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Topic Review
Bone and Vertebral Infections by Listeria monocytogenes
Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive pathogenic bacterium which can be found in soil or water. Infection with the microorganism can occur after ingestion of contaminated food products. Small and large outbreaks of listeriosis have been described in the past. L. monocytogenes can cause a number of different clinical syndromes, most frequently sepsis, meningitis, and rhombencephalitis, particularly in immunocompromised hosts. L. monocytogenes systemic infections can develop following tissue penetration across the gastrointestinal tract or to hematogenous spread to sterile sites, possibly evolving towards bacteremia. L. monocytogenes only rarely causes bone or joint infections, usually in the context of prosthetic material that can provide a site for bacterial seeding.
  • 224
  • 26 Jan 2024
Topic Review
7-Methyljuglone in Tuberculosis Treatment
7-Methyljuglone (7-MJ) is a pure compound isolated from the roots of Euclea natalensis A. DC., a shrub indigenous to South Africa. It exhibits significant promise as a potential treatment for the highly communicable disease tuberculosis (TB), owing to its effective antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 
  • 224
  • 01 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Mesenchymal Stem Cells in the Treatment of COVID-19
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have considerable potential because they can mitigate inflammation, modulate immune responses, and promote tissue regeneration. Accumulating evidence underscores the efficacy and safety of MSCs in treating severe COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Nonetheless, critical aspects, such as optimal routes of MSC administration, appropriate dosage, treatment intervals, management of extrapulmonary complications, and potential pediatric applications, warrant further exploration. 
  • 223
  • 16 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Ambulatory Antibiotic Management of Acute Pyelonephritis
Acute pyelonephritis (APN) is a relatively common community-acquired infection, particularly in women. The early appropriate antibiotic treatment of this potentially life-threatening infection is associated with improved outcomes. The utilization of clinical tools for the prediction of resistance to first-line antibiotics may mitigate the burden of increasing antibiotic resistance in the community by ensuring that the initial antibiotic prescribed has the highest likelihood of treating APN appropriately. 
  • 219
  • 02 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Reciprocal Interplay between Infections and Inherited Metabolic Disorders
Infections represent the main cause of acute metabolic derangements and/or the worsening of the clinical course of many inherited metabolic disorders (IMDs). The basic molecular mechanisms behind the role of infections in these conditions have not been completely clarified. Infective agents may affect cellular metabolic pathways, by mediation or not of an altered immune system. 
  • 218
  • 24 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Toxic Shock Syndrome
Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a rare, life-threatening, toxin-mediated infectious process linked, in the vast majority of cases, to toxin-producing strains of Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogenes.
  • 213
  • 01 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Epidemiology of Monkeypox
Acanthamoeba is well known to host a variety of microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and yeast. Given the number of cases of monkeypox infection, it is speculated that amoebae may be aiding viral transmission to the susceptible hosts. Although there is no confirmatory evidence to suggest that Acanthamoeba is a host to monkeypox (a double-stranded DNA virus), the discovery of mimivirus (another double-stranded DNA virus) from Acanthamoeba, suggests that amoebae may shelter monkeypox virus.
  • 206
  • 05 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Infection of Childhood Mortality in Sickle Cell Disease
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a complex genetic disorder associated with multiple clinical manifestations, including increased susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections. 
  • 204
  • 28 Sep 2023
Topic Review
SARS-CoV-2 Variants in Children
The COVID-19 pandemic challenged the medical field to rapidly identify and implement new approaches to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infections. The scientific community also needed to rapidly initiate basic, translational, clinical and epidemiological studies to understand the pathophysiology of this new family of viruses, which continues to evolve with the emergence of new genetic variants. In contrast to most other respiratory viruses, children developed less severe acute and post-acute disease compared to adults.
  • 196
  • 04 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) Genetic Diversity and Drug Resistance
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a pathogen with high prevalence in the general population that is responsible for high morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised individuals and newborns, while remaining mainly asymptomatic in healthy individuals. The HCMV genome is 236,000 nucleotides long and encodes approximately 200 genes in more than 170 open reading frames, with the highest rate of genetic polymorphisms occurring in the envelope glycoproteins. HCMV infection is treated with antiviral drugs such as ganciclovir, valganciclovir, cidofovir, foscarnet, letermovir and maribavir targeting viral enzymes, DNA polymerase, kinase and the terminase complex. One of the obstacles to successful therapy is the emergence of drug resistance, which can be tested phenotypically or by genotyping using Sanger sequencing, which is a widely available but less sensitive method, or next-generation sequencing performed in samples with a lower viral load to detect minority variants, those representing approximately 1% of the population. The prevalence of drug resistance depends on the population tested, as well as the drug, and ranges from no mutations detected to up to almost 50%. A high prevalence of resistance emphasizes the importance of testing the patient whenever resistance is suspected, which requires the development of more sensitive and rapid tests while also highlighting the need for alternative therapeutic targets, strategies and the development of an effective vaccine.
