ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To describe the diagnostic tests used and their comparative performance in dogs diagnosed with sinonasal aspergillosis in the United Kingdom. A secondary objective was to describe the signalment, clinical findings and common clinicopathologic abnormalities in sinonasal aspergillosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A multi-centre retrospective survey was performed involving 23 referral centres in the United Kingdom to identify dogs diagnosed with sinonasal aspergillosis from January 2011 to December 2021. Dogs were included if fungal plaques were seen during rhinoscopy or if ancillary testing (via histopathology, culture, cytology, serology or PCR) was positive and other differential diagnoses were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 662 cases were entered into the database across the 23 referral centres. Four hundred and seventy-five cases met the study inclusion criteria. Of these, 419 dogs had fungal plaques and compatible clinical signs. Fungal plaques were not seen in 56 dogs with turbinate destruction that had compatible clinical signs and a positive ancillary test result. Ancillary diagnostics were performed in 312 of 419 (74%) dogs with observed fungal plaques permitting calculation of sensitivity of cytology as 67%, fungal culture 59%, histopathology 47% and PCR 71%. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The sensitivities of ancillary diagnostics in this study were lower than previously reported challenging the clinical utility of such tests in sinonasal aspergillosis. Treatment and management decisions should be based on a combination of diagnostics including imaging findings, visual inspection, and ancillary testing, rather than ancillary tests alone.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The authors wanted to assess the level of Streptococcus pneumoniae antibiotic resistance in Ile de France. METHOD: In 2001, 637 clinical strains of S. pneumoniae were prospectively collected from 32 microbiology laboratories. RESULTS: Fifty one percent of strains were isolated from children under 15 years of age and 49% from adults. In children, 76% of strains came from otitis media, 20% from blood culture, in adults most strains (92%) came from blood culture. The overall prevalence of non-susceptible penicillin pneumococci was 61% higher in children (73%) than in adults (50%). Among the non-susceptible penicillin pneumococci 21.8% were resistant (CMI > 1 mg/l). Strains with decreased susceptibility to amoxicillin and cefotaxime were 38% and 17% respectively. Resistant strains to these two drugs (CMI > 2 mg/l) were rare 2.6% and 0.4% respectively. Among other antimicrobial agents, rate of resistance was 63% to erythromycin, 47% to cotrimoxazole, 40% to tetracycline, and 23% to chloramphenicol. The most frequent serogroups were serogroups 19 and 14, respectively 23% and 18%. Serotypes included in heptavalent vaccine covered 90% of children strains under 2 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of resistance to penicillin was high in children particularly in otitis media pus (76%).
