Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0085437 (bacterial meningitis)
 4,038 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The timeliness of reporting four nationally notifiable diseases was examined using data reported via the National Electronic Telecommunications System for Surveillance. Timeliness of reporting varied by disease (bacterial meningitis: median 20 days; salmonellosis: median 22 days; shigellosis: median 23 days; and hepatitis A: median 33 days) and by state. These findings indicate a need to standardize surveillance definitions and to account for reporting differences between states in interpreting regional disease trends or detecting multistate disease outbreaks.
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PMID:Timeliness of national reporting of communicable diseases: the experience of the National Electronic Telecommunications System for Surveillance. 192 31

Biogenesis of tetrahydrofolate cofactors essential for bacterial growth and survival is blocked by sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim. An intravenous form of the antimicrobial combination has recently been approved for the treatment of acute, symptomatic, bacterial pyelonephritis, recurrent urinary tract infections, shigellosis, and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. Intravenous sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim has emerged as an invaluable agent for the management of selected infections, including bacterial meningitis and Salmonella bacteremia, where limited therapeutic alternatives exist. In addition, co-administration of intravenous sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim with a carboxypenicillin provides an empiric treatment for the infected granulocytopenic patient that compares favorably with standard combinations. Adverse events unique to the intravenous form of the drug consist of phlebitis and fluid imbalances. Fluid overload results from the relatively large volumes of 5% dextrose solution required as diluent.
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PMID:Intravenous sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim: pharmacokinetics, therapeutic indications, and adverse reactions. 698 49

Vaccines comprising combinations of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP) components with Haemophilus influenzae b polysaccharide--protein conjugates (DTP-Hib) are now available. Combinations of DTP-Hib with additional components such as inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine, meningococcal and pneumococcal polysaccharide-protein conjugates are under development. Other combinations, such as Hib vaccine with meningococcal A, B and C components and possibly pneumococcal conjugates, or non-capsulated Haemophilus components combined with pneumococcal conjugates, developed against bacterial meningitis and otitis media respectively, are of potential interest. Combination vaccines against enteric infections and including potentially cholera, typhoid, ETEC, Shigella, rotavirus and possibly Campylobacter and Helicobacter components, may become available in the longer term. The control of these combinations is likely to be based on pharmacopoeial requirements for the individual components. However, the evaluation of combinations may not be straightforward and the interaction of the components with each other may influence reactogenicity, immunogenicity and stability and will complicate laboratory control tests. Indications of this have already arisen with some DTP-Hib combinations but are likely to increase as additional components are added. For example, the use of diphtheria and tetanus proteins as carriers for multiple polysaccharide conjugates may lead to excessive antitoxin production and epitope suppression of anti-polysaccharide responses. Other problems may result from competition for binding sites on adjuvant molecules. The requirements for new vaccine combinations need to be considered carefully and should not be made solely on assumptions based on the properties of individual components.
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PMID:Control testing of combined vaccines: a consideration of potential problems and approaches. 777 62

Drugs offer a simple, cost-effective solution to many health problems, provided they are available, affordable, and properly used. However, effective treatment is lacking in poor countries for many diseases, including African trypanosomiasis, Shigella dysentery, leishmaniasis, tuberculosis, and bacterial meningitis. Treatment may be precluded because no effective drug exists, it is too expensive, or it has been withdrawn from the market. Moreover, research and development in tropical diseases have come to a near standstill. This article focuses on the problems of access to quality drugs for the treatment of diseases that predominantly affect the developing world: (1) poor-quality and counterfeit drugs; (2) lack of availability of essential drugs due to fluctuating production or prohibitive cost; (3) need to develop field-based drug research to determine optimum utilization and remotivate research and development for new drugs for the developing world; and (4) potential consequences of recent World Trade Organization agreements on the availability of old and new drugs. These problems are not independent and unrelated but are a result of the fundamental nature of the pharmaceutical market and the way it is regulated.
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PMID:Access to essential drugs in poor countries: a lost battle? 992 90

