Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a disorder of the vaginal ecosystem characterized by a shift in the vaginal flora from the normally predominant Lactobacillus to one dominated by sialidase enzyme-producing mixed flora. It is the most common cause of abnormal vaginal discharge in adult women. The BVBlue system (Gryphus Diagnostics, L.L.C.) is a chromogenic diagnostic test based on the presence of ele...

The diagnosis of infective endocarditis has been notoriously difficult. Over the last decade, the modified Duke criteria have assumed an increasingly important role in the early detection of this often occult disease. Echocardiography has assumed increasing importance. Transesophageal echocardiography is recognized as more sensitive and specific than transthoracic echocardiography at detecting ...

The early use of appropriate antibiotic therapy is one of the important and explicit steps in the management of potentially fatal adult acute bacterial meningitis (ABM). Changing epidemiology of ABM, especially with regards to the change of the relative frequency of causative pathogens, has been noted in a serial of studies in Taiwan. This change may influence the choice of initial empiric anti...

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is a clinical condition characterized by a malabsorption syndrome due to an increase in microorganisms within the small intestine. The main mechanisms restricting bacterial colonization in the upper gut are the gastric acid barrier, mucosal and systemic immunity and intestinal clearance. When these mechanisms fail, bacterial overgrowth develops. Diar...

The rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases is important for the confirmation of diagnosis and therapeutic considerations. In some life-threatening instances like meningitis, an early diagnosis will facilitate appropriate intervention. Conventional methods like culture for diagnosis are considered standard and reliable but the handicap is the delay, usually around 48 hours, before confirmative r...

The potential contributions of techniques, such as restriction enzyme analysis, nucleic acid detection, the polymerase chain reaction and competitive inhibitive tests, are only beginning to be defined. The extraordinary promise of these procedures has yet to be fully realized. However, before these techniques are accepted and widely used, they should be shown to have sensitivity and specificity...

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE) would facilitate the rapid, etiological diagnosis of bacterial meningitis when used in parallel with other routine methods in a medical bacteriological laboratory. Of 3,674 consecutive specimens of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) received at the Department of Diagnostic Bacteriology, Statens Seruminstitu, 283 s...

This review focuses on recent advances of topical interest regarding the diagnosis and treatment of common causes of bacterial meningitis occurring in children beyond the neonatal period. Tuberculous meningitis is beyond the scope of this review.

Prostate inflammation is a common syndrome, especially in men under 50. It usually presents with voiding symptoms and pain in the genitourinary area, and sometimes as sexual dysfunction. Based on clinical and laboratory characteristics, prostatitis is classified as acute bacterial prostatitis, chronic bacterial prostatitis, chronic inflammatory and non-inflammatory prostatitis or chronic pelvic...

We used broad-range bacterial PCR combined with DNA sequencing to examine prospectively cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with suspected meningitis. Fifty-six CSF samples from 46 patients were studied during the year 1995. Genes coding for bacterial 16S and/or 23S rRNA genes could be amplified from the CSF samples from five patients with a clinical picture consistent with acute ba...