The human cases of eosinophilic meningitis recently reported from Brazil have focused the attention of the public health agencies on the role the introducted snail Achatina fulica plays as hosts of the metastrongylid nematodes. Determining the potential of this snail to host and develop infective larval stages of metastrongylids in the wild and identify the species harbored by them is crucial for designing effective control measures. Here we assess if A. fulica may act as intermediate host of A. cantonensis at the peridomiciliary areas of a patient's house from state of Pernambuco (PE), who was diagnosed with eosinophilic meningitis and a history of ingesting raw molluscs. Larvae obtained from naturally infected A. fulica were orally administered to Rattus norvegicus. The worms were collected from the pulmonary artery and brain, and were morphologically characterized and compared to the Japan isolate of A. cantonensis. Adult worms and infective L(3) larvae (PE isolate) recovered from A. fulica specimens were also analyzed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism of ITS2 region from rDNA and compared to A. cantonensis (ES isolate), A. vasorum (MG isolate) and A. costaricensis (RS isolate). The large size of the spicules (greater than those observed in other species of Angiostrongylus) and the pattern of the bursal rays agree with the original species description by Chen (1935). Furthermore, the morphology of the PE isolate was similar to that of Japan isolate. The PCR-RFLP profiles obtained were distinctive among species and no variation in patterns was detected among adult individuals from A. cantonensis isolates from PE and ES. The importance of A. fulica as an intermediate host of eosinophilic menigoencepahlitis in Brazil is emphasized.

The Pantanal is a large ecosystem located in South America. This preserved area is seasonally flooded due to abundant rainfall during the summer and the subsequent overflow of the Paraguai River. In this paper, we examine the helminth community structure in the wild rodent Thrichomys pachyurus during the wet and dry seasons in two locations of the preserved and cattle ranching areas in the Southern Pantanal. We identified 12 species of helminth, and, although we did not find any differences in species richness between locations within the Pantanal, we found that richness was higher during the wet season. Helminth species were largely aggregated in both farm locations and during seasons. The most common helminth species were more abundant during the dry season than during the wet season, which may have been due to the increased habitat availability and rodent population increase. The intensity of the infection also followed the same pattern for most helminths. The trichostrongylids (Heligmostrongylus crucifer, H. almeidai and Pudica cercomysi) were dominant at both farm locations. The land use of each area was not correlated with helminth diversity. However, species composition of the helminth community of T. pachyurus differed between locations and may be correlated with environmental differences between the habitats. The seasonality of the Pantanal was highly correlated with helminth parasitism in T. pachyurus.

The aim of this study was to analyze the genetic characteristics and virulence phenotypes of Streptococcus suis, specifically, in clinical isolates of serotypes 2 and 9 (n = 195), obtained from diverse geographical areas across Spain. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing identified 97 genetic profiles, 68% of which were represented by single isolates, indicative of a substantial genetic diversity among the S. suis isolates analyzed. Five PFGE profiles accounted for 33.3% of the isolates and were isolated from 38% of the herds in nine different provinces, indicative of the bacterium's widespread distribution in the Spanish swine population. Representative isolates of the most prevalent PFGE profiles of both serotypes were subjected to multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis. The results indicated that serotypes 2 and 9 have distinct genetic backgrounds. Serotype 2 isolates belong to the ST1 complex, a highly successful clone that has spread over most European countries. In accordance with isolates of this complex, most serotype 2 isolates also expressed the phenotype MRP(+)EF(+)SLY(+). Serotype 9 isolates belong to the ST61 complex, which is distantly related to the widespread European ST87 clone. Also, in contrast to most isolates of the European ST87 clone, which express the large variant MRP*, the majority of serotype 9 isolates (97.9%) did not express the protein.

INTRODUCTION: There is a dearth of data on cost-effectiveness of surgical care in resource-poor countries. Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières; MSF) is a nongovernmental organization (NGO) involved in the many facets of health care for underserved populations, including surgical care. METHODS: A cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) was attempted at two of their surgical trauma hospitals: Teme Hospital in Nigeria and La Trinité Hospital in Haiti. CONCLUSION: At $172 and $223 per Disability-Adjusted Life-Year (DALY) averted, respectively, they are in line with other reported CEAs for surgical and nonsurgical activities in similar contexts.