For the laboratory evaluation of the severity of intoxication syndrome, the spectral characteristics of low and median molecular weight substances (LMMWS) were studied in the plasma and red blood cells of 129 children with bacterial infections, among whom there were 76 children with acute intestinal infections (Flexner's dysentery, Sonne dysentery, and salmonellosis) and 53 children with bacterial purulent meningitis of hemophilic and meningococcal etiology. In the acute period, all the examinees were found to have considerable qualitative and quantitative distinctions of blood spectrograms from the normal values. There was an association of the spectral characteristics of blood LMMWS with the nosological entity, etiology and stage of disease, and the severity of intoxication syndrome. The maximum distinctions from the normal values were detected in children with bacterial meningitis running with complicating the course of acute intestinal infection. There was an increase in the blood levels of LMMWS with the concomitant intercurrent diseases occurring, as compared with the smooth uncomplicated course of disease. The studies of the natural history of disease have indicated a gradual normalization of blood spectrograms; however, in bacterial meningitis, insignificant deviations preserved at the stage of convalescence. The spectral characteristics of plasma and red blood cell LMMWS are proposed to use for the objective appraisal of the severity of intoxication syndrome and the reserve detoxification capacities of blood in children with bacterial infections.
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PMID:[Laboratory evaluation of the severity of intoxication syndrome in children with bacterial infections]. 1687 28

The frequency of L-Sorbose utilization differs significantly between pathotypes of Escherichia coli and Shigella from 93% to 0%. Among 266 strains tested, this frequency increased in the order Shigella, enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC), Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), enteroaggregative E. coli, enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), and neonatal bacterial meningitis (NBM) E. coli. This suggests an association of pathomechanism with the capability to degrade L-Sorbose. The use of a selective agar, containing L-Sorbose and antibiotics, facilitated the isolation of L-Sorbose-non-utilizing ETEC from stool specimens of patients. The sor operon, comprising seven genes in the order sorCDFBAME, confers L-Sorbose utilization. Surprisingly, L-Sorbose-non-degrading Shigella harbored all genes of the sor operon indicating L-Sorbose-utilizing E. coli as ancestor. Additionally, strains of several EIEC and STEC serotypes harbored an inactivated sor operon. These L-Sorbose-non-utilizing Shigella, EIEC, and STEC showed significantly reduced amounts of transcripts as examined for sorC and sorD. Common surface antigens, types of intimin gene, and hemolysin gene as well as use of L-Sorbose suggested the relatedness of attaching and effacing O26:H11 and O55:H7 EPEC and STEC, respectively. pepE and yibC genes flank the sor operon of E. coli and Shigella strains. Surprisingly, one O7:K1:H- NBM E. coli harbored an aroE-homologous gene between its sor operon and pepE as in Klebsiella pneumoniae suggesting a horizontal gene transfer. In conclusion, L-Sorbose utilization of virulent E. coli and Shigella is characterized by different adaptation that represents a valuable tool for evolutionary and diagnostic analysis of related patho- and serotypes.
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PMID:L-Sorbose utilization by virulent Escherichia coli and Shigella: different metabolic adaptation of pathotypes. 1738 90

A 45-year-old man was presented at the emergency department with altered neurological status and a 1-day history of diarrhoea and fever. The patient's sexual history revealed multiple male partners. As bacterial meningitis or viral encephalitis was suspected, treatment was started accordingly. Cerebrospinal fluid investigations only showed a slight increase of leucocytes, and microbiological studies remained negative. Stool culture revealed Shigella flexneri, after which Shigella-associated encephalopathy was suspected. The patient recovered quickly with antibiotic treatment. The incidence of Shigella infections in the Western world is rising due to sexual transmission among men who have sex with men. Shigella-induced encephalopathy is a notorious complication among children with a severe form known as the Ekiri syndrome, though rarely seen in adults. This is the second report of encephalopathy in an adult with S. flexneri enteric infection.
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PMID:An adult case with shigellosis-associated encephalopathy. 2935 35