A Rare Case of Tularemia Complicated by Rhabdomyolysis with a Successful Outcome.

We present a case of tularemia complicated by rhabdomyolysis in a 43-year-old male who presented with fever, swelling, and pain of the right groin and a history of a week-old tick bite. Empirical parenteral amoxicillin/clavulanic acid treatment was initiated. Suspecting tularemia, parenteral gentamycin was added. Later, the patient started to complain of muscle pain, weakness, and difficulties in breathing and walking. Heightened levels of creatine kinase and myoglobin concentration (42,670 IU/L and >12,000 µg/L, respectively) were found. Due to rhabdomyolysis, large amounts of intravenous fluid therapy were initiated to prevent kidney damage, continuing intravenous antibiotic therapy. Francisella tularensis IgG in serum was found to be positive only on the sixteenth day of hospitalization. Upon discharge, the laboratory analyses returned to normal levels, and the patient was in good condition. The successful outcome could be associated with the early appropriate therapy of tularemia and its rare complication of rhabdomyolysis.

Routine HIV testing program in the University Infectious Diseases Centre in Lithuania: a four-year analysis.

BACKGROUND: HIV transmission remains a major concern in Eastern Europe, and too many people are diagnosed late. Expanded testing strategies and early and appropriate access to care are required. Infectious disease departments might be targets for expanded HIV testing owing to the intense passage of key patient populations that carry indicators of HIV disease. Our objective was to evaluate the feasibility and clinical effectiveness of a fully integrated, opt-out routine, rapid HIV testing program. METHODS: A retrospective four-year study of a screening program was conducted from 2010 through 2014. The program was divided into two periods: from 2010 to 2012 (pilot study) and from 2013 to 2014. The pilot study consisted of routine HIV testing of patients aged 18-55 that were hospitalized in one department. In the second period, all inpatients aged 18-65 were eligible. Targeted testing was conducted in the other inpatient department during the pilot study and the outpatient department during both periods. RESULTS: During the pilot study, 2203 patients were hospitalized, 1314 (59.6%) were eligible, 954 (72.6%) were tested, and 3 (0.31%) were newly diagnosed HIV-positive. In the second period, 4911 patients were hospitalized, 3727 (75.9%) were eligible, 3303 (88.6%) were tested, and 7 (0.21%) were HIV-positive. In total, 2800 targeted tests were performed, and 4 (0.14%) patients tested positive with newly discovered HIV. All 14 newly diagnosed patients were provided with care. Comparing cumulative groups of routine and targeted testing, the HIV prevalence was 0.23% vs. 0.14% (p = 0.40) and was above the reported cost-effectiveness threshold of 0.1% (p = 0.012). A lower proportion of advanced disease and a higher proportion of heterosexually transmitted infection were found in the routine testing group. CONCLUSION: Routine HIV testing in admissions of infectious diseases is acceptable, feasible, sustainable and clinically effective. Compared to targeted testing, routine testing helped to discover more patients in earlier stages and those with heterosexually transmitted HIV infection.

[Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia: an old disease with a new name]. / Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonija: sena liga nauju pavadinimu.

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia has historically been one of the most common opportunistic pneumonias and life-threatening infectious complications in HIV-infected patients. After the introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy, the incidence of Pneumocystis pneumonia and other opportunistic infections has decreased dramatically. Nowadays Pneumocystis pneumonia still occurs in patients unaware of their HIV status, in those not receiving combination antiretroviral therapy, or in those in whom it is ineffective due to resistance. Age factor is the diagnosis delaying one: patients aged more than 50 years are diagnosed with AIDS later than younger persons. Pneumocystis was thought to be a species of protozoa. Over the last 20 years, Pneumocystis has been shown to be a fungus, to be genetically diverse, host species specific, to colonize individuals with minor immunosuppression, and to cause clinical disease by "new" infection in addition to reactivation of latent childhood-acquired infection. Recently, the microorganism Pneumocystis carinii causing disease in humans has been renamed to Pneumocystis jirovecii. This article presents a clinical case of late diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in a 62-year-old patient unaware of her HIV status and a review of literature reflecting epidemiological issues of Pneumocystis jirovecii and latest discoveries related to Pneumocystis as well as the rationale for renaming it.