No abstract

CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE ASSOCIATED DIARRHEA IN AN ADULTS HOSPITAL. A DESCRIPTIVE STUDYA study was performed to know the epidemiological features of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Cases were detected by a citotoxin A immunoassay applied to stool samples. Twenty seven patients with 31 episodes of C. difficile associated diarrhea were identified during a 4 month period of passive surveillance. Most of the affected patients were female (62.9%), older than 65 years (77.7%) and had gastrointestinal procedures or medications. All the patients were pre exposed to antibiotics, mainly ciprofloxacin (40.7%), Three patients died (11%), but only one of them by a cause directly related to C. difficile infection. Failure to oral metronidazol therapy was registered in 25.9% of the patients and 3 other relapsed during follow-up (11%). Infection rates according to 100 discharged patients were higher in recuperative neurosurgical wards and in the intermediate medical care unit.

There is a high prevalence of positive antibodies against CMV HSV-1 and EBV in Chilean adults infected with HIV Specific diagnostic tests and antiviral therapy should be available for these patients.

More than 18 types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are associated with cervical cancer, the relative importance of the HPV types may vary in different populations. Objective: To investigate the types of HPV, age distribution, and risk factors for HPV infection in women from Santiago, Chile. Methods: We interviewed and obtained two cervical specimens from a population-based random sample of 1,038 sexually active women (age range, 15-69 years). Specimens were tested for the presence of HPV DNA using a GP5+/6+ primer-mediated PCR and for cervical cytologic abnormalities by Papanicolaou smears. Results: 122 women tested positive for HPV DNA, 87 with high risk types (HR), and 35 with low risks (LR) only. Standardized prevalence of HPV DNA was 14.0% [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 11.5-16.4]. HR HPV by age showed a J reverse curve, whereas LR HPV showed a U curve, both statistically significant in comparison with no effect or with a linear effect. We found 34 HPV types (13 HR and 21 LR); HPV 16, 56, 31, 58, 59, 18, and 52 accounted for 75.4% of HR infections. Thirty-four (3.6%) women had cytologic lesions. Main risk factor for HPV and for cytologic abnormalities was number of lifetime sexual partners, odds ratios for ≥3 versus 1 were 2.8 (95% CI, 1.6-5.0) and 3.8 (95% CI, 1.3-11.4), respectively. Conclusions: LR HPV presented a clear bimodal age pattern; HR HPV presented a J reverse curve. HPV prevalence was similar to that described in most Latin American countries.