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The aim of the study was to describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the central nervous system (CNS) infection by varicella zoster virus (VZV) in patients older than 65 years in a tertiary community hospital. We retrospectively analysed the results of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) testing in patients older than 65 years between 2007 and 2014 with clinically suspected VZV infection with CNS involvement. Patients whose CSF samples were positive for VZV DNA were included, as were those with negative results who simultaneously presented herpes zoster and CSF or magnetic resonance imaging findings suggestive of CNS infection, and in whom other possible aetiologies had been ruled out. The study included 280 patients. The disease was considered to be caused by a VZV infection in 32 patients (11.4%), of which 23 cases were virologically confirmed (detection of VZV DNA in CSF). The most frequent diagnosis of the patients with VZV CNS infection was encephalitis (83.3%), followed by meningitis (13.3%) and cerebellitis (3.3%). The mean annual incidence of VZV CNS infection was 3.0 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. VZV was the most common cause of encephalitis and viral meningitis, ahead of herpes simplex virus ( n = 9). At the time of discharge, 12 (40%) patients showed neurological sequelae. Five patients (20%) died during hospitalization, all with encephalitis. Patients with a fatal outcome had significantly higher median age and longer delay before initiating acyclovir. In conclusion, VZV was the first cause of encephalitis in our elderly population. Despite acyclovir treatment, there was a high rate of case fatality and sequelae at discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose : The aim of this study was to determine the presence of the new Swedish Chlamydia trachomatis ( C. trachomatis) variant (nvCT) and the distribution of C. trachomatis ompA genotypes in three geographically distant regions of Spain. Methods: The genotypes of strains causing 624 episodes of infection (January 2011-September 2012) were studied using a nested PCR that amplifies a fragment of the ompA gene, followed by sequencing. To detect nvCT, a real-time PCR was used that amplifies a fragment of the cryptic plasmid with a 377 base pair deletion, which identifies the nvCT. Results and conclusion: The ompA genotype was identified in 565 (90.5 %) episodes. Eleven genotypes were detected, of which nine were found in all three regions. Only one nvCT strain was detected (0.4 %), despite the predominance of genotype E (41 %). Other frequent genotypes were genotypes D (19 %), F (13 %), G (11 %), and J (7 %). Genotype L2b, causing lymphogranuloma venereum, was detected in men who have sex with men (MSM) in all three regions. Genotypes E and F were more frequent in women and heterosexual men, and genotypes D, G, J and L2b in MSM. In men, the main factor causing differences in the distribution of C. trachomatis was sexual behavior (MSM versus heterosexual men), while the distribution of C. trachomatis genotypes was similar in women and heterosexual men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To describe the circulation dynamics of human rotavirus genotypes in a region of southern Europe over a 13-year period. The G- and P-types of rotavirus isolates of patients aged less than 5 years were analyzed using multiplex, reverse transcription polymerase-chain reaction. Of 1,538 isolates investigated, a combination of individual G- and P-types was obtained in 1,368. The most prevalent combination was G1[P8] (57.5% of the genotyped strains), which circulated in all seasons and predominated in nine out of 13 seasons. The strains G2[P4] (14.4%), G3[P8] (8.3%), G4[P8] (5.5%) and G9[P8] (13.4%) circulated intermittently. G4[P8] strains were frequently detected in the 1990s but only sporadically after 2000. G9[P8] strains emerged from 1997–1998 and became dominant in the winters of 2005–2007. G2[P4] strains were predominant in 2003–2004, before the rotavirus vaccines were commercialized. Unusual combinations of common G- and P-types and the presence of unusual G- and/or P-types (G6[P14], G8[P8], G8[P14] and G12[P8]) were rarely observed (<1%). We found no differences in hospitalization due to distinct genotypes. G-types G1-G4 and G9 represented >99% of circulating rotaviruses over a 13-year period. Therefore, vaccine efficacy in this region can be expected to be high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) infection is endemic in West Africa, where it is responsible for many cases of AIDS. HIV-2-infected subjects have been described in other countries, mainly African immigrants, although infection in native individuals has been reported as well. The first cases of HIV-2 infection in Spain were identified in 1988. Through December 1995, 56 HIV-2-infected individuals have been diagnosed, primarily in large urban areas (23 cases in Madrid and 18 in Barcelona). All are African immigrants, except for 12 natives (21.4%), six of whom acquired the infection in endemic areas; the remaining six (2 women with numerous sexual partners and 4 homo/bisexual men) acquired the infection in Spain. Heterosexual transmission was probable in all but seven cases: five homo/bisexual males, a subject who likely acquired infection through parenteral exposure, and a child born to an HIV-2-infected mother. Nine patients (all Spanish bom) have developed AIDS (16%), six of whom have died. In conclusion, HIV-2 infection is present in Spain at a low rate, and there is little evidence supporting an emerging ongoing transmission outside the population of African immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a ten-year survey (1983-1992) of quinolone resistance in Escherichia coli causing urinary tract infections in a general practice patient population, 9,934 strains were tested. Resistance increased remarkably from 1989 onwards. The rate of resistance to pipemidic acid was ≤6 % before 1989 and 18 % in 1992; the rate of resistance to ciprofloxacin (MIC≥4mg/l) was 0.8 % in 1989 and 7.1 % in 1992. Although the consumption of older quinolones decreased the total consumption of quinolones increased yearly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]