Bloodstream yeast infections: a 15-month survey

A 15-month survey of 412 bloodstream yeast isolates from 54 Belgian hospitals was undertaken. Candida albicans was the most common species (47.3%) followed by C. glabrata (25.7%), C. parapsilosis (8.0%), C. tropicalis (6.8%) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (5.1%). Common predisposing factors were antibacterial therapy (45%), hospitalization in intensive care units (34%), presence of in-dwelling catheters (32%), underlying cancer (23%) and major surgery (11%). Most patients had more than one predisposing factor. Fluconazole alone or in combination with another antifungal agent was the treatment of choice for 86.6% of the cases. Susceptibility testing revealed that 93.5% were susceptible to amphotericin B, 39.6% to itraconazole, 42.8% to fluconazole and 87% to voriconazole. Resistance to azoles was more common among C. glabrata isolates

Is age an independent determinant of mortality in cardiac surgery as suggested by the EuroSCORE?

BACKGROUND: The proportion of older patients in cardiac surgery is continuously increasing. 37% of patients undergoing heart surgery in Germany in the year 2000 were 70 years of age and older. We have studied the role of age as a determinant of mortality in cardiac surgery in our institutional patient population. METHODS: We have calculated the EuroSCORE and the corresponding age-adjusted EuroSCORE in 8769 patients who underwent heart surgery between January 1996 and January 2002 and collected the information on the occurrence of postoperative complications and 30-days mortality. RESULTS: The multimorbidity increased with ascending age. Both the EuroSCORE and the age-adjusted EuroSCORE values increased significantly with age in the whole group of patients as well as in the group of patients who were alive 30 days after heart surgery. The incidence of postoperative complications and 30-days mortality increased significantly with age. In patients who died within 30 days after surgery, the EuroSCORE increased significantly with age, whereas the age-adjusted EuroSCORE did not. The occurrence of diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension and atrial fibrillation, i.e., the risk factors not considered by the EuroSCORE, exhibited a significant age dependence in our patients. The univariate analysis identified the significant dependence of 30-days mortality on diabetes and atrial fibrillation. The stepwise logistic regression analysis showed the dependence of mortality on diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: On the background of the well-known age-dependent structural and functional changes of different body organs, our data show that age is a significant risk indicator in cardiac surgery, strongly correlating with morbidity and mortality. Consequently, special preventive and therapeutic measures are required in clinical environment in the case of elderly patients undergoing cardiac surgery

Low diversity Cryptococcus neoformans variety grubii multilocus sequence types from Thailand are consistent with an ancestral African origin.

Published versio

Cryptococcus neoformans and the epidemiology of cryptococcosis36595

no abstract available</p

Cryptococcus neoformans (Sanfelice) Vuillemin 1894 and the epidemiology of cryptococcosis36594

not available</p