cefoxitin in CSF with repeated doses. Peak cefoxitin concentrations in CSF seemed to occur between 2 and 6 h after intravenous administration of the drug since the highest concentrations were found in patients from whom CSF samples were taken 4 h after the doses. In patients with bacterial meningitis, it should be possible to achieve therapeutic cefoxitin levels in CSF by using nontoxic doses of the antibiotic.

The effect of 1-beta-D-ribofuranosyl-1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxamide on acute viral hepatitis.

We studied the effect of 1-beta-ribofuranosyl-1,2,4-traizole-3-carboxamide (ribavirin) on 66 patients with acute viral hepatitis, by a double-blind study. Thirty-three of these patients received the active drug and the other 33 received a placebo. The effect of ribavirin was evaluated by the clinical picture and by the changes in both direct and total serum bilirubin and in the activity of serum glutamic-pyruvic and glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminases. There was a significant decrease in serum bilirubin, SGOT, and SGPT from the 5th to 10th day of treatment in the ribavirin group. In the placebo group such a decrease was observed but was not statistically significant.