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of thesis Diagnostics of neuroinfection caused by human herpesviruses using nucleic acid amplification methods author: MUDr. Klára Labská supervisor: doc. MUDr. Vilma Marešová, CSc. In recent years, the diagnosis of neuroinfections has undergone a shift towards molecular biology methods. Our research focused on the predictive value of the capture of herpesvirus (HV) DNA in cerebrospinal fluid. In the first study, we examined the presence of DNA neurotropic herpes viruses (HSV1, HSV2, VZV and HHV6) in cerebrospinal fluid in immunocompetent patients with laboratory-confirmed tick-borne meningoencephalitis and enterovirus meningitis and meningoencephalitis. The control group consisted of patients with proven absence of an inflammation in the cerebrospinal fluid. Patients were followed for 6 months. The course of the disease and its consequences, including laboratory tests, were compared between groups of patients with and without the presence of HV DNA. In the second study, we tried to demonstrate the presence of HSV1 DNA in cerebrospinal fluid during its symptomatic reactivation in patients with purulent meningitis. In our group of immunocompetent patients with non-purulent inflammation in the cerebrospinal fluid, the proportion of HV DNA positive patients reached 7.5% (13 out of 173), we also...

4 - Abstract Introduction: Periodic fever syndromes are clinical entities classified as autoinflammatory diseases. The most of the periodic fever syndromes have genetic predisposition (monogenic periodic fever syndromes). PFAPA (Periodic Fever, Aphtous stomatitis, Pharyngitis a Adenitis) syndrome is an idiopathic disease with unknown aetiology. Results: In our study, we described the largest clinical series of patients with PFAPA syndrome from a single center. The laboratory results have confirmed uncomplicated course of PFAPA syndrome. In our measurements we observed significantly higher levels of serum cytokines (IL-1β and IFN-γ) during episodes of fever in PFAPA patients compared to the control group. Our measurements showed increased numbers of plasma cells in the peripheral blood of PFAPA patients. We have found increased levels of naïve CD4 and CD8 T cells and approximately 2-fold higher proportion of CD8 T cells in tonsils of PFAPA patients. Significant differences were also present at levels of IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in stimulated supernatants compared to supernatants from unstimulated peripheral blood from patients with PFAPA syndrome. Measurements of bacterial profile showed individual microbial profile in patients. Conclusion: Removal of the tonsillar tissue with the potential...

Acute gastroenteritis is one of the most frequent diseases in children worldwide and remains the main cause of childhood morbidity and mortality, particularly in developing countries. Each year as many as 1.5 million children less than first five years die in the world from acute gastroenteritis. Our study has been aimed at demonstrating of the main role of viruses in the aetiology of acute gastroenteritis in children less than five years old and at pointing out the diagnostic potential of electron microscopy in viral gastroenteritis. A prospective study was conducted to analyse the aetiology of diarrhoeal diseases in children less than five years of age admitted to the Department of Infectious Diseases of the Na Bulovce Hospital, Prague, between September, 2006 and June, 2009. All children were tested by faecal culture for bacterial aetiology and by latex agglutination and electron microscopy for viral aetiology. A total of 1059 children were included in the study. The mean age of children was 1.9 years and the mean length of hospitalisation was 5.2 days. An aetiological agent was detected in 1051 children (95.9%). A bacterial aetiology was found in 22 (2.1%) children, bacterial-viral co-infection was found in 183 (17.3%) patients and viruses were detected in 810 (76.5%) patients. The main causes of viral...