We studied the shape of phospholipid vesicles prepared by hydration of a mixture of phosphatidylcholine (SOPC) and phosphatidylserine (SOPS) in different proportions. The aim of the work is to obtain some insight into the influence of the chemical composition of a biomembrane on its shape. The optical microscopy results show that the shape of the vesicles depend on the SOPC:SOPS composition. For low SOPS contents, coiled cylindrical vesicles are observed. The results suggest that specific compositions of the SOPC:SOPS vesicles produce some spontaneous curvature on the membrane and then a coiling instability.

Sow milk protects the piglet against infectious diseases through a variety of mechanisms. In this study, the presence of potentially probiotic lactic acid bacteria in this biological fluid was investigated. Milk samples were obtained from 8 sows and a total of 19 rod-shaped isolates were selected for identification and assessment of their probiotic potential. RAPD profiling revealed the existence of 8 different genetic profiles among them. One representative of each profile was selected for further characterization and they were identified as Lactobacillus reuteri, Lb. salivarius, Lb. plantarum, Lb. paraplantarum, Lb. brevis and Weissella paramesenteroides. Then, their probiotic potential was evaluated through different assays, including survival in conditions simulating those existing in the gastrointestinal tract, production of antimicrobial compounds, adherence to intestinal mucin, production of biogenic amines, degradation of mucin, and pattern of antibiotic sensitivity. Three strains, Lb. reuteri CR20 (a reuterin-producing strain), Lb. salivarius CELA2 (a bacteriocin-producing strain) and Lb. paraplantarum CLB7 displayed the highest probiotic potential.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Parasitic angiosperm Orobanche crenata infection represents a major constraint for the cultivation of legumes worldwide. The level of protection achieved to date is either incomplete or ephemeral. Hence, an efficient control of the parasite requires a better understanding of its interaction and associated resistance mechanisms at molecular levels. RESULTS: In order to study the plant response to this parasitic plant and the molecular basis of the resistance we have used a proteomic approach. The root proteome of two accessions of the model legume Medicago truncatula displaying differences in their resistance phenotype, in control as well as in inoculated plants, over two time points (21 and 25 days post infection), has been compared. We report quantitative as well as qualitative differences in the 2-DE maps between early-(SA 27774) and late-resistant (SA 4087) genotypes after Coomassie and silver-staining: 69 differential spots were observed between non-inoculated genotypes, and 42 and 25 spots for SA 4087 and SA 27774 non-inoculated and inoculated plants, respectively. In all, 49 differential spots were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) following MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry. Many of the proteins showing significant differences between genotypes and after parasitic infection belong to the functional category of defense and stress-related proteins. A number of spots correspond to proteins with the same function, and might represent members of a multigenic family or post-transcriptional forms of the same protein. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained suggest the existence of a generic defense mechanism operating during the early stages of infection and differing in both genotypes. The faster response to the infection observed in the SA 27774 genotype might be due to the action of proteins targeted against key elements needed for the parasite's successful infection, such as protease inhibitors. Our data are discussed and compared with those previously obtained with pea and transcriptomic analysis of other plant-pathogen and plant-parasitic plant systems.

Clin Microbiol InfectAbstract We report the clonal dissemination of ST201 Enterococcus faecalis carrying Tn5382-vanB2 and of CC17-ST64 Enterococcus faecium carrying Tn5382-vanB2-ISEnfa110 among 16 hospitals in four geographically distant regions in Chile. This is the first epidemiological characterization of vancomycin resistance in Chile, and also the first report of interhospital dissemination of enterococcal vanB2 in South America.

Before the advent of combined PET-CT in 2000, CT and FDG-PET used separately had become the imaging techniques of choice for the management of oncologic patients. Integrating these two modalities into a single scanner confers diverse clinical advantages. There is less confusion over nonmalignant FDG uptake caused by inflammatory foci or due to variation in normal physiologic uptake among different tissues, such as brown fat or muscles, because CT enables the anatomic location to be determined more accurately. In addition, PET-CT enables improved localization of malignant lesions, better follow-up of the response to treatment, and improved targeting for biopsy and radiotherapy. PET-CT also improves the detection of non-FDG-avid tumors that would not be evident on a PET study alone. PET-CT should be the only procedure in most oncologic patients, obviating further CT examinations, which is particularly important in children. Close collaboration between specialists in nuclear medicine and radiologists is essential to obtain the maximum benefit of combined PET-CT scans. This collaboration is also necessary in other hybrid systems, such as SPECT-CT or PET-MRI. In oncologic patients, it is important to ensure that maximum diagnostic yield of PET-CT is reached; this can only be accomplished in diagnostic imaging departments that enable close collaboration between professionals of different specialties.