[Shigella spp. infections in Getafe Hospital between 2001 and 2006]. / Infección por Shigella spp. en el Hospital de Getafe entre 2001 y 2006.

INTRODUCTION: Shigella spp. is a bacterium that frequently causes diarrhoea in underdeveloped countries, but not so much in Spain, where it has been published that its incidence has decreased in the last few years. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study has been to asses changes in the epidemiology of Shigella spp. infection over the last 5 years in children of Getafe, as well as the subspecies of Shigella spp. that cause illness in this area (area 10, Madrid), the need for hospitalisation, the complications and the treatment. METHOD: A retrospective study was carried out, based on a review of the medical charts of children less than fifteen years old and had a diagnosis of Shigella spp. infection during 2000-2006. They were identified through the Getafe Hospital Microbiology Service. RESULTS: Nineteen patients were identified, of which only four needed to be hospitalised. There were no differences between males and females. The Shigella spp. subspecies identified were S. sonnei and S. flexneri. The most frequent symptoms were vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and fever. Only one had dehydration as a complication. The treatment was symptomatic, except in the four hospitalised patients, who required fluid therapy and antibiotics. The outcome was good in all patients. CONCLUSION: In this study, there appears to be an increase in the Shigella spp. incidence over the last few years in Area 10 of Madrid. Due to the fact that Shigella spp. is not a frequent bacterium in Spain, there are not enough studies on it, therefore it would be of interest to carry out prospective studies, in order to confirm this increase in incidence.

Ten-year population-based molecular epidemiological study of tuberculosis transmission in the metropolitan area of Madrid, Spain.

SETTING: The epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB) in urban populations is changing. Combining conventional epidemiological techniques with DNA fingerprinting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis can improve our understanding of how TB is transmitted. OBJECTIVE: To improve the definition of molecular epidemiology of TB over 10 years in an area of Europe not previously studied. DESIGN: A population-based retrospective study was conducted in the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Spain, from 1992 to 1998; from 1999 to 2001, the study was prospective. The study population consisted of all patients for whom positive culture and full clinical and demographic data were available. All strains were typed by RFLP. Non-clustered patients were compared with clustered patients and studied using univariate analysis and a logistic regression model. RESULTS: Of 448 patients studied, 228 (50.7%) were clustered. Youth was the strongest risk factor associated with clustering. Pleural effusion was also found to be associated with clustering. An epidemiological link was found in only 85 (37.4%) of the 228 patients belonging to a cluster. CONCLUSION: Youth and pleural effusion were identified as risk factors for clustering. These findings may help adjust TB control and contact tracing strategies.

Pneumonia in patients with severe burns : a classification according to the concept of the carrier state.

OBJECTIVE: To establish baseline values of pneumonia incidence and mortality and to distinguish primary endogenous from secondary endogenous and exogenous pneumonias in a homogeneous patient population with severe burns. DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: A six-bed burn ICU. PATIENTS: All patients of > or = 14 years admitted to the ICU between January 1995 and June 1996 with a total body surface area burn of > or = 20%. INTERVENTION: Collection of data on surveillance samples from throat and rectum on admission and twice weekly afterward, and pneumonias during the ICU stay. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Fifty-six patients fulfilled the criteria of the study. Mean age was 43 +/- 19.8 years; total body surface area burn, 41 +/- 18.2%; the area of full-thickness burn was 24 +/- 17.7%. Forty-one patients required mechanical ventilation. Twenty-seven patients (48%) experienced 37 episodes of pneumonia. Twenty-one pneumonias were of primary endogenous development, ie, caused by potential pathogens carried in the admission flora. There were 14 secondary endogenous and 2 exogenous infections caused by microorganisms acquired on the burn unit. Inhalation injury was identified in 26 patients. The pneumonia rate was two times higher in the subset of patients with inhalation injury compared with the group of patients without inhalation injury (p < 0.001). Overall mortality was 25%. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that pneumonia in burn patients is mainly an endogenous problem. Interventions that prevent the development of endogenous infections deserve prospective evaluation in patients with severe burns.

Recurrent tuberculosis from 1992 to 2004 in a metropolitan area.

The proportion of recurrent tuberculosis (TB) cases caused by re-infection has varied widely in previous studies. The aim of the present study was to determine the relative frequency of relapse and exogenous re-infection in patients with second episodes of TB, using DNA fingerprinting. A population-based retrospective longitudinal descriptive study was conducted in Madrid (Spain) during 1992-2004. The study consisted of 645 patients with culture-confirmed TB. Of these, 20 (3.1%) were retained because they presented with a second isolate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Finally, 12 of these cases were excluded because they did not complete the full treatment prescribed. All strains were typed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and some by mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number of tandem repeats analysis. The patients with recurrent TB were compared with those without recurrent TB. For seven out of the eight patients, the restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains from the episodes of recurrent disease showed identical initial and final genotypes, indicating relapse; the remaining recurrent case showed different genotypes, suggesting exogenous re-infection. Re-infection is possible among people in developed countries, but the rates are lower than those occurring in high-risk areas. The risk factors for recurrent tuberculosis should be taken into account in the follow-up of treatment and tuberculosis control strategies.

