Background and Objectives: Although vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency is prevalent in children with allergic diseases, recommendations for supplementation dosing regimens are imprecise and variable in the literature, because clinical trials aiming to determine optimal doses were scarce in the past. This study aimed to investigate supplementation of vitamin D3 that may achieve therapeutically effective but not toxic serum levels in a subpopulation of children with allergic diseases and concomitant hypovitaminosis D. Materials and Methods: The retrospective, observational study with a cross-sectional design included 94 children suffering from allergic diseases and having vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency who were prescribed high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation by a pediatrician for at least 6 weeks and not more than 9 weeks. Serum levels of the major metabolite of vitamin D (25-(OH)D) were determined in all children twice: before and two weeks after the end of vitamin D3 supplementation. Results: An increase in serum level of the 25-(OH)D after supplementation was significant. However, if the subjects had higher serum levels of the 25-(OH)D before the supplementation, and if the supplementation lasted 8 instead of 6 weeks, the absolute increase in serum level of the 25-(OH)D was lower. Patients taking corticosteroids as inhalation or intranasally had a more intense effect of vitamin D3 supplementation, i.e., the absolute increase in levels of 25-(OH)D was higher than in patients not using such medication. Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in children with allergic diseases can be treated with maximal recommended doses of vitamin D3 for a short period of time, especially if they were prescribed with inhalation or intranasal corticosteroids.

Background: Although scientometry gradually became prevalent way of measuring one’s research output, there are many inherent drawbacks in main indices that are used: impact factor, number of citations, number of published papers and Hirsch’s index. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze effects of inflated co-authorship on values of scientometric indices among authors in biomedicine who participated in published papers with more than 30 co-authors. Methods: The study was of cross-sectional type, based on 100 publications randomly extracted from the MEDLINE database. The inclusion criterion was publication with more than 30 authors. The studies with topics not related to humans were excluded from further analysis. Results: On average about 10% of papers published by the surveyed authors had more than 30 co-authors, but these papers brought more than 40% of all citations and more than 40% of Hirsch’s index attributed to these authors. The duration of scientific activity was well correlated to number of citations, Hirsch’s index and the number of publications themselves with 30 or less co-authors, while the correlation did not exist with number of citations, Hirsch’s index and the number of publications with more than 30 authors. In summary, publications with > 30 authors carry more scientometric points than publications with less co-authors, and the researchers with shorter scientific activity had larger scientometric benefit from publications with more than 30 authors than senior researchers. Conclusion: Unjustified and prolific co-authorship is one of methods for inflation of scientometric indices that are not further reflecting true quality of research output of an individual. Further improvement of scientometric indicators may prevent unjustified co-authorship if it reflects the work invested in a research result.

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to establish an evidence-based guideline for the antibiotic treatment of Corynebacterium striatum infections. Several electronic databases were systematically searched for clinical trials, observational studies or individual cases on patients of any age and gender with systemic inflammatory response syndrome, harboring C. striatum isolated from body fluids or tissues in which it is not normally present. C. striatum had to be identified as the only causative agent of the invasive infection, and its isolation from blood, body fluids or tissues had to be confirmed by one of the more advanced diagnostic methods (biochemical methods, mass spectrometry and/or gene sequencing). This systematic review included 42 studies that analyzed 85 individual cases with various invasive infections caused by C. striatum. More than one isolate of C. striatum exhibited 100% susceptibility to vancomycin, linezolid, teicoplanin, piperacillin-tazobactam, amoxicillin-clavulanate and cefuroxime. On the other hand, some strains of this bacterium showed a high degree of resistance to fluoroquinolones, to the majority majority of β-lactams, aminoglycosides, macrolides, lincosamides and cotrimoxazole. Despite the antibiotic treatment, fatal outcomes were reported in almost 20% of the patients included in this study. Gene sequencing methods should be the gold standard for the identification of C. striatum, while MALDI-TOF and the Vitek system can be used as alternative methods. Vancomycin should be used as the antibiotic of choice for the treatment of C. striatum infections, in monotherapy or in combination with piperacillin-tazobactam. Alternatively, linezolid, teicoplanin or daptomycin may be used in severe infections, while amoxicillin-clavulanate may be used to treat mild infections caused by C. striatum.

The article's abstract is not available.  

For many decades English language was dominant in international scientific communications, but during the last decade it threatens to become the only language for communicating medical science at international level. The aim of this article was to make an overview of publication practices in regard to language of publication of MEDLINE-referenced articles from European countries in year 2020. Scientific publications referenced in MEDLINE database during year 2020 were chosen for analysis. The inclusion criteria were publications affiliated with one of European countries, published in either English or national languages of those countries. The countries with less than 100.000 inhabitants were excluded from the study. Only 11 of 38 European countries had any number of medical publications in national language that were referenced in MEDLINE; the authors from twenty-seven European countries completely stopped publishing in national language at international journals. While economic strenght of a country was strongly correlated with number of international publications per 100.000 inhabitants, the correlation with international papers published in national languages was much less pronounced. Researchers from majority of European countries are publishing their studies predominantly or only in international medical journals printed in English language. Additional efforts should be made in the future to promote publishing in national languages.

ABSTRACT The aim of this systematic review was to determine the causal role of Erysipelatoclostridium ramosum in specific invasive infections in humans, and to assess the clinical outcome of antibiotic therapy used to treat them. Several electronic databases were systematically searched for clinical trials, observational studies or individual cases on patients of any age and gender with a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) due to E. ramosum isolated from body fluids or tissues in which it is not normally present. Only reports identifying E. ramosum as the only microorganism isolated from a patient with SIRS were included. This systematic review included 15 studies reporting 19 individual cases in which E. ramosum caused invasive infections in various tissues, mainly in immunocompromised patients. E. ramosum was most often isolated by blood cultures and identified by specific biochemical tests. Severe infections caused by E. ramosum were in most cases effectively treated with antibiotics, except in two patients, one of whom died. More than one isolate of E. ramosum exhibited 100% susceptibility to metronidazole, amoxicillin/clavulanate and piperacillin/tazobactam. On the other hand, individual resistance of this bacterium to penicillin, ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, imipenem and ertapenem was reported. This systematic review confirmed the clinical relevance of E. ramosum as a cause of a number of severe infections mainly in immunocompromised inpatients. Metronidazole and meropenem appear to be the antibiotics of choice that should be used in combination or as monotherapy to treat E. ramosum infections, depending on the type and severity of the infection.