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Introduction: Campylobacter spp. are important causative agents of gastrointestinal infections in humans. The most frequently isolated strains of this bacterial genus are Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. To date, genetic methods for bacterial identification have not been used in Bulgaria. We optimized the multiplex PSR assay to identify Campylobacter spp. and differentiate C. jejuni from C. coli in clinical isolates. We also compared this method with the routinely used biochemical methods.

Introduction: Mycoplasmagenitalium is an established cause of sexually transmitted infections in men and women. Current guidelines recommend azithromycin and moxifloxacin as first- and second-line treatment, respectively. However, azithromycin treatment failure has been increasingly reported. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of azithromycin and alternative antibiotic regimens in a prospective cohort of M.genitalium-positive patients, and macrolide resistance mutations associated with azithromycin failure., (This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Pityrosporum ovale is the yeast form of the dimorphic lipophilic fungus Malassezia furfur which is part of the normal skin microflora in adults. It is suggested that Pityrosporum ovale has a primary role in the pathogenesis of Dermatitis seborrhoides. The aim of the present study was to determine the titer of the common antibodies against superficial antigens of Pityrosporum ovale in the serum of Dermatitis seborrhoides patients and compare the results with the findings of examinations of serum antibodies in healthy subjects and patients with Pityriasis simplex capitis, Pityriasis versicolor, Pityrosporum folliculitis. Indirect immunofluorescent technique was used in the study. The Pityrosporum ovale antigen was obtained using own method. The results show that Dermatitis seborrhoides patients have an antibody titer of 1:640 and above, which is a higher titer than the antibody titers of healthy subjects and patients with other forms of the infection. The study results suggest that Pityrosporum ovale yeast might be implicated in causing a humoral immune response, which is important for the developing inflammatory reactions in Dermatitis seborrhoides. The results help to elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms and supplement the therapy strategy of the disorder. The authors are the first in Bulgaria to study the immune response to Pityrosporum ovale in healthy subjects and patients suffering from different forms of the infection.

Geotrichosis affects mainly patients with systemic diseases like diabetes mellitus, leukoses, neoplasms etc. Clinically, it is similar to candidiasis and may occur as an oral, vaginal, skin, or systemic infection. Clinical specimens (98 sputa and 67 oral smears) were collected and studied using microscopic examination of Gram stained preparations and culture sampling between 1995 and 1997. Geotrichum candidum was isolated as a single pathogen in 8 sputum and 7 oral smear samples. Ten-day antifungal treatment with Nizoral was applied and resulted in relatively quick clinical improvement. The presented cases are the first cases of pulmonary and oral infections reported in our home practice in which Geotrichum candidum species was identified as a pathogen. The identification of Geotrichum candidum using combination of colonial and microscopic morphologic features increase the possibilities for diagnostic decision.