During August and September 2012, seven cases of West Nile neuroinvasive disease were identified in three north-eastern counties of Croatia. Four cases were reported in Osijek-Baranja County, two in ...Brod-Posavina County and one in Vukovar-Srijem County. The median age of the patients was 62.7 years. All patients were hospitalized for 2-5 weeks. The patients from Slavonski Brod had more severe clinical presentation of disease with prolonged hospitalization. Medical entomological research was carried out in 64 localities, where 1785 mosquitoes were captured. Among the analyzed mosquitoes, 114 were determined to be Culex pipiens and subjected to molecular characterization for the presence of virus. No viral RNA was detected in mosquitoes. Subsequent public health measures taken include mosquito control in all settlements where disease was detected.
Cryptosporidium is an important cause of community gastroenteritis, usually associated with drinking contaminated water, visits to swimming pools or animal exposure. In immunocompetent patients, ...cryptosporidiosis is usually a self-limiting disease but it can be devastating illness in immunocompromised persons. This report presents a family outbreak of cryptosporidiosis and describes a probable nosocomial infection with Cryptosporidium in one patient and subsequent spread of the parasite among members of his family. The index patient, a 72-year-old man with hemiparesis after his third stroke, died after 28 days of persistent diarrhea. Control measures must be undertaken to prevent nosocomial transmission of cryptosporidial oocysts.
Posljednjih nekoliko mjeseci svijet je svjedok pandemije COVID-19 izazvane novootkrivenim koronavirusom. Zbog brzog i lakog širenja bolesti, kao i njezine ozbiljnosti, trenutno ova pandemija dominira ...svim aspektima globalnih zdravstvenih sustava, ali također iznimno utječe na sve aspekte našeg života, uključujući globalno gospodarstvo. Gotovo sve smjernice liječenja COVID-19 zagovaraju racionalnu uporabu antibiotika, ali ako analiziramo do sada objavljena izvješća, očito je da se oko 70% pa čak i do 100% bolesnika liječi antibioticima. Ova zlouporaba antibiotika naglašava hitnu potrebu za pokretanjem programa upravljanja antimikrobnim lijekovima radi praćenja odgovarajuće uporabe antibiotika. U ovom članku autori predlažu postulate za primjenu programa upravljanja antibioticima u bolesnika s COVID-19.
Posljednjih desetljeća jasno je uočljiv globalni trend porasta učestalosti emergentnih i re-emergentnih zaraznih bolesti koje ugrožavaju čovječanstvo. Najzastupljenije među njima su zoonoze i to ...ponajprije vektorima prenosive zoonoze. Ovi trendovi pojave novih i širenja postojećih emergentnih i re-emergentnih zoonoza zasigurno će se nastaviti pod utjecajem čimbenika emergencije koji su posljedica današnjeg modernog načina života. Složenost procesa emergencije zaraznih bolesti, koja je posljedica promjena u međuodnosu ljudi, životinja i okoliša, naglasila je potrebu za uvođenjem cjelovitog pristupa očuvanju javnog zdravlja pod nazivom "Jedno zdravlje". U posljednjih nekoliko godina dokazane su po prvi put na području Republike Hrvatske infekcije ljudi dengue virusom, virusom Zapadnog Nila i Usutu virusom, što nedvojbeno potvrđuje promjenu epidemiološke situacije u našoj zemlji. Način otkrivanja i uspostave sustava nadzora navedenih bolesti ističe značaj i učinkovitost zajedničkog multidisciplinarnog rada. Nastavak uvođenja pristupa "Jedno zdravlje" u svakodnevni rad, obveza je svih srodnih struka i jedino jamstvo uspješnog osiguravanja javnog zdravlja u današnjem modernom svijetu.
The course of disease in a 64-year-old man with toxocariasis and ocular manifestations of the disease, treated at Departments of Ophthalmology and of Infectious Diseases, Dr. Josip Bencević General ...Hospital in Slavonski Brod, Croatia, is presented. The patient was hospitalized for bilateral uveitis of unknown etiology. In several days, the patient developed high fever with respiratory tract involvement and hepatomegaly. Worsening of the patient's general condition and laboratory findings of leukocytosis and eosinophilia indicated clinical examinations for parasitosis, in consultation with a specialist for infectious diseases. Specific serologic testing pointed to toxocariasis. The patient's general condition and ophthalmologic status improved in response to specific therapy with anthelmintics and corticosteorids. Toxocariasis is an acute infectious disease that primarily affects animals and less frequently humans. Clinically, toxocariasis manifests as a systemic disease, and on the eye as parasitic posterior uveitis. The disease is caused by the nematodes Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati, the species parasitic in the intestine of dogs and cats, respectively. When the parasite eggs reach human intestine, larvae are released and migrate via blood and lymphatic system to the liver, lungs, eyes, and other organs. Considering the mechanism of disease transmission, the potential preventive measures should include treatment and appropriate anthelmintic management of infected animals, and due control of public areas such as public gardens, promenades, playgrounds, along with taking pets for exercise to the sites specially intended for this purpose.
Streptococcus suis is primarily pig's pathogen, but can cause disease in a man exposed to contact with pigs (butchers, abatoir workers, farmers). Infection in man is most frequently manifested as ...purulent meningitis, with deafness and ataxia, but there are rare reports on septic shock with multiple organ failure and death. We report two patients with Streptococcus suis type 1 infection, treated in "Dr Josip Bencević" General Hospital, Slavonski Brod. The first patient suffered a very abrupt and severe illness, with septic shock, multiple organ failure and lethal outcome. The second patient had purulent meningitis with deafness. Both of them had a defect in immunologic function before infection. They were probably infected during manipulation with pork meat at home. Our patients had infection with Streptococcus suis type 1, contrary to reports on prevalent human infection with type 2. It is necessary to make epidemiologic survey on human infection with that pathogen, especially in those professionally exposed to pigs and pork meat.
Streptococcus bovis is relatively common cause of bacteremia and endocarditis, especially in older persons, or in patients that have some kind of chronic disease. These infections are frequently ...connected with malignant, potentially malignant, or benign colorectal neoplasia. Hematogenous dissemination of Streptococcus bovis could result with various clinical manifestations, namely purulent meningitis, brain abscess, osteomyelitis, spondylodiscitis, and many different kinds of infections in AIDS patients are reported. In this report, two patients hospitalized at the Departement of Infectious Diseases at the General Hospital "Dr. Josip Bencević" in Slavonski Brod are presented. The first patient was addmited to the hospital because of fever of unknown origin, and in his blood cultures, Streptococcus bovis was isolated. He was an older man, who had undergone prostatectomy due prostatic adenoma several years before. The other patient, previously completely healthy younger man, suffered purulent meningitis caused by the same microorganism. Colon endoscopy was performed in both patients and it revealed colon polyps. Histologically, in both cases, those were benign neoplasia. In Croatia, until this report, there have been no other reports about patients suffering systemic Streptococcus bovis infections. At the same time, this report describes Streptococcus bovis purulent meningitis in a previously healthy adult, which is also extremely rare in the medical literature. Since Streptococcus bovis infections are associated with colon carcinoma, it is imperative to perform colonoscopy in each patient suffering infection with this germ, and to consider him as a high risk patient for developing colon cancer.
