A Case Report of Recurrent unilateral Bell’s Palsy in young female

Most facial palsies comprise of lower motor neuron type or Bell’s palsy. The mean incidence of recurrence of Bell’s palsy is 6.5% and can recur at any age. Although it was first reported in the year 1871, most of its etiology, pathology, management and progression are still neither fully described nor reported. We reported a case of Bell’s palsy in a young Saudi female who was presented with a unilateral recurrent episode of Bell’s palsy. Patient came to the emergency department with facial asymmetry, severe neck pain, loss of sensation on the left side of face and headache, while she was also not responding to oral medications. She was admitted to the hospital for an intravenous treatment and for further evaluation. Her serologic investigation was unremarkable. Similar episode had occurred five years ago as well, which was completely resolved after treatment. Her brain MRI localized T2 and T2 weighted sequence showed hyperintense lesion at the superior anterior aspect of left orbit and could represent lipoma versus hemangioma. Her presenting complaint responded well on IV treatment and patient was discharged on 11th day. She was also referred for plastic and neurosurgery services for the treatment of underlying cause. Recurrent Bell’s palsy is infrequent with etiology not fully elucidated. However, our case emphasizes that the timely medical treatment with regular follow-up is necessary for better prognosis and identification and treatment of underlying cause.

Serologic investigation of influenza A virus infection in dogs in Poland

The 2 predominant circulating subtypes of influenza A virus in the dog population, equine-origin H3N8 and avian-origin H3N2, constitute a potential zoonotic risk. We determined the prevalence of influenza A antibodies in 496 dogs in Poland and found 2.21% of sera positive by commercial ELISA. Hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assays indicated 7.25% of sera positive using equine H3N8, swine H3N2, and pandemic H1N1 antigens, with the most frequently detected immune response being to H3N2. Considering interspecies transfer, reassortment ability, and close contact between dogs and humans, infections of dogs with influenza A virus should be monitored.

Serologic Evaluation of MERS Screening Strategy for Healthcare Personnel During a Hospital-Associated Outbreak

To evaluate the appropriateness of the screening strategy for healthcare personnel (HCP) during a hospital-associated Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak, we performed a serologic investigation in 189 rRT-PCR–negative HCP exposed and assigned to MERS patients. Although 20%–25% of HCP experienced MERS-like symptoms, none of them showed seroconversion by plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT).Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:234–238