Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Dutch Soccer Team

An outbreak of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus occurred among members and close contacts of a soccer team. Typing of the isolates showed the outbreak was caused by the well-known European ST80-IV strain. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an outbreak of this strain among members of a sports team

CD8 and CD4 T cell populations in human kidneys

Background: At border sites, and in internal organs, tissue resident memory T cells (T-RM) contribute to the immune barrier against pathogens like viruses, bacteria, fungi, and cancer. However, information on the presence and function of these cells in the human kidney is scant. In order to better understand the T cell-mediated immunological defense in this organ, we aimed to determine phenotypic and functional aspects of CD8 and CD4 T cells present in healthy and allograft kidney tissue. Methods: Using multichannel flow cytometry, we assessed the phenotype and function of T cells in healthy renal tissue samples (n = 5) and kidney allograft tissue (n = 7) and compared these aspects to T cells in peripheral blood from healthy controls (n = 13). Results: Kidney tissue samples contained substantial amounts of CD8 and CD4 T cells. In contrast to the circulating cells, kidney T cells frequently expressed CD69 and CD103, and were more often actively cycling. Furthermore, nearly all kidney T cells expressed CXCR3, and often expressed CXCR6 compared to T cells in the circulation. Markedly, kidney T cells produced greater quantities of IFN gamma than circulating cells and were frequently polyfunctional. Conclusion: Functional T cells with the characteristic traits of T-RM reside in human kidney tissues. These cells are more often actively cycling and frequently express CXCR3 and CXCR6.Immunopathology of vascular and renal diseases and of organ and celltransplantationIP1

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362