To be able to give optimal care to patients in small animal hospitals, we have to have knowledge about how to prevent the spread of infection. An important part in this is hand hygiene routines. We have to clean hands whenever they are visibly dirty, and disinfect them regularly in between. Another important part is the cleaning and disinfection of the environment in the clinic, and also the cleaning, disinfection and sterilization of medical instruments. Other important parts are isolation of patients with known infections, to wear clothes with short sleeves and to wash them at least once daily, to wear gloves, having short nails and not wearing jewelry when working.

Actinomycosis is a rare, deep-seated infection of the jaw of cattle that include the progressive enlargement of bone structures. It is caused by Actinomyces bovis, a gram-positive rod found as a normal commensal of the alimentary canal in otherwise healthy animals. This paper shortly describes Actinomyces bovis and its ability to cause "lumpy jaw" or actinomycosis in cattle. It will describe its pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment and some clinical presentations. The incidence of symptomatic actinomycosis infection is quite low in Sweden today.

Borna disease virus (BDV) is a virus with capability to cause neurological disease in several species of mammals and of ostriches. Also humans are suspected to be susceptible to the virus, as the viral RNA and antibodies against BDV have been found in some humans with psychiatric diseases, like schizophrenia and depression. In Sweden there is a disease called staggering disease in cats, associated to BDV-infection. This disease often has a fatal progress. Definite diagnosis is reached by histo-pathological and immunohistochemical examination of the central nervous system.

In this thesis, three separate experiments have been performed on different aspects of the interaction between the causal agent of clubroot, Plasmodiophora brassicae, and its hosts. In the first experiment the pathotype of the P. brassicae single spore isolate, which is currently used to construct a reference genome, has been classified using the ECD bioassay. The disease severity of infected plants was scored according to two different scales and the pathotype was determined according to three previously published guidelines. The results were compared to previous published studies describing the e3 isolate. The life cycle of P. brassicae is not well understood.

Background: Isolation care may be necessary when a patient is carrying infection or is being inflicted with disease that causes deficit immune system. Being isolated means that the patient is in a confined space and may stay only there. Even in ancient times, people discovered the importance of isolating people carrying an infection from the rest of society. According to the Infectious Diseases Act, patients should be isolated in order to reduce the spread of infection both from the patient to the surroundings as well as the opposite. Isolation care can be psychologically stressful for some patients.

Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is the causative agent of a complex of disease syndromes in cattle with high economical and welfare impacts. BVDV occurs as two biotypes; cytopathic (BVDVcp) and noncytopathic (BVDVncp) determined by differential effects on cultured cells and can also be divided into two genotypes (BVDV1 and BVDV2) on the basis of genomic diversity. The interaction between BVDV and the host?s immune system is regarded a key aspect in the sequel of BVDV infection. Infection with BVDV normally causes an acute transient infection, with mild to subclinical signs, but occasionally results in severe and even fatal disease.

The Bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) causes bronchiolitis and interstitial pneumonia, predominantly in calves, and is a major cause of bovine respiratory disease worldwide. In humans, BRSV is paralleled by the closely related Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV), an important cause of respiratory disease, most severe in infants.The clinical signs and pathology during RSV infection is caused, not only by the direct effects of viral replication, but also by the response of the host immune system. The immunopathology of RSV has long obfuscated our understanding of the disease, and development of effective treatment and vaccines will be very difficult until greater knowledge is gained.One of the components of the immune system that has come into focus in RSV research the last few years, is the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). The TLR4 receptor is well known as the receptor that binds lipopolysaccaride (LPS), and initiates the host response to bacterial infection. Recently, it has been shown that the fusion protein of RSV also interacts with, and up-regulates the expression of, the TLR4 receptor.

The Bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) causes bronchiolitis and interstitial pneumonia, predominantly in calves, and is a major cause of bovine respiratory disease worldwide. In humans, BRSV is paralleled by the closely related Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV), an important cause of respiratory disease, most severe in infants.The clinical signs and pathology during RSV infection is caused, not only by the direct effects of viral replication, but also by the response of the host immune system. The immunopathology of RSV has long obfuscated our understanding of the disease, and development of effective treatment and vaccines will be very difficult until greater knowledge is gained.One of the components of the immune system that has come into focus in RSV research the last few years, is the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). The TLR4 receptor is well known as the receptor that binds lipopolysaccaride (LPS), and initiates the host response to bacterial infection. Recently, it has been shown that the fusion protein of RSV also interacts with, and up-regulates the expression of, the TLR4 receptor.

Influenza is a viral infection that affects global health and economy with its endemic and sometimes pandemic spread. Rapid detection of Influenza viruses enables antiviral use and can bring financial savings. It is also essential for the global surveillance of prevalent Influenza strains. RT-PCR is considered the most specific and sensitive method for detection of Influenza, but Influenza mutates at a high rate and it is therefore crucial that RT-PCR methods are updated regularly.In 2014, Cepheid released their Xpert Flu/RSV XC assay, which can detect Influenza A and B and RSV by multiplex RT-PCR in approximately one hour. The aim of this study was to evaluate this assay at Laboratoriemedicin Västernorrland by using the laboratory?s previous PCR assay for detection of Influenza viruses as reference method.Real-time RT-PCR was used to compare Xpert Flu/RSV XC to the reference method.

HIV/AIDS is a chronic disease that has increased and will continue to increase. Most health care workers will one way or another come into contact with it. The purpose of this literature review was to describe factors contributing to nurses' attitudes towards patients with HIV/AIDS. Sixteen articles were analyzed and quality assessed. The results revealed gaps in knowledge among nurses.

ABSTRACTMultiple sclerosis (MS) is the leading cause of adult disability inSweden. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) can be used as a treatment option for patients with MS where the disease has an aggressive course. The treatment is preceded by high-dose chemotherapy which lowers the patient's immune system. It is therefore of interest to study infectious complications associated with HSCT in this patient.Aim: The purpose of this study