Publicaties

Background The Global Point Prevalence Survey of Antimicrobial Consumption and Resistance (Global-PPS) provides a methodology to support hospitals worldwide in collecting antimicrobial use data. We aim to evaluate the impact of the Global-PPS on local antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes and assess health care professionals' educational needs and barriers for implementing AMS. Methods A cross-sectional survey was disseminated within the ...

Leptospirose is een wereldwijde zoönose, die veroorzaakt wordt door Leptospira spp. Een persoon kan door direct of indirect contact met urine van geïnfecteerde dieren een infectie oplopen. De ziekte komt in verschillende gradaties van ernst voor en kan complicaties zoals myocarditis, nefritis en hepatitis veroorzaken. De diagnostiek gebeurt klassiek via serologie. De behandeling is ondersteunend. Een vroege start met antibiotica is geassocieerd ...

We report a case of Argentine hemorrhagic fever diagnosed in a woman in Belgium who traveled from a disease-endemic area. Patient management included supportive care and combination therapy with ribavirin and favipiravir. Of 137 potential contacts, including friends, relatives, and healthcare and laboratory workers, none showed development of clinical symptoms of this disease.

There are different patterns in the COVID-19 outbreak in the general population and amongst nursing home patients. We investigate the time from symptom onset to diagnosis and hospitalization or the length of stay (LoS) in the hospital, and whether there are differences in the population. Sciensano collected information on 14,618 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 admissions from 114 Belgian hospitals between 14 March and 12 June 2020. The ...

Objectives: With increasing global interest in hospital antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes, there is a strong demand for core elements of AMS to be clearly defined on the basis of principles of effectiveness and affordability. To date, efforts to identify such core elements have been limited to Europe, Australia, and North America. The aim of this study was to develop a set of core elements and their related checklist items for AMS ...

Background Patients suffering from drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome caused by first‐line antituberculosis drugs often need to be retreated rapidly. Patch tests prior to the reintroduction of antituberculosis drugs are rarely performed. Objectives To highlight those drugs most often involved in DRESS caused by antituberculosis drugs, illustrate the potential value of patch tests to identify these culprit(s), ...

Sporadic cases of diphtheria are very rare throughout Europe. A 3-year-old incompletely vaccinated girl was admitted with pharyngotonsillitis caused by diphtheria. On day 9 of her illness, renal and cardiac failure with a third-degree AV-block occurred. Unfortunately, she died within 36 h of admission to intensive care, despite pacemaker placement, the administration of antibiotics and diphtheria antitoxin. The delayed antitoxin administration 7 ...

Background: Achromobacter xylosoxidans is an aerobic, motile, Gram-negative, opportunistic pathogen that can be responsible for various severe nosocomial and community-acquired infections. It has been found in immunocompromised patients and patients with several other underlying conditions, but the clinical role of this microorganism in cystic fibrosis is unclear. Case Report: We describe a case of septic shock caused by A. xylosoxidans in a ...

Although infection with Toxocara canis or T. catis (commonly referred as toxocariasis) appears to be highly prevalent in (sub) tropical countries, information on its frequency and presentation in returning travelers and migrants is scarce. In this study, we reviewed all cases of asymptomatic and symptomatic toxocariasis diagnosed during post-travel consultations at the reference travel clinic of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, ...