Infective endocarditis is a growing problem with many shifts due to ever-increasing comorbid illnesses, invasive procedures, and increase in the elderly. We performed this multinational study to depict definite infective endocarditis. Adult patients with definite endocarditis hospitalized between January 1, 2015, and October 1, 2018, were included from 41 hospitals in 13 countries. We included microbiological features, types and severity of the disease, complications, but excluded therapeutic parameters. A total of 867 patients were included. A total of 631 (72.8%) patients had native valve endocarditis (NVE), 214 (24.7%) patients had prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE), 21 (2.4%) patients had pacemaker lead endocarditis, and 1 patient had catheter port endocarditis. Eighteen percent of NVE patients were hospital-acquired. PVE patients were classified as early-onset in 24.9%. A total of 385 (44.4%) patients had major embolic events, most frequently to the brain (n = 227, 26.3%). Blood cultures yielded pathogens in 766 (88.4%). In 101 (11.6%) patients, blood cultures were negative. Molecular testing of vegetations disclosed pathogens in 65 cases. Overall, 795 (91.7%) endocarditis patients had any identified pathogen. Leading pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus (n = 267, 33.6%), Streptococcus viridans (n = 149, 18.7%), enterococci (n = 128, 16.1%), coagulasenegative staphylococci (n = 92, 11.6%)) displayed substantial resistance profiles. A total of 132 (15.2%) patients had cardiac abscesses; 693 (79.9%) patients had left-sided endocarditis. Aortic (n = 394, 45.4%) and mitral valves (n = 369, 42.5%) were most frequently involved. Mortality was more common in PVE than NVE (NVE (n = 101, 16%), PVE (n = 49, 22.9%), p = 0.042). a Including all NVE, PVE, pacemaker, and catheter port endocarditis patients. b N indicates the denominator with any identified pathogen. c Coxiella burnetii seropositivity; anti-phase 1 IgG antibody titer ≥ 1:800 A P value of <0.05 was considered significant Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis

Abstract:Objective: To estimate the burden of fungal infections in Jordan for the first time. Material and Methods: Population data was from UN 2011 statistics and TB cases from WHO in 2012. Fewer than 100 patients with HIV were recorded in Jordan in 2013. Approximately 100 renal transplants and eight liver transplants are performed annually. There were 12,233 major surgical procedures in Jordan in 2013, of which 5.3% were major abdominal surgeries; candidemia was estimated in 5% of the population based on other countries, with 33% occurring in the ICU. Candida peritonitis/intra-abdominal candidiasis was estimated to affect 50% of the number of ICU candidemia cases. No adult asthma rates have been recorded for Jordan, so the rate from the Holy Land (8.54% clinical asthma) from To et al. has been used. There are an estimated 49,607 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in Jordan, with 64% symptomatic, 25% Gold stage 3% or 4%, and 7% (3472) are assumed to be admitted to hospital each year. No cystic fibrosis cases have been recorded. Literature searches on fungal infections revealed few data and no prevalence data on fungal keratitis or tinea capitis, even though tinea capitis comprised 34% of patients with dermatophytoses in Jordan. Results: Jordan has 6.3 million inhabitants (65% adults, 6% are >60 years old). The current burden of serious fungal infections in Jordan was estimated to affect~119,000 patients (1.9%), not including any cutaneous fungal infections. Candidemia was estimated at 316 cases and invasive aspergillosis in leukemia, transplant, and COPD patients at 84 cases. Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis prevalence was estimated to affect 36 post-TB patients, and 175 in total. Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) and severe asthma with fungal sensitization (SAFS) prevalence in adults with asthma were estimated at 8900 and 11,748 patients. Recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis was estimated to affect 97,804 patients, using a 6% rate among women 15-50 years of age. Conclusion: Based on local data and literature estimates of the frequency of mycoses in susceptible populations, at least 1.9% of Jordanians have some form of serious fungal disease.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of C. difficile infection (CDI) among hospitalized patients with toxin-positive stools. Methods: This study is a multicenter study held in Jordan and focused on the prevalence of in-patients with C. difficile toxin-positive diarrhea-stools. The study included three hospitals with approximately 750 beds. In-patients charts, laboratory logbooks for in-patients with diarrhea-stool specimens were reviewed. The participating hospitals used a rapid test, which detects fecal C. difficile toxins A and B. Results: 174 stool specimens were reviewed from March 2013 to October 2014, and 170 stool specimens from 168 patients were evaluated. The patients included 102 (60%) males, and 66 (40%) females including seven (10.6%) peripartum females. The patients were classified in the following age groups:neonates ≤ 28 days, infants 29 days-less than one year old (n = 4, 2.4%), 1-4 years (n = 3, 1.8%), and arbitrarily: 5-9 years (n = 3, 1.8%), 10-14 years (n = 3, 1.8%), 15-40 years (n = 33, 19.4%), 41-64 years, (n = 53, 31.2%) and ≥ 65 years were (n = 71, 41.8%).Adults and older age groups make up the majority of all patients (92.4%). Comorbidities were highly prevalent among the patients: diabetic (n = 71, 41.8%), chronic lung diseases (n = 25, 14.7%), solid tumors other than colonic tumors (n = 12, 7.1%), immune-suppressive state (n = 15, 8.8%), and one patient had colonic tumor. The majority of the patients (n = 21) were on more than one class of broad-spectrum antimicrobials. The prevalence of C. difficile toxin-positive stools were 14.63/1000 discharged patients, 12.65% of patients (12.96% of stool specimens)

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The term probiotic is utilized to describe useful living microorganisms, intended to colonize the large intestine, when consumed in adequate amounts, they confer physiological health benefits to the host. In the last decade, probiotics have been widely used as a nutritional supplement and became a rapidly developing research topic that gained importance in medicine. Recent clinical trials have found that consumption of beneficial bacterial species can manipulate gut flora and reduce or prevent the development of certain serious diseases.