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Query: UMLS:C0036690 (sepsis)
 59,461 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The existence of the overwhelming postsplenectomy infection syndrome in adults after traumatic splenectomy is controversial. Due to the similarity of the porcine immune system to man we chose the pig to study subsets of peripheral mononuclear cells after splenectomy and resistance to experimental Pneumococcal infection after splenic surgery and specific immunization. Female miniature pigs were assigned to four operative groups: sham operation, splenectomy, splenic resection, and heterotopic splenic autotransplantation. Hematologic and flow cytometric analysis of mononuclear cells and their subsets revealed a marked leukocytosis following splenectomy and autotransplantation but no significant shift in monocyte and B-cell numbers. Response of leukocytes to septicemia, bacterial elimination from peripheral blood, and mortality were not affected by splenectomy or spleen-preserving operations. Mortality of splenectomized animals was 18%, compared to 42% in sham-operated controls (difference not significant). Immunization protected animals from development of leukopenia, and led to an enhanced bacterial elimination, and a significantly decreased mortality of 5%, compared to 48% in nonimmune animals. Thus our data do not show significant effects of splenectomy on subsets of porcine mononuclear cells or on resistance to experimental Pneumococcal septicemia.
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PMID:Splenectomy does not influence outcome of pneumococcal septicemia in a porcine model. 199 78

Pneumococcal infection remains a public health problem, because of its important incidence, as well for pneumonias (2 cases per 1,000 persons per year) as for bacteremias (0.5% among hospitalized patients). The fatality rate in the bacteremic cases is 37.3% and reaches 89% in the fulminant sepsis cases, which are observed especially in splenectomized patients: the spleen takes part in the host defences against Streptococcus pneumoniae, together with the phagocytosis, the antibody production and the complement activation, essentially through the alternative complement pathway-activated C3b. Bacterial opsonization remains the fundamental mechanism of the host defence in the early stages of the pneumococcal infection.
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PMID:[Host reactions against bacteria. Application to pneumococcal infections]. 687 96

Pneumococcal infection is a leading cause of pneumonia, meningitis, and septicemia in developing countries. The authors investigated possible risk factors for pneumococcal disease during 1989-91 among children living in the rural Upper River Division of The Gambia. A prospective case-control study approach was used in which 80 children with pneumococcal infection were matched according to age with 159 healthy children randomly selected from the local community. The subjects were of mean age 14.0-14.2 months. A questionnaire was used to identify possible nutritional, medical, socioeconomic, and environmental risk factors for pneumococcal disease. The study found an increased risk of pneumococcal disease to be associated with poor weight gain, a history of serious illness during the previous 6 months, exposure to cigarette smoke, or being carried upon a mother's back while she cooks. The risk of pneumococcal disease was reduced among children whose mothers had a personal source of income. The authors suggest reducing the incidence of pneumococcal disease by improving nutrition and growth monitoring, encouraging mothers to develop greater financial independence, and reducing children's exposure to smoke.
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PMID:A study of risk factors for pneumococcal disease among children in a rural area of west Africa. 892 71

Necrotizing pneumonia remains an uncommon complication of pneumonia in children, but its incidence is increasing. Pneumococcal infection is the predominant cause of severe necrotizing pneumonia in children, but methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) staphylococcal infections are also important. We present the case of a four-year-old girl,with an unremarkable medical history, who was admitted in our hospital with a history of high fever, productive cough and tachypnea lasting for 10 days, progressive worsening despite empirical oral antibiotic. Following physical examination, laboratory investigations and thoracic radiography, we established the diagnosis of left lower lobe pneumonia with parapneumonic effusion, acute respiratory failure and sepsis. Medical treatment with systemic antibiotics was initiated, but the evolution was unfavorable. Seriated chest X-rays and also high resolution computed tomography with contrast of the lung were performed, revealing the progression to extensive necrotizing pneumonia with multiple cystic lesions causing right mediastinal deflection. The parenteral broad spectrum antibiotic regimen was adjusted, still with unfavorable evolution, requiring surgical treatment (left inferior lobectomy and pleural draining). Postoperatively, recovery was uneventful. The patient was discharged with clinical and laboratory improvement of his condition, a repeated chest X-ray showing good expansion of upper left parenchyma.
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PMID:Evolutionary Particularities in a Case of Severe Pneumonia in Children - Case Report. 2986 42