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El incremento progresivo en el número de personas que viajan a países tropicales ha hecho que las enfermedades importadas adquieran una relevancia cada vez mayor. Las miasis (o infestaciones por larvas de moscas) cutáneas se encuentran entre este tipo de enfermedades siendo especialmente frecuentes en países tropicales. A propósito de la observación de un caso de miasis cutánea masiva por Cordylobia antropophaga, que ocurrió en una mujer de 34 años de edad al volver de un viaje a Senegal, se ha efectuado una revisión de los casos de miasis cutáneas forunculoides importadas publicados en España, así como de la biología, patología, tratamiento y prevención de la miasis humana por Cordylobia anthropophaga. El caso referido, se caracterizó por la infestación con un número inusualmente elevado de larvas, no sospechándose su etiología hasta la fase final de la enfermedad. La emergencia continuada de larvas (se recogieron 91) generó en la paciente un estado de ansiedad importante. Finalmente, la eliminación de las larvas provocó una rápida mejoría de la paciente. Aunque los casos de miasis cutánea no tienen la gravedad de otras enfermedades importadas, su conocimiento es necesario desde el punto de vista preventivo, diagnóstico y terapeútico. Es importante proceder a la identificación morfológica de las larvas diferenciándolas de otro tipo de miasis con implicaciones terapéuticas diferentes.

Introduction: Bartonella henselae causes cat scratch disease (CSD), spread by a cat scratch or bite. Cats are its main reservoir. This sometimes results in optic neuritis or neuroretinitis., Objective: To review these conditions in Gipuzkoa (Spain), 2014-2019., Methods: A retrospective review of serology registries and clinical registries, selecting those with consistent clinical signs, contact with cats and positive serology for B. henselae (IgG-IFA ≥1/256)., Results: Sixty-four patients had CSD. Of these, one had optic neuritis and 3 had neuroretinitis (4/64; 6.3%). In 3 patients, flu-like symptoms preceded eye symptoms. Two suffered from loss of visual acuity at discharge, despite prolonged treatment with antibiotics and corticosteroids., Conclusion: Optic neuritis and neuroretinitis caused by B. henselae are severe complications with a non-negligible incidence among patients with CSD in Gipuzkoa. We recommend ruling out CSD in patients with symptoms of optic neuritis or neuroretinitis (sudden vision loss, etc.) and contact with cats., (Copyright © 2020 Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the world radically since 2020. Spain was one of the European countries with the highest incidence during the first wave. As a part of a consortium to monitor and study the evolution of the epidemic, we sequenced 2,170 samples, diagnosed mostly before lockdown measures. Here, we identified at least 500 introductions from multiple international sources and documented the early rise of two dominant Spanish epidemic clades (SECs), probably amplified by superspreading events. Both SECs were related closely to the initial Asian variants of SARS-CoV-2 and spread widely across Spain. We inferred a substantial reduction in the effective reproductive number of both SECs due to public-health interventions (R e  < 1), also reflected in the replacement of SECs by a new variant over the summer of 2020. In summary, we reveal a notable difference in the initial genetic makeup of SARS-CoV-2 in Spain compared with other European countries and show evidence to support the effectiveness of lockdown measures in controlling virus spread, even for the most successful genetic variants., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

Introduction: Bartonella henselae causes cat scratch disease (CSD), spread by a cat scratch or bite. Cats are its main reservoir. This sometimes results in optic neuritis or neuroretinitis., Objective: To review these conditions in Gipuzkoa (Spain), 2014-2019., Methods: A retrospective review of serology and clinical records, selecting those with consistent clinical signs, contact with cats and positive serology for B. henselae (IgG-IFA≥1/256)., Results: Sixty-four patients had CSD. Of these, one had optic neuritis and 3 had neuroretinitis (4/64; 6.3%). In 3 patients, flu-like symptoms preceded eye symptoms. Two suffered from loss of visual acuity at discharge, despite prolonged treatment with antibiotics and corticosteroids., Conclusion: Optic neuritis and neuroretinitis caused by B. henselae are severe complications with a non-negligible incidence among patients with CSD in Gipuzkoa. We recommend ruling out CSD in patients with symptoms of optic neuritis or neuroretinitis (sudden vision loss, etc.) and contact with cats., (Copyright © 2020 Sociedad Española de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Since the early 1980s, Spain has practiced mass vaccination of preschool children and selective vaccination of prepubertal girls. Estimated vaccination coverage in the province of Guipúzcoa (Basque Country) in recent years is about 95% (confirmed minimums of 89% for preschool children and 87.5% for 11 to 12 year-old girls). From the seroepidemiological study we could deduce that there was extensive circulation of wild rubella virus until recently (72-75% of unvaccinated girls 10 to 11 years-old had rubella antibody). More than 98% of the population at risk, represented in this study by 13,564 women (67% of all who bore children over a four-year period), possessed rubella antibodies. In the course of the study period the number of subjects (puerperal women and children) susceptible to infection declined. In spite of this favorable situation, the seroepidemiological study disclosed certain gaps that should be corrected to meet the targets for the European Region of the Expanded Programme on Immunization, and to achieve the goal of elimination of wild rubella virus in the area.

Recent reports of the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Europe are infrequent compared with reports in the 1960s. Annual incidence of the isolation of MRSA was studied in a general hospital in Guipúzcoa (Basque country) over a 9-year period. Overall prevalence was 4.5%-12.93% in the first 3 years (coinciding with an epidemic phase) and later 0.29%, underlining the cyclic and epidemic nature of this infection.