Does Staphylococcus saprophyticus cause acute cystitis only in young females, or is there more to the story? A one-year comprehensive study done in Budapest, Hungary

Staphylococcus saprophyticus is a well-known urinary pathogen in acute cystitis in young females. We completed a retrospective overview of the distribution of urinary tract infections (UTIs) occurring in 2014, at Semmelweis University hospitals and at Heim Pál Children's Hospital. Six age-groups (ages 0-100) were examined, with the frequency of S. saprophyticus in females being: 0.1% (0-4), 0.7%, (5-15), 7.4% (16-24), 1.2% (25-39), 0.4% (40-59) and 0.1% (60-100), and S. saprophyticus being the 3rd most common pathogen in females aged 16-24. In males, S. saprophyticus was only isolated from those aged 5-15. Seasonal distribution of UTIs caused by S. saprophyticus showed that most infections occurred during the months of January, June, August and November. Antibiotic-resistance rates of amoxicillin, clindamycin, doxycycline, erythromycin, gentamicin and sulfamethoxazole- trimethoprim varied as follows: 0.9%, 32.7%, 19.6%, 34.6%, 0.9% and 0.9%, respectively. Thirty randomly selected samples were analysed by pulsed-field gelelectrophoresis, and 28 different genotypes were identified. S. saprophyticus is involved in the pathogenesis of acute cystitis not only in young females, but also in other age-groups, and in young males as well. We did not find any significant seasonal occurrence in S. saprophyticus-caused UTIs. The infective strains were genetically diverse. Antibiotic-resistance does not pose any issue as of yet. © 2016 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest

Evidence, detailed characterization and clinical context of complement activation in acute multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a rare, life-threatening complication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. MIS-C develops with high fever, marked inflammation and shock-like picture several weeks after exposure to, or mild infection with SARS-CoV-2. Deep immune profiling identified activated macrophages, neutrophils, B-plasmablasts and CD8 + T cells as key determinants of pathogenesis together with multiple inflammatory markers. The disease rapidly responds to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment with clear changes of immune features. Here we present the results of a comprehensive analysis of the complement system in the context of MIS-C activity and describe characteristic changes during IVIG treatment. We show that activation markers of the classical, alternative and terminal pathways are highly elevated, that the activation is largely independent of anti-SARS-CoV-2 humoral immune response, but is strongly associated with markers of macrophage activation. Decrease of complement activation is closely associated with rapid improvement of MIS-C after IVIG treatment