In a double blind controlled study antilipopolysaccharide gammaglobulin given intramuscularly did not reduce mortality in low birthweight babies suffering from septicaemia. It did, however, reduce the recovery period of survivors from 310 to 120 hours.

In a case of brain death, a Clostridium sordellii and Escherichia coli septicaemia--of probable gastrointestinal origin--developed and was associated with a diffuse clostridial myositis. Factors responsible for the initiation and development of this unusual clostridial infection are discussed.

Manocha and colleagues [1] found in a retrospective study on the association of beta-agonist use and lung injury a shorter duration and less severity of lung injury in patients on aerosolized beta-agonists. In their discussion of possible causes they and the investigators of the beta-agonist lung injury trial [2] did not comment on the effect of beta-agonist treatment on pulmonary chloride tran...

Meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia remain a serious global health threat. This review focuses on the epidemiology of meningococcal disease following the recent implementation of effective vaccines and the potential utility of a vaccine against serogroup B meningococcus.

We report an infant with meningococcal septicaemia and meningitis who had panophthalmitis at presentation that was unresponsive to standard systemic antibiotic treatment but which responded to topical steroid and mydriatic treatment. The pathogenesis may have been immune mediated.

OBJECTIVE To determine the relation between lipid peroxidation and the antioxidants ascorbate, urate, and glutathione in epithelial lining fluid in ventilated premature babies, and to relate the biochemical findings to clinical outcome. DESIGN A cohort study conducted between January 1999 and June 2001. SETTING A NHS neonatal intensive care unit. PATIENTS An opportunity sample of 43 venti...

Patients requiring parenteral nutrition (PN) are at risk of infection. Impaired immunity due to an underlying disease process and/or malnutrition, combined with therapeutic interventions including PN, and the presence of a foreign body, the intravenous catheter, renders them prone to septicaemia (Pun & Reen, 1992). Recent studies suggest that this septicaemia may be primarily due to gut-derived...

Laboratory techniques Blood cultures: where do we stand? Septicaemia in hospital patients is common. Its prevalence has increased over the past decade from 10 to around 15 cases/1000 admissions, with a corresponding increase in morbidity and mortality. In this hospital the number of clinically important isolates from blood cultures has doubled in the past four years, with an increasing proporti...

INTRODUCTION Mycotic aneurysms account for a small proportion of all aneurysms. Escherichia coli a gram-negative organism, is recognised as a rare cause of aortic aneurysm. We report two cases of mycotic aneurysm caused by the same strain of multi-resistant Escherichia coli. The purpose of this case report is to highlight the possibility that this strain may be associated with an increased risk...

Salmonella enteritidis may have been transmitted through the hands of the vendors or from those of vendors who sold egg products in the vicinity. Although raw eggs and egg products have been implicated in contamination with Salmonella enteritidis the ability of this pathogen to survive for up to 7-14 days on the surface of many fresh fruits as in melons have been reported. Since, people of almo...