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Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most important public health challanges all over the world. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that almost one third of the world's population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis). Early diagnosis, an adequate therapy, and preventions measures of disease spread are essential for an efficient control of TB. Problems that arise are related to the clinical management and prevention of dissemination of the disease in the general population. In terms of diagnosis, of great importance is the early detection of M. tuberculosis and the detection of susceptibility to antituberculous drugs in the mycobacteriology laboratory. The advent of new and modern methods of molecular diagnosis has considerable shortened the time in which the bacteriological diagnosis and susceptibility tests to antituberculous drugs are established. Such a test is GenoTypeMDRTBplus. Studying the 234 pathological prelevates positive to microscopy from the period October - December 2013, we have revealed that 161 strains were sensitive to rifampicin and isoniazid, and 54 strains were resistant. Others results of the study will be presented in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obiective. Acest studiu și-a propus să efectueze o revizuire sistematică a literaturii existente pentru a evalua efectele COVID-19 la femeile însărcinate și la nou-născuții acestora, estimând, în același timp, posibilitatea transmiterii verticale. Materiale şi metode. Am efectuat o cercetare sistematică a literaturii folosind Pubmed și Google Scholar, acoperind perioada decembrie 2019-noiembrie 2020. Revizuirea a fost efectuată în conformitate cu ghidurile PRISMA. Rezultate. Am inclus 16 studii - recenzii sistematice și metaanalize publicate între mai 2020 și noiembrie 2020 - care s-au concentrat pe rezultatele perinatale ale femeilor însărcinate cu COVID-19 și 7 prezentări de cazuri ale nou-născuților cu transmitere verticală a COVID-19. În general, rata cazurilor de COVID-19 la nou-născuții din mame COVID-19 pozitive a fost de 3% cu CI 95% [1,86, 4,24]). Rata nașterii premature a fost de 16,4%, cu CI 95% [10,5, 22,3], iar rata mortalității și a deceselor fetale a fost de 1,4% (11 studii, 0 până la 4,8%). Dintre cei 7 nou-născuți cu transmitere verticală dovedită, majoritatea s-au născut prematuri, cu greutate bună la naștere și scor APGAR, iar manifestările clinice au fost heterogene; 4 au dezvoltat simptome severe. Evoluțiile atât pentru mamă, cât și pentru nou-născuţi au fost bune în 85% dintre cazuri. Concluzii. În ceea ce privește rata prematurității și rata mortalității la femeile cu COVID-19, rezultatul este similar cu populația generală. Transmiterea verticală este posibilă și pare să aibă loc în aproximativ 3% dintre cazuri. Prognosticul matern și perinatal este favorabil, iar prezentarea clinică a transmiterii în uter a SARS-CoV-2 la nou-născuți este heterogenă. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. This study aimed to perform a systematic review of existing literature to assess the outcomes of pregnancy in women with COVID-19 infection and their newborns while estimating the possibility of vertical transmission. Materials and methods. We conducted a systematic literature research using Pubmed and Google Scholar covering the period from December 2019 to 20th of November 2020. The review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Outcomes. We included 16 studies - systematic reviews and meta-analyses published between May 2020 and November 2020 - which focused on perinatal outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19 and 7 case reports of neonates with congenital transmission of COVID-19. Overall, the rate of COVID-19 cases in neonates of COVID-19 positive mothers was 3% with 95% CI [1.86, 4.24]). The preterm birth rate was 16.4% with 95% CI [10.5, 22.3] and the rate of stillbirths and foetal deaths was 1.4% (11 studies, 0 to 4.8%). From the 7 newborns with proved vertical transmission, majority were born preterm, with good birth weight and APGAR score and heterogenous symptoms; 4 developed severe symptoms. Overall progress and evolution for both mother and newborn was good. Conclusions. COVID-19 impact on pregnancy outcome is similar to general population in regard to preterm rate and stillbirth rate. Vertical transmission is possible and it seems to occur in about 3% of cases. Overall maternal and perinatal outcome is favourable and clinical presentation of in utero transmission of SARSCoV-2 in newborns is heterogenous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health organization in early March 2020. The disease typically presents with viral respiratory symptoms that could progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Emerging evidence suggests different possible dermatologic manifestations of COVID-19, including: acral lesions (pernio-like, pseudo-chillblain), vesicular eruptions, macular and papular exanthema, urticaria, livedoid, purpuric and petechial rashes. However, specific skin manifestations of the COVID-19 disease have not yet been clearly established and the relationship between the appearance of skin lesions and SARS-CoV-2 infection is still unclear. These highly variable skin changes could represent a direct consequence of the viral infection, an immunological response to viral nucleotides, adverse reactions to drugs frequently used for the treatment of COVID-19, or other disorders. In a global effort to comprehend the exact cutaneous features of COVID-19, several international dermatological societies have initiated nationwide studies to analyze COVID-19 cutaneous manifestations during this pandemic. This paper represents a literature review of the scientific data available on the clinical characteristics and symptoms of the cutaneous manifestations associated with COVID-19. Such findings are extremely useful in establishing if dermatological manifestations in COVID-19 patients could harbor a diagnostic significance and subsequently be used as prognostic factors for outcomes of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although controlled by vaccination long ago, diphtheria may become a re-emergent disease as a result of at least two factors: the circulation of toxigenic strains in endemic areas (countries of former CSI, some of them neighbouring countries of Romania) and the lack of interest of the local health institutions for surveillance of this very low incidence disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the carriage of potentially toxigenic Corynebacterium strains in healthy people in Romania. In this study, 1120 biological samples were analysed consisting of swabs, nasal exudates and conjunctival secretions collected from 730 healthy individuals from eight different geographic regions of the country, in order to establish carriage of potentially toxigenic strains belonging to the Corynebacterium genus. 129 strains of the Corynebacterium species were isolated and identified by phenotypic and molecular methods: Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum (n = 76), C. propinquum (n = 34), C. striatum (n = 9), C. macginleyi (n = 2), C. glucuronolyticum/seminale (n = 2), C. group F1(n = 6). These species are saprophytic species for the upper respiratory tract, some of them being an opportunistic pathogen especially in immunocompromised hosts. The present data require the attention of clinicians, epidemiologists and microbiologists since diphtheria is an infectious disease that could re-emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]