Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia is common in immunocompromised patients. It has significant mortality, which is why it is important to consider an infection with P. jirovecii in these patients and use…

Necrotizing soft tissue infections represent a surgical emergency and require immediate clinical attention. Most cases of necrotizing soft tissue infections are the result of damaged host defences, be it anatomical…

Echinococcosis is a zoonosis caused by a tapeworm of the genus Echinococcus. Present worldwide, it is considered to be a re-emerging infectious disease because of a steep rise in incidence…

Anemia is still a major public health issue in less-developed countries around the world. Although its causes are well-known and effective measures for its prevention exist, the World Health Organization…

BACKGROUNDS. The central vascular catheter associated bloodstream infections are a significant source of morbidity, mortality and increased healthcare costs in critically ill children. METHODS. This study included all 461 children…

Neonatal sepsis is a clinical syndrome that may appear in the first month of life. It is characterized by systemic signs of infection and accompanied by invasion of the bloodstream.…

Infections with Aspergillus spp. are most typically associated with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients. However, an increasing number of reports deal with unusual manifestations of invasive aspergillosis. In the…

It has been a century since the Brazilian physician Carlos R. J. Chagas first described the basic morphology and life cycle of the American trypanosome, a parasite which causes Chagas disease. Chagas…

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The most common manifestation of the disease is pulmonary tuberculosis but other organs can also be affected (so called…

Atypical bacteria represent common causative agents of community-acquired pneumonia. Most frequently, these are Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Chlamydia psittaci, Legionella pneumophila, and in our enviroment also Coxiella burnetii. In the…

BACKGROUNDS. Antibiotics are antibacterial agents that are used for empirical, oriented and prophylactic treatment of various infectious diseases. Although the majority of antibiotics is prescribed outside hospitals, hospitals remain foci…

Hand hygiene among health care workers (HCW) is the most important, the easiest and the cheapest preventative measure against nosocomial infections. Hand disinfection is more effec­tive, faster and less harmful…

Actinomycosis is a rare, slowly progressive infection caused by Gram-positive anaerobic bac­teria from the Actinomyces genus. The disease is characterized by the formation of abscesses surrounded by dense fibrosis that…

Ticks are well-known vectors of numerous diseases caused by bacteria, viruses and protozoa. In the recent years, the incidence of these illnesses has increased worldwide. Tick-borne meningoencephalitis and Lyme borreliosis…

Experiments on animals have demonstrated that during the initial 24 hours of tick attachment, the likelihood of transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, from an infected…

Early descriptions of various disorders, now recognized as part of Lyme borreliosis, included various psychiatric symptoms. Although they occur frequently in Lyme disease patients, they are poorly documented in the…

The number of household pets is constantly increasing. In Slovenia, there are between 140000 and 150000 dogs and about three to four times as many cats. The number of birds,…

Recently, the principal etiological agent of parenterally transmitted non–A, non–B hepatitis was molecularly cloned from the plasma of an experimentally infected chimpanzee. It was named hepatitis C virus (HCV). The…

Background. The CRP value alone is not sufficiently reliable for the diagnosis of invasive bacterial infections. Aim. Measurment of serum concentration of CRP and other routinely measured acute reac­tants of inflammation…

Lyme borreliosis is endemic in Slovenia. Its incidence has been on the increase over the past decade, and is among the highest in Europe. Erythema migrans is the clinical hallmark…

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a gastrointestinal disease of unknown etiology, which usually lasts a lifetime. It is characterized by a chronic course with frequent flares and inter­mediate periods of…

Gastric and duodenal peptic ulcers are among the most frequent diseases of mankind. Etiological causes for deep gastric and duodenal mucosal lesions are heterogeneous, and among them Helicobacter pylori infection…

Acute respiratory infections are the leading cause of morbidity in children. They account for 50-60% of children's first visits to the doctor. Viruses (in more than 90%) and bacteria are…

Diarrhea is one of the most common diseases for which patients seek medical help. Most (more than 90%) cases of acute diarrhea are caused by enteropathogenic bacteria, viruses or pa­rasites.…