Subdural empyma due to Mycobacterium fortuitum in a non-HIV patient.

A 14-year-old male child presented with high grade intermittent fever with altered sensorium since 5-6 days and generalised seizures. On examination neck stiffness noticed with normal haemogram and chest X-ray. CSF microscopy was normal and no growth seen in aerobic culture. CT scan showed loculated lesion. Drained pus showed acid fast organism and culture on Lowestein Jensen medium showed pale-coloured growth on 3 rd day. Organism identified as Mycobacterium fortuitum by biochemical test. Interesting aspect of this case was there is no history of trauma or injection and patient was negative for HIV antibody.

Fusarium soloni mycetoma.

A young apparently healthy, non-diabetic, HIV non-reactive woman presented with a mycetoma-like lesion on right buttock. Discharge was scanty, and mycotic grains were not seen. Biopsy of sinus track was obtained for microscopy and culture. Microscopic examination revealed plenty of fungal hyphae in direct microscopic examination of grounded tissues in saline; KOH, Gram's, and H and E-stained smears. All the three inoculated slants of Sabouraud's media yielded heavy growth of Fusarium solani. Presence of numerous hyphal fragments in direct microscopy and heavy growth of F. solani in all three slants indicative of etiological role of fungus in the present case. It is probably a first report of F. soloni mycetoma from India.

Respiratory tract infection due to Arcanobacterium haemolyticum--a case report.

A case of respiratory tract infection due to Arcanobacterium haemolyticum is reported. A female of 26 years presented with cough with expectoration and fever off and on for a duration of six weeks. Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Arcanobacterium haemolyticum were isolated. Arcanobacterium haemolyticum was isolated on three separate occasions.

Re-emergence of El Tor vibrio in outbreak of cholera in & around Nagpur.

Contrary to earlier outbreaks of cholera due to Vibrio cholerae O139 during 1993 and its reemergence in 1998 in and around Nagpur and only sporadic episodes thereafter for next couple of years, a large outbreak was encountered between June and October 2003. V. cholerae 01 El Tor were isolated in 198 cases, of which 152 were Ogawa, 3 Inaba, 4 Hikojima and 39 were non agglutinating (NAG) vibrios. No isolate of V. cholerae O139 was detected during the entire outbreak. The isolates were multi drug resistant to antibiotic susceptibility tests. This points to the resurgence of V. cholerae El Tor Ogawa causing outbreaks of cholera with a discernible increase in the incidence of multi drug resistant strains.

Serotyping of pulmonary isolates of Candida albicans. A preliminary study.

A total of twenty strains of Candida albicans isolated from chronic pulmonary lesions were subjected to serotyping procedure adopting the conventional agglutination reactions. Prior to serotyping all the twenty strains were isolated on at least three different occasions and were identified by the standard accepted criteria (germ tube production, colony morphology on cornmeal Tween 80 agar and sugar fermentation reactions). Of the twenty strains, four strains belonged to serotype B and the remaining sixteen had the agglutination profile consistent with serotype A. The serotyping was undertaken with locally raised antisera against serotype A and serotype B. The proposed serotyping procedure has a definite potential in the epidemiological investigations of Candida albincans.

Oral histoplasmosis in India: a case report and an overview of cases reported during 1968-92.

Oral histoplasmosis in a 30-year-old male with no history of travel outside India is described. An ulcerating lesion was located on the hard palate. A chest X-ray was normal. Based on physical examination, regional lymph nodes, liver and spleen were not involved. The diagnosis was established by demonstrating yeast-like budding cells in a biopsy of the lesion and by isolating Histoplasma capsulatum in pure culture. The identity of the isolate was confirmed by a chemiluminescent DNA-probe assay and the exoantigen test. A review of the Indian literature from 1968 to 1992 revealed the occurrence of 25 authentic cases of histoplasmosis in India. In 19 cases, lesions were confined to the oral cavity confirming prior observation that histoplasmosis in Indian patients tends to occur primarily in extrapulmonary sites, particularly the oral cavity.