No Abstract available.
Cross Infection* ; Diagnosis-Related Groups*

This 1-year prospective open trial was conducted on 777 children aged from 3 to 16 years old, who visited for acute sore throat and had at least one sign of pharyngitis. Data of demographic information, history of illness and use of antibiotics within recent days was documented. Clinical findings, included temperature and 2 pharyngeal swabbing samples (for microbial isolation and for detecting group A Streptococcal -specified antigen by rapid test), was computerized and analysed. Results: Group A Streptococcus was detected in 30.8% of children with acute pharyngitis. There wasn't any factor, including sex, age, and body temperature on admission or illness duration, related to the infection rate. It was found that, however, the infection rate was highest during winter and spring, when it is wet and cold. The mean of infection rate during these seasons was 36.6% and with the peak was 44.2% in March 1998. The rapid test produced the sensitivity of 88.7% and the specificity of 95.7% in this trial.
Streptococcus pyogenes ; Pharyngitis ; infection ; child ; Diagnosis

Systemic nosocomial infection control programs were instituted for the first time in Korea by two university hospitals in Seoul in 1991 when full-time infection control nurses were employed. Since then, infection control programs and activities have been expanded to many university hospitals throughout the country, thanks to an increasing awareness of the importance of preventing nosocomial infections by the government, medical and academic communities and citizens' groups. However, progress has been slow. The tow major problems are: 1) the lack of financial incentives for the hospitals to prevent nosocomial infections ; and 2) a shortage of trained professionals, namely, the infection control nurse and the infection control physician. This review is to summerize the components of cost-effective infection control programs, and the current state of and the problems in the infection control in Korea; and to recommend the clinical pathologist a new role as a infection control physician, which will help not only to activate the infection control programs in the country, but also to reduce the financial loss of the hospital caused by nosocomial infections under the prospective payment system based on diagnosis related groups.
Cross Infection* ; Diagnosis-Related Groups ; Hospitals, University ; Infection Control ; Korea* ; Motivation ; Prospective Payment System ; Seoul

Humans ; Immune System Diseases ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Wound Infection ; immunology

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a devastating disease that is increasingly being diagnosed among Filipinos, especially in at-risk populations. There are disease-specific nuances in the evaluation and management of this infection. Furthermore, advances in the field brought about by clinical research are rapidly moulding the way we evaluate and manage HCV patients. Evidently, consensus statements formulated by experts in the field are needed in order to serve as a guide to physicians who see HCV patients in the clinic. With this in mind, the Hepatology Society of the Philippines spearheaded the formation of these statements which aimed to address issues in the diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, and follow-up care of patients with HCV infection.
Recommendations on the specific tests to perform in the evaluation of HCV patients before, during and after treatment, and first-line treatment of patients with acute and chronic HCV infection were provided. Treatment algorithms for chronic HCV infection, divided according to viral genotype, were also devised. We acknowledge the limitations brought about by the local inavailability of some drugs/treatment regimens in the local setting at the time of the formulation of these statements. As such, these statements will be revised as soon as new data become locally applicable.

 

Hepatitis C ; Diagnosis ; Infection ; Consensus ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Liver Cirrhosis

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique has been widely used in fields of molecular biology and diagnosis. PCR biochip/microdevice is increasingly of great interest as a result of its small volume of sample and reaction mixture, short reaction period and portability. The applications of PCR biochip/microdevice are specially introduced in the clinical diagnosis. Finally, the applications and development of PCR biochip/microdevice are also predicted.
Genetic Diseases, Inborn ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Infection ; diagnosis ; Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; instrumentation ; methods