  • 191
  • 07 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Oral Chagas Disease in Colombia
Chagas disease (CD) remains endemic throughout many regions of Colombia despite implementing decades of vector control strategies in several departments. Some regions have had a significant decrease in vectorial transmission, but the oral ingestion of Trypanosoma cruzi through consumption of contaminated food and drink products is increasingly described. This form of transmission has important public health relevance in Colombia due to an increase in reported acute CD cases and clinical manifestations that often lead to significant morbidity and mortality. Oral CD in Colombia has been associated with the consumption of contaminated fruit juices, such as palm wine, sugar cane, or tangerine juice and water for consumption, or contaminated surfaces where food has been prepared. Another interesting route of oral transmission includes ingestion of unbeknownst infected armadillos’ blood, which is related to a traditional medicine practice in Colombia. Some earlier reports have also implemented consumption of infected bush meat as a source, but this is still being debated. Within the Amazon Basin, oral transmission is now considered the principal cause of acute CD in these regions.
  • 190
  • 15 Jan 2024
Topic Review
The NRF2 Pathway Regulates Cellular Responses to Stress
Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (NRF2) belongs to the cap “n” collar (CNC) family of transcription factors and is found in the cytoplasm of non-stressed cells in a combined form with KEAP1. Oxidative stress activates the transcription factor NRF2, which plays a key role in alleviating redox-induced cellular injury.
  • 189
  • 05 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Sodium Toxicity and Immune Response in COVID-19
High dietary sodium intake leading to sodium toxicity is associated with comorbid conditions of COVID-19 such as hypertension, kidney disease, stroke, pneumonia, obesity, diabetes, hepatic disease, cardiac arrhythmias, thrombosis, migraine, tinnitus, Bell’s palsy, multiple sclerosis, systemic sclerosis, and polycystic ovary syndrome.
  • 188
  • 13 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Therapeutic Potential of Marine-Derived Cyclic Peptides in Malaria
Malaria is a severe infectious disease which is endemic in tropical and subtropical regions. It can be caused by four species of the intracellular protozoan parasite from the Plasmodium family, with P. falciparum being the disease’s most dangerous form, and it is transmitted by mosquito bites. Parasitic diseases still compromise human health. Some of the available therapeutic drugs have limitations considering their adverse effects, questionable efficacy, and long treatment, which have encouraged drug resistance. There is an urgent need to find new, safe, effective, and affordable antiparasitic drugs. Marine-derived cyclic peptides have been increasingly screened as candidates for developing new drugs.
  • 187
  • 30 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Nanomedicine as Targeted Therapy against Bacterial Infections
The emergence of drug resistance combined with limited success in the discovery of newer and effective antimicrobial chemotherapeutics poses a significant challenge to human and animal health. Nanoparticles may be an approach for effective drug development and delivery against infections caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria. 
  • 183
  • 17 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Opportunities and Challenges in Anti-Acanthamoeba Drug Discovery
The unicellular eukaryotic Acanthamoeba spp. are ubiquitous free-living protists and can survive in various environments, such as water, soil and air. Although major strides have been made in developing and testing various anti-acanthamoebic drugs, recurrent infections, inadequate treatment outcomes, health complications, and side effects associated with the use of currently available drugs necessitate the development of more effective and safe therapeutic regimens. For any new anti-acanthamoebic drugs to be more effective, they must have either superior potency and safety or at least comparable potency and an improved safety profile compared to the existing drugs. 
  • 182
  • 20 Feb 2024
Topic Review
HPV Behavior in Oral and Vaginal Cavity
Human genital papilloma virus infection is the most prevalent sexually transmitted infection in the world. It is estimated that more than 75% of sexually active women contract this infection in their lifetime. In 80% of young women, there is the clearance of the virus within 18–24 months.
  • 182
  • 18 Mar 2024
Topic Review
P. falciparum Invasion and Erythrocyte Aging
Plasmodium parasites need to find red blood cells (RBCs) that, on the one hand, expose receptors for the pathogen ligands and, on the other hand, maintain the right geometry to facilitate merozoite attachment and entry into the red blood cell. Both characteristics change with the maturation of erythrocytes. 
  • 171
  • 28 Feb 2024
Topic Review
The Gordian Knot of C. auris
Since its first description in 2009, Candida auris has, so far, resulted in large hospital outbreaks worldwide and is considered an emerging global public health threat. Exceptionally for yeast, it is gifted with a profoundly worrying invasive potential and high inter-patient transmissibility. At the same time, it is capable of colonizing and persisting in both patients and hospital settings for prolonged periods of time, thus creating a vicious cycle of acquisition, spreading, and infection. It exhibits various virulence qualities and thermotolerance, osmotolerance, filamentation, biofilm formation and hydrolytic enzyme production, which are mainly implicated in its pathogenesis. Owing to its unfavorable profile of resistance to diverse antifungal agents and the lack of effective treatment options, the implementation of robust infection prevention and control (IPC) practices is crucial for controlling and minimizing intra-hospital transmission of C. auris. Rapid and accurate microbiological identification, adherence to hand hygiene, use of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), proper handling of catheters and implantable devices, contact isolation, periodical environmental decontamination, targeted screening, implementation of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs and communication between healthcare facilities about residents’ C. auris colonization status are recognized as coherent strategies for preventing its spread.
  • 161
  • 08 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)
Critical illness due to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is rare in children, especially in those who were previously healthy. However, two post-infectious sequelae emerged during the pandemic that had significant impact on the morbidity associated with pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infections: Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) and Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection (PASC or Long COVID). These two clinical entities are both temporally related to acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, yet they have drastically different natural histories and management strategies. 
  • 143
  • 04 Mar 2024
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