BACKGROUND Infective endocarditis (IE) is a disease with a highly varied clinical picture. Spread of the infection to the pericardium from the infective endocardium is uncommon and IE involving all 4 cardiac valves is also a very rare occurrence, being more common in intravenous drug users (IVDU). CASE REPORT A 7-year-old boy had purulent pericarditis with infective endocarditis (IE) on all 4...

A 36-year-old female presented with a 3-day history of increasing shortness of breath, cough with purulent sputum, haemoptysis, pleuretic chest pain, nausea, vomiting and rigors. The patient was an intravenous drug user (IVDU) who smoked 20 cigarettes per day and denied drinking alcohol. Her only past medical history was of mild asthma, for which salbutamol was taken as needed. On examination, ...

Intravenous (IV) heroin abuse in persons aged 12 has nearly doubled between the 2002 and 2012. Intravenous drug users (IVDU) are a high-risk group for developing endogenous fungal endophthalmitis (EFE), with Candida albicans being the most commonly identified causative organism. Endogenous fungal endophthalmitis is a potentially blinding disease in which the causative organism reaches the eye t...

BACKGROUND Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) are common in the era of community-associated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus among HIV-infected patients. Recurrent infections are frequent. Risk factors for recurrence after an initial SSTI have not been well-studied. METHODS Retrospective cohort study, single center, 2005-2009. Paper and electronic medical records were reviewed...

BACKGROUND The human retroviruses HIV-1 and HTLV-1 share the routes of infection with hepatitis viruses B and C. Co-infection by these agents are a common event, but we have scarce knowledge on co-infection by two or more of these agents. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the characteristics and risk factors for co-infections by HBV and HCV in patients infected by HIV-1 or/and HTLV-1, in Salvador, Brazil...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the major infectious disease agents among injecting drug users (IVDUs). However, most of the IVDUs are not still treated. OBJECTIVES To examine the treatment course, adherence, tolerability and safety profiles and SVR rates in IVDUs compared to non-IVDUs. PATIENTS AND METHODS Demographic and clinical data were collected from medical records of 34...

TOPIC: Critical Care TYPE: Medical Student/Resident Case Reports INTRODUCTION: Air embolism is an entrapment of air in the vasculature that can affect heart, lungs, and brain, with a mortality rate 48-80%. Here, we present first reported case significantly massive venous from intravenous drug use. CASE PRESENTATION: A 37-year-old male history abuse (IVDU) 15 years presented to hospital after be...

INTRODUCTION Chronic bacterial, viral and parasitic infections contribute to the morbidity and mortality associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. This study investigated risk factors and time-trends of the seroprevalence of cytomegalovirus (CMV), toxoplasmosis and hepatitis A total antibody; and co-infection with syphilis, hepatitis B and hepatitis C among newly diagnosed H...

We aimed to compare the demographic and clinical characteristics with risk determination of TB patients who were smokers vs. non-smokers. The retrospective, observational & cross-sectional cohort survey was done to compare disease characteristic and clinical presentation during treatment of TB. Cluster random sampling employed in Chest Clinic of Penang General Hospital from January/2006 to June...