Surgical site infection(SSI) is one of post-operative complications in gastrointestinal surgery. SSI may increase the morbidity and mortality of surgical patients and increase their hospital stay and expense. The risk factors can come from patients, physicians and hospital environments. Improving patients nutritional status and organ function, appropriate control of blood sugar level and abstinence from smoking can reduce the occurrence of SSI. Compare to current practice in China, the following recommendations have been identified as priorities for implementation: hair removal done immediately before operation; maintenance of normothermia intraoperatively; the abdominal wall should be closed with an absorbable suture and drains should be removed as early as possible. SSI could be diagnosed by symptoms, local signs and lab examinations and confirmed by physician. Source control is the key point in the management of SSI. Ultrasound and CT guided percutaneous abscess drainage is effective in the localized deep space surgical site infection and critically ill patients. Antibiotics should be used following clinical assessment and evidence based on local formulary.
Digestive System Surgical Procedures ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Risk Factors ; Surgical Wound Infection ; diagnosis ; etiology ; prevention & control ; therapy

There are many criteria for the diagnosis of infection and sepsis in most patients, but the standardized definitions for infection and sepsis in burn patients are less applicable to the burn population and have never been developed. We recommend that suspicious systemic infection (sepsis) should be considered as a clinical syndrome defined by the presence of signs and symptoms of systemic infection even with negative blood microbial culture, systemic infection should be identified with positive blood microbial culture or clinical response to antimicrobials. We also expand the list of diagnostic criteria for systemic infection to reflect clinical experience in burn patients. Further refinement will be necessary when these definitions are considered for routine application in clinical practice.
Burns ; microbiology ; Cross Infection ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Reference Standards ; Sepsis ; diagnosis ; Terminology as Topic

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical value of pleural biopsy in the etiological diagnosis of pleurisy in children.

METHODTotally 213 cases with pleurisy, who underwent pleural biopsy and hospitalized in Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from January 2007 to April 2014 were enrolled into this study. Clinical symptoms, imaging manifestations, pleural fluid characteristics, the results of pleural biopsy and postoperative complications were retrospectively analyzed to evaluate the clinical value and security of pleural biopsy in making the etiological diagnosis of pleurisy.

RESULT(1) Of the 213 cases, 144 were boys and 69 were girls, their mean age was (6. 5 ± 4. 1) years. (2) Two hundred and thirteen patients had a surgical pleural biopsy under general anesthesia, the cause of 97 cases (45. 5%) were made clear by histopathological examination, including 35 purulent pleurisy, 55 tuberculous pleurisy and 7 paragonimus infection. For the remaining 83 (41. 3%) cases a final diagnosis was made based on the full analysis of clinical data, including 63 cases of purulent pleurisy, 3 cases of tuberculous pleurisy and 17 cases of paragonimiasis pleurisy but for 33 patients no exact cause was found at the end. (3) The mean operating time of the biopsy was (1. 4 ± 0. 6) hours. Seventy one (33. 3%) patients required blood transfusion during or after the operation. Thirty one (14. 6%) cases used the ventilator after surgery, and the ventilator supporting time was (6. 6 ± 5. 8) hours on average. The wound healing reached grade A in 200 cases (93. 9%), grade B in 13 cases (14. 6%). Postoperative complications included pneumothorax in 92 cases (43. 2%), subcutaneous emphysema in 18 cases (8. 5%), bronchopleural fistula in 3 cases(1. 4%). The average days of hospitalization was (17. 7 ± 7. 1) d.

CONCLUSIONPleural biopsy is of great diagnostic value in the etiological diagnosis and differential diagnosis of pleurisy in children, and it is considered reasonable to be used in the clinical practice when appropriate.

Biopsy ; Child ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Infection ; diagnosis ; Male ; Pleura ; Pleurisy ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Tuberculosis, Pleural ; complications ; diagnosis

Nontuberculous mycobacterial infections can cause destructive tenosynovitis of the hand. We report on and discuss the clinical course and distinctive radiologic findings of two patients with hand tenosynovitis secondary to M. marinum and intracellulare infection, which are different from those of the nontuberculous mycobacterial infections reported in the previous literature.
Female ; *Hand/radiography ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous/*diagnosis/etiology/radiography ; Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare Infection/*diagnosis/etiology/radiography ; *Mycobacterium marinum ; Surgical Wound Infection/complications ; Tenosynovitis/diagnosis/*microbiology/radiography ; Wound Infection/complications