ro13-9904 and Histoplasmosis

We describe the laboratory-confirmed etiologies of illness among participants in a hospital-based febrile illness cohort study in northern Tanzania who retrospectively met Integrated Management of Adolescent and Adult Illness District Clinician Manual (IMAI) criteria for septic shock, severe respiratory distress without shock, and severe pneumonia, and compare these etiologies against commonly used antimicrobials, including IMAI recommendations for emergency antibacterials (ceftriaxone or ampicillin plus gentamicin) and IMAI first-line recommendations for severe pneumonia (ceftriaxone and a macrolide). Among 423 participants hospitalized with febrile illness, there were 25 septic shock, 37 severe respiratory distress without shock, and 109 severe pneumonia cases. Ceftriaxone had the highest potential utility of all antimicrobials assessed, with responsive etiologies in 12 (48%) septic shock, 5 (14%) severe respiratory distress without shock, and 19 (17%) severe pneumonia illnesses. For each syndrome 17-27% of participants had etiologic diagnoses that would be non-responsive to ceftriaxone, but responsive to other available antimicrobial regimens including amphotericin for cryptococcosis and histoplasmosis; anti-tuberculosis therapy for bacteremic disseminated tuberculosis; or tetracycline therapy for rickettsioses and Q fever. We conclude that although empiric ceftriaxone is appropriate in our setting, etiologies not explicitly addressed in IMAI guidance for these syndromes, such as cryptococcosis, histoplasmosis, and tetracycline-responsive bacterial infections, were common.

Topics: Acute Disease; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Amphotericin B; Ampicillin; Anti-Infective Agents; Bacterial Infections; Ceftriaxone; Child; Cohort Studies; Cryptococcosis; Emergencies; Female; Gentamicins; Histoplasmosis; Humans; Infections; Macrolides; Male; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Middle Aged; Pneumonia, Bacterial; Respiratory Distress Syndrome; Shock, Septic; Tanzania; Tetracycline; Young Adult

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection can cause a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations, ranging from an asymptomatic carrier state to severe immunodeficiency. The most common renal lesion, HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN), is a sclerosing glomerulopathy. However, potentially reversible causes of renal disease in HIV-infected patients should also be considered. We describe two cases of patients with acquired immune-deficiency syndrome (AIDS) who presented with rapidly progressive renal failure but were found to have reversible etiologies. The first case was found to have syphilis and the second, disseminated histoplasmosis; their renal injury resolved after initiation of a third-generation cephalosporin antibiotic and amphotericin B, respectively.

Topics: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Adult; AIDS-Associated Nephropathy; Amphotericin B; Biopsy; Ceftriaxone; Histoplasmosis; Humans; Kidney; Male; Neurosyphilis

A 41-year-old man was admitted for evaluation of hemoptysis, dysphagia, and pleuritic chest pain associated with a mediastinal mass. Esophagography demonstrated a fistula between the mass and the esophagus. Results of histoplasmosis complement fixation serologic testing suggested an active infection. A methenamine silver stain of a lymph node obtained at mediastinoscopy revealed Histoplasmosis capsulatum. The patient was successfully treated with amphotericin B. This is believed to be the first reported case of an esophageal fistula as a complication of mediastinal histoplasmosis successfully treated with amphotericin B.

Topics: Adult; Amphotericin B; Ceftriaxone; Drug Therapy, Combination; Esophageal Fistula; Hemoptysis; Histoplasmosis; Humans; Male; Mediastinal Diseases; Metronidazole