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Haemophilus influenzae is an infrequent etiologic agent of bacterial meningitis in adult patients. In the last 12 years, it was the cause in 12 out of 238 cases (5.0%) of acute bacterial meningitis in adults. There were 5 men and 7 women with a mean age (SD) of 45.4 (16) years (range: 18-68 years). Seven patients (60%) had a communication between subarachnoid space and skin surface or mucosal cavities, and five (41.7%) had otitis or sinusitis. Most of the strains (9/12) were serotype b. Only one patient (8.3%) developed severe neurologic and extra-neurologic complications, and was the one who died. One of the survivors (9.1%) had partial deafness. H. influenzae is not a negligible cause of bacterial meningitis in adults. Moreover, its detection has been increasing in the last years. Patients with a cerebrospinal fluid leak, otitis or sinusitis are at high risk. The outcome is usually favorable if an early adequate therapy is given.

Background: The aim of the study was to describe the etiology of enteropathogenic agents over a four-year period (1992-1995) in a University Hospital in Barcelona., Methods: We studied 12,793 stool samples, 4519 were obtained from patients under 15 years and 8274 were obtained from patients over 14 years. The specimens were examined for bacteriological, parasitological and virological enteropathogens., Results: In 3380 specimens of 12,793 stool samples studied were identified an enteropathogen (26.4%). Polymicrobial associations were observed in the 6.8% of the cases. Pathogens were identified in 45% of children samples and 16.3% of adults samples. The etiological enteritis agents more frequently detected in the paediatric patients were Campylobacter (13.5%), rotavirus (11.3%) and Salmonella (10.2%); and Salmonella (4.9%), Campylobacter (3.1%) and Giardia intestinalis (2.1%) in adults. Cryptosporidium (13.5%) was the most frequent cause of gastrointestinal tract infections in HIV-infected subjects. In the children with stools positives, the presence of red and white blood cells were more frequent than the adults with stools positives (73% versus 26.6%)., Conclusions: The enteropathogenic agents such as Campylobacter, Salmonella, and Giardia were the most frequent cause of gastroenteritis in our environment. In the children, rotavirus infections predominated during the cold months. The most frequent cause of gastroenteritis in HIV-infected patients was Cryptosporidium followed by Campylobacter.

Background: The aim of the present study was to compare the BacT/ALERT blood culture automatic management and reading system (Organon Teknika) with a conventional, nonautomatic technique (DUO, Bio-Mérieux)., Methods: 1,405 blood cultures were parallel compared. 263 of them were positive; out of these, 148 were considered as indicative of septicaemia, 38 of doubtful clinical significance and 77 as accidental contaminations., Results: No differences were detected between both systems neither in the number of isolates obtained nor in the kind of microorganisms recovered or in the number of false-positive or false-negative readings. The conventional system detected 28% of significant isolates during the first 24 hours, reaching 77% after 48 hours; whereas the BacT/ALERT system had detected 57% of significant isolates after 12 hours, reaching 82% after 24 hours (p < 0.001)., Conclusions: The results obtained and the automatization of the BacT/ALERT system appoint it as a firm candidate to be included into the Clinical Microbiology laboratory routine.