Infección por Shigella spp. en el Hospital de Getafe entre 2001 y 2006 / Shigella spp. infections in Getafe Hospital between 2001 and 2006

Introducción: Shigella spp. es un patógeno que produce gastroenteritis aguda de forma frecuente en países en desarrollo, pero no tan habitual en España, donde se ha publicado que está disminuyendo su incidencia en los últimos años Objetivo: El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar cambios en la epidemiología de Shigella spp. en los últimos 5 años en la población infantil de Getafe, así como el tipo de Shigella spp. que produce enfermedad en el área 10 de Madrid (área que depende de nuestro hospital), la necesidad de ingreso, sus complicaciones y tratamiento. Método: Se llevó a cabo un estudio descriptivo, retrospectivo, basado en revisión de historias clínicas de los pacientes, menores de 15 años, afectados por shigellosis entre los años 2001 y 2006, que fueron identificados a partir del Servicio de Microbiología del Hospital Universitario de Getafe. Resultados: Se identificaron 19 pacientes, de los cuales sólo 4 precisaron ingreso. Las subespecies de Shigella spp. identificadas fueron S. sonnei y S. flexneri. La clínica más frecuente fue diarrea, que se acompañaba de vómitos, dolor abdominal tipo cólico y fiebre elevada. Sólo uno de los pacientes presentó deshidratación hiponatrémica como complicación. El tratamiento fue sintomático, salvo en los pacientes ingresados en los que se pautó fluidoterapia intravenosa y antibioterapia, con resolución de la enfermedad. Conclusión: En el estudio realizado parece existir un aumento de la incidencia de Shigella spp. en los últimos años en el área 10 de Madrid. Al no ser un patógeno frecuente en España, no existen muchos estudios, con lo que sería interesante realizar estudios prospectivos para confirmar este aumento de incidencia (AU)

Introduction: Shigella spp. is a bacterium that frequently causes diarrhoea in underdeveloped countries, but not so much in Spain, where it has been published that its incidence has decreased in the last few years. Objective: The aim of this study has been to asses changes in the epidemiology of Shigella spp. infection over the last 5 years in children of Getafe, as well as the subspecies of Shigella spp. that cause illness in this area (area 10, Madrid), the need for hospitalisation, the complications and the treatment. Method: A retrospective study was carried out, based on a review of the medical charts of children less than fifteen years old and had a diagnosis of Shigella spp. infection during 2000-2006. They were identified through the Getafe Hospital Microbiology Service. Results: Nineteen patients were identified, of which only four needed to be hospitalised. There were no differences between males and females. The Shigella spp. subspecies identified were S. sonnei and S. flexneri. The most frequent symptoms were vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and fever. Only one had dehydration as a complication. The treatment was symptomatic, except in the four hospitalised patients, who required fluid therapy and antibiotics. The outcome was good in all patients. Conclusion: In this study, there appears to be an increase in the Shigella spp. incidence over the last few years in Area 10 of Madrid. Due to the fact that Shigella spp. is not a frequent bacterium in Spain, there are not enough studies on it, therefore it would be of interest to carry out prospective studies, in order to confirm this increase in incidence (AU)

Utilización y rendimiento de los hemocultivos en una unidad de cuidados intensivos medicoquirúrgica / Utilization and utility of blood cultures in a medical-surgical intensive care unit

Objetivo. Estimar la utilización y el rendimiento de los hemocultivos en una unidad de cuidados intensivos (UCI) medicoquirúrgica y evaluar los factores que pueden influir en su rendimiento.Diseño. Estudio prospectivo de cohortes.Ámbito. Unidad de cuidados intensivos medicoquirúrgica de hospital de tercer nivel.Intervenciones. Ninguna.Variables de interés. Tasas de incidencia acumulada de extracción de hemocultivos, porcentaje de hemocultivos positivos y factores asociados a la obtención de un hemocultivo positivo.Resultados. En los 2 períodos de estudio se extrajeron 953 hemocultivos en los 2.663 pacientes que ingresaron en la UCI. Se extrajeron a los 10 (15) días (mediana, 5 días; P25, 1; P75, 13) desde el ingreso en la UCI. La tasa de incidencia acumulada obtenida fue de 36 hemocultivos por 100 pacientes y de 55 hemocultivos por 1.000 pacientes/día. Los hemocultivos positivos fueron 155 (16 por ciento; intervalo de confianza [IC] del 95 por ciento, 1419), los hemocultivos contaminados fueron 57 (6 por ciento; IC del 95 por ciento, 5-8) y los indeterminados 22 (2 por ciento; IC del 95 por ciento, 1-3). Los factores asociados a obtener un hemocultivo positivo fueron: no estar recibiendo antibióticos (odds ratio [OR], 2,16), ni descontaminación digestiva selectiva (OR, 1,52) en el momento de extraer el hemocultivo y si el hemocultivo se obtiene cuando el paciente lleva ingresado en la UCI más de 2 semanas (OR, 2,65).Conclusiones. En nuestro estudio la tasa de extracción de hemocultivos fue menor a la descrita en enfermos críticos. El rendimiento de los hemocultivos se asoció con la administración de antibióticos sistémicos y tópicos y con el momento de su extracción (AU)