Objective To explore the pathogens and clinical features of immunocompromised hosts with septicaemia.Methods The data including underlying diseases, peripheral blood granulocyte count, temperature at blood sampling, management and prognosis)of 160 immunocompromised hosts with septicaemia were analyzed retrospectively．Results 8 patients had twice septicaemia in hospital stay and 3 patients had plural pathogenic septicaemia.171 strains of microorganisms were isolated from blood cultured of 160 septic immuno- compromised hosts in which 156 strains (91.2%) were bacteria, 37 strains(21.6%) were gram positive cocci, 6 strains(3.5%) were gram positive bacilli, 113 strains (66.1%) were gram negative bacilli and 15 strains (8.8%) were fungi. Staphylococcus spp (17 strains) and Streptococcus spp (14 strains) were the predominant pathogens among gram positive cocci and Corynebacteria (5 strains ) were the main pathogen in gram positive bacilli while Escherichia coli (60 strains), Klebsiella pneumoniae (20 strains) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15 strains) were the most common bacteria in gram negative bacilli. There were 12 strains of Staphylococcus aureus among the 17 strains of Staphylococcus spp, all of them were methicillin sensitive (MSSA). 17 strains of Escherichia coli, 2 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae and 1 strain of Klebsiella oxytoca produced ESBLs. Candida was the only pathogens of fungemia in this study in which 4 strains of Candida albicans and 11 strains of non-albicans Candida were detected. There were 120 patients(75%) with granulocytopeniain which 103 patients were agranulocytosis. 70% of the 160 paitents had hyperpyrexia. All patients received broad spectrum antibiotics therapy in the study while 58.8% received antifungal drugs at the same time. 20 patients died of septicaemia and 19 patients gave up therapy because of their conditions deteriorated.The overall improvement rate were 75.6%. Conclusions Bacteria are the main pathogens in septicaemia of immunocom- promised host and fungemia is increasing in recent years.Agranulocytosis is a risk factor of septicaemia in immunocompromised hosts. Hyperpyrexia is one of characteristic signs of these patients.
Objective To investigate the correlation between persistent wheezing and positive result of sputum fungal culture in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD) . Methods The COPD patients who hospitalized in the respiratory department of Shanghai First People’s Hospital, Zhongshan Hospital and Huadong Hospital fromJanuary 2005 to December 2007 were analyzed retrospectively. Results Thirty-five cases were enrolled in the persistent wheezing group and 43 cases in the non-wheezing group. In the wheezing group, sputumfungal culture revealed positive yield in 32 cases while Aspergillus were isolated in 12 cases. In the non-wheezing group, sputum fungal culture revealed only 11 cases positive, and none of which were Aspergillus positive. Aspergillus distributions in the two groups were significantly different( P lt;0. 05) . There was also significant difference in the positive result of sputum fungal culture ( 91. 4% vs 25. 6%, P lt;0. 01) , while there was no significant difference in positive result of bacterial culture( 28. 6% vs 39. 5%, P gt; 0. 05) . In the wheezing group, the patients with antifungal treatment showed better prognosis than those without antifungal treatment( 81. 0% vs 36. 4% , P lt;0. 05) . Conclusion The persistent wheezing in the patients with COPD is correlated with the fungi, especially Aspergillus airway colonization.
Objective To investigate the risk factors of positive yield in sputum fungal culture in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD) . Methods The patients with COPD who hospitalized in the respiratory departments of Shanghai First People’s Hospital, Zhongshan Hospital, and Huadong Hospital from January 2005 to December 2007 were analyzed retrospectively. Results The 78 patients were grouped according to the results of sputumfungal culture. There were no significant differences in sex, age, history of smoking, diabetes, atomization inhalation, and the accumulated doses of oral corticosteroids between the positive group and the negative group ( P gt; 0. 05) . However, the differences in species of antibiotics, duration of antibiotic therapy, and accumulated doses of intravenous corticosteroidswere significant ( P lt; 0. 01) . The logistic analysis showed that prolonged high-dose of corticosteroids and multiple broad-spectrum antibiotics were risk factors of the positive yield of sputum fungal culture ( P lt;0. 05) . Conclusion Prolonged high-dose of corticosteroids and multiple broad-spectrum antibiotics are riskfactors of fungal colonization in lower respiratory tract of COPD patients.
Objective To evaluate the rapid diagnosis of bacterial and (or) fungal endophthalmitis by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (MPCR). Methods MPCR was performed to detect the DNA segment of bacteria and (or) fungi from standard strains and 41 samples of intraocular fluid or vitreous from 38 patients (3 with double eyes and 35 with single), and the results were compared with the cultured bacteria and fungi. Results Five hours after detected by MPCR, bacteria and (or) fungi in 34 out of 41 samples (82.9%) from patients were detected，in cluding bacteria in 26，fungi in 6，and both bacteria and fungi in 2. The positive rate of MPCR was obviously higher than the cultured ones（χ2＝9.60, P＜0.05）. Conclusion With the advantages of rapidity, sensibility, and specificity, MPCR can make for the rapid and definitive diagnosis of bacterial and (or) fungal endophthalmitis. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis，2004，20：81-83)
Objective To investigate the pathogen distribution and drug resistance in ICU patients, provide reference for prevention of severe infection and empirical antibacterial treatment. Methods The patients admitted in ICU between January 2013 and December 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. The pathogenic data were collected including bacterial and fungal culture results, the flora distribution and drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria. Results A total of 2088 non-repeated strains were isolated, including 1403 (67.2%) strains of Gram-positive bacteria, 496 (23.8%) strains of Gram-negative bacteria, and 189 (9.0%) strains of fungus. There were 1324 (63.42%) strains isolated from sputum or other respiratory specimens, 487 (23.33%) strains from blood specimens, 277 (13.27%) strains from other specimens. The bacteria included Acinetobacter baumannii (17.2%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (14.8%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (9.9%), C. albicans (6.3%), E. coli (5.6%), E. cloacae (5.4%), Epidermis staphylococcus (5.0%) and Staphylococcus aureus (4.7%). There were 15 strains of penicillium carbon resistant enterobacteriaceae bacteria (CRE) accounting for 2.3%, including 5 strains of Pneumonia klebsiella, 4 strains of E. cloacae. In 117 strains of E. coli, drug-resistant strains accounted for 86.4% including 85.5% of multiple drug-resistant strains (MDR) and 0.9% of extremely-drug resistant (XDR) strains. In 359 strains of Acinetobacter baumannii, drug-resistant strains accounted for 75.2% including 72.1% of XDR strains and 3.1% of MDR strains. MDR strains accounted for 10.6% in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Detection rate of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococci (MRCNS) was 49.0% and 95.5%, respectively. There were 4 strains of vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecalis. There were 131 (69.3%) strains of C. albicans, 23 (12.2%) strains of smooth candida. C. albicans was sensitive to amphotericin and 5-fluorine cytosine, and the resistance rate was less than 1% to other antifungle agents. The resistance rate of smooth ball candida was higher than C. albicans and nearly smooth candida, but still less than 15%. Conclusions The predominant pathogens in ICU was gram-negative bacteria. The top eight pathogenic bacteria were Acinetobacter baumanni, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, C. albicans, E. coli, E. cloacae, Epidermis staphylococcus and S. aureus. Sputum and blood are common specimens. CRE accounts for 2.3%. Drug-resistant strains are most common in E. coli mainly by MDR, followed by Acinetobacter baumannii mainly by XDR, and least in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. C. albicans is the most common fungus with low drug resitance.
ObjectiveTo investigate the role of Aspergillus in the severe refractory exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).MethodsThe clinical data of two COPD patients suffering from refractory acute exacerbations were analyzed and the relevant literature were reviewed.ResultsTwo patients were male, aging 72 and 64 years respectively. Both of them had a history of frequent acute exacerbations with severe COPD recently. Meanwhile, they received intravenous use of antibiotics repeatedly, one of them took oral corticosteroids to control wheezing, but failed. Their serum Aspergillus-specific IgG antibody was weakly positive. Besides traditional treatment, they received additional antifungal therapy, and the symptoms alleviated. There was no acute exacerbation in the half a year follow-up period after appropriate therapy.ConclusionsAspergillus colonization, sensitization, infection should be considered in patients with severe COPD. When Aspergillus-associated evidence are acquired, antifungal therapy will be unexpected helpful.
Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and diagnosis and treatment of fungal pulmonary embolism, and to improve the understanding of this disease. Methods The diagnosis and treatment of two patients with fungal main pulmonary embolism in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University were summarized and analyzed. Literatures were retrieved from Wanfang database, China national knowledge internet database and Pubmed database with search terms of “pulmonary embolism AND mucor”, “pulmonary embolism AND aspergillus”, “pulmonary embolism AND fungi”, “pulmonary embolism AND Candida”, “pulmonary embolism AND cryptococcus”. Results Case 1, a 53-year-old female was referred, with cough, high fever, breathlessness for 2 years, chest pain for 1 year. The patient had rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus history with long term prednisone treatment. Finally, the patient was diagnosed main pulmonary artery embolism (aspergillus) and disseminated aspergillosis. Although treatment with voriconazole, amphotericin B, and caspofungin were given for more than 1 year, the patient died with uncontrolled aspergillus infection. Case 2, a 67-year-old female was referred with cough, chest distress, chest pain for 8 months, breathlessness for 6 months. The patient had a history of chronic viral hepatitis C. Finally the patient was diagnosed as main pulmonary artery embolism and pulmonary valve endocarditis (aspergillus, mucor). The patient underwent pulmonary artery lesion resection and tricuspid valvuloplasty (DeVega method). After surgery, the patient was delivered with amphotericin B and posaconazole for 3 months. During the follow-up period of 1 year, the patient recovered almost totally without relapse signs. A total of 42 cases of fungal pulmonary embolism from 1980 to 2021 were retrieved (including 2 cases in this article), and 6 of these cases were main pulmonary artery embolism. Of all the cases, the median age was 49 years and 22 (54.3%) were males. 20 cases were immunocompromised. The infection pathogens included: Aspergillus (21, 50%), Candida (11, 26.2%), Mucor (7, 16.7%), and Aspergillus combined with Mucor (1, 2.5%), Coccidioides spp (1, 2.5%), and Cryptococcus (1, 2.5%). Fifteen cases were complicated with infection other than cardiopulmonary. Twenty-two cases were treated with surgery combined with antifungal medicine, and 9 cases with antifungal medicine alone. Twenty-two cases were dead and the overall mortality rate was 52.4%. There were statistically significant differences in the effects of fungal species, dissemination of other organs other than the heart and lung, and surgical treatment on the survival rate. The survival rate of different fungal species was significantly different. Dissemination to organs other than the heart and lungs reduces survival, whereas surgical treatment improves survival. Conclusions Fungal pulmonary embolism, a disease with high mortality, rarely involves the main pulmonary artery. The possibility of fungal pulmonary embolism should be considered when the cause of pulmonary thrombosis is unknown and the anticoagulant effect is poor. Although there is no unified treatment at present, early surgical combined with standard antifungal treatment may improve the prognosis of patients.