Schistosomiasis among Travelers: New Aspects of an Old Disease

Schistosomiasis is increasingly encountered among travelers returning from the tropics; signs and symptoms of travelers may differ from those of local populations. During 1993–2005, schistosomiasis was diagnosed in 137 Israeli travelers, most of whom were infected while in sub-Saharan Africa. Clinical findings compatible with acute schistosomiasis were recorded for 75 (66.4%) patients and included fever (71.3%), respiratory symptoms (42.9%), and cutaneous symptoms (45.2%). At time of physical examination, 42 patients (37.1%) still had symptoms of acute schistosomiasis, chronic schistosomiasis had developed in 23 (20.4%), and 48 (42.5%) were asymptomatic. Of patients who were initially asymptomatic, chronic schistosomiasis developed in 26%. Diagnosis was confirmed by serologic testing for 87.6% of patients, but schistosome ova were found in only 25.6%. We conclude that acute schistosomiasis is a major clinical problem among travelers, diagnostic and therapeutic options for acute schistosomiasis are limited, and asymptomatic travelers returning from schistosomiasis-endemic areas should be screened and treated

Tickborne Relapsing Fever Caused by Borrelia persica, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan

International audienc

Diagnostic moléculaire de la syphilis (mise au point et applications cliniques)

PARIS-BIUP (751062107) / SudocSudocFranceF

MISE AU POINT D'UNE TECHNIQUE DE BIOLOGIE MOLECULAIRE POUR LE DIAGNOSTIC AU LABORATOIRE DE LA BORRELIOSE DE LYME (DES BIOL. MED.)

PARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocCentre Technique Livre Ens. Sup. (774682301) / SudocSudocFranceF

Molecular Characterization of Tickborne Relapsing Fever Borrelia, Israel

Blood samples from 18 tickborne relapsing fever (TBRF) patients and Ornithodoros tholozani specimens were tested with a Borrelia flaB-PCR. Results were positive for all patients and 2%–40% of ticks. A 7–amino acid gap characterized all 9 sequenced flagellin gene amplicons. By phylogenetic analysis, Israel TBRF Borrelia sequences clustered separately from American and African groups

Genomic Plasticity of Multidrug-Resistant NDM-1 Positive Clinical Isolate of Providencia rettgeri

International audienceWe performed a detailed whole-genome sequence analysis of Providencia rettgeri H1736, a multidrug-resistant clinical pathogen isolated in Israel in 2011. The objective was to describe the genomic flexibility of this bacterium that has greatly contributed to its pathogenicity. The genome has a chromosome size of 4,609,352 bp with 40.22% GC content. Five plasmids were predicted, as well as other mobile genetic elements (MGEs) including phages, genomic islands, and integrative and conjugative elements. The resistome consisted of a total of 27 different antibiotic resistance genes including bla(NDM-1), mostly located on MGEs. Phenotypically, the bacteria displayed resistance to a total of ten different antimicrobial classes. Various features such as metabolic operons (including a novel carbapenem biosynthesis operon) and virulence genes were also borne on the MGEs, making P. rettgeri H1736 significantly different from other P. rettgeri isolates. A large quantity of the genetic diversity that exists in P. rettgeri H1736 was due to extensive horizontal gene transfer events, leading to an enormous presence of MGEs in its genome. Most of these changes contributed toward the pathogenic evolution of this bacterium

Spread of Carbapenem and Colistin-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae ST512 Clinical Isolates in Israel: A Cause for Vigilance

International audienc

Mycobacterium simiae infection in two unrelated patients with different forms of inherited IFN-γR2 deficiency.

Interferon-γ receptor 2 (IFN-γR2) deficiency is a rare primary immunodeficiency characterized by predisposition to infections with weakly virulent mycobacteria, such as environmental mycobacteria and BCG vaccines. We describe here two children with IFN-γR2 deficiency, from unrelated, consanguineous kindreds of Arab and Israeli descent. The first patient was a boy who died at the age of 4.5 years, from recurrent, disseminated disease caused by Mycobacterium simiae. His IFN-γR2 defect was autosomal recessive and complete. The second patient was a girl with multiple disseminated mycobacterial infections, including infection with M. simiae. She died at the age of 5 years, a short time after the transplantation of umbilical cord blood cells from an unrelated donor. Her IFN-γR2 defect was autosomal recessive and partial. Autosomal recessive IFN-γR2 deficiency is life-threatening, even in its partial form, and genetic diagnosis and familial counseling are therefore particularly important for this condition. These two cases are the first of IFN-γR2 deficiency associated with M. simiae infection to be described.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe