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Balamuthia amoebic encephalitis has a subacute-to-chronic course and is almost invariably fatal owing to delayed diagnosis and a lack of effective therapy. Here, we report a 13-year-old girl with cutaneous lesions and multifocal granulomatous encephalitis. The patient underwent a series of tests and was suspected as having tuberculosis. She was treated with various empiric therapies without improvement. She was finally correctly diagnosed via next-generation sequencing of the cerebrospinal fluid. The patient deteriorated rapidly and died 2 months after being diagnosed with Balamuthia mandrillaris encephalitis. This study highlights the important clinical significance of next-generation sequencing, which provides better diagnostic testing for unexplained paediatric encephalitis, especially that caused by rare or emerging pathogens.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2020.1775130 | DOI Listing |
Curr Opin Infect Dis
August 2025
Transplant and Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division, Massachusetts General Hospital.
Purpose Of Review: Plasma metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) enables detection of microbial cell-free deoxyribonucleic acid (mcfDNA) in blood without the need for culture or organism-specific primers. Here, we review clinical performance, methodological variability, and real-world application of plasma mNGS for infectious disease diagnosis in immunocompromised hosts (ICHs).
Recent Findings: Plasma mNGS has rapidly gained attention as a novel diagnostic tool for infections in ICHs, offering broad-range pathogen detection from a noninvasive blood sample.
Head Neck Pathol
September 2025
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA.
Myoepithelial carcinoma (MECA) is a malignant neoplasm composed exclusively of myoepithelial cells and accounts for less than 1% of all salivary gland tumors. Its diagnosis is often challenging due to histologic overlaps with benign lesions and its variable morphologic presentation. Although molecular profiling has emerged as a valuable tool in salivary gland tumor classification, the genetic landscape of MECA remains incompletely defined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Microbiol Biol Educ
September 2025
University of California Riverside, Riverside, California, USA.
DNA literacy is becoming increasingly essential for navigating healthcare, understanding pandemics, and engaging with biotechnology-yet genomics education remains limited at the secondary level of education. We present a modular, hands-on curriculum designed for high school and early undergraduate students (ages 14-21) that introduces key genomics concepts through an experiment on fermentation, a process that is key to food preservation and medicine. Students follow a complete scientific process: exploring what DNA is and how microbial succession works, analyzing real DNA sequencing data, and writing a formal scientific report.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMycoses
September 2025
Department of Infectious Diseases, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Background: Mucormycosis is a rare, rapidly progressive fungal infection with a high mortality rate. However, clinical data of mucormycosis patients, especially those related to adverse outcomes in China, remain limited.
Objective: To enhance understanding of the clinical characteristics of different infection site mucormycosis and identify the factors associated with adverse outcomes.
Blood Neoplasia
November 2025
Section of Hematology/Oncology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
Modern multiple myeloma treatment enables deep and sustained responses, necessitating assessment of minimal residual disease (MRD) in the bone marrow to refine response categorization. Recently, mass spectrometry (MS)-based methods have emerged as highly sensitive tools for measuring MRD in the peripheral blood. However, the role specific MS techniques play in response categorization has yet to be established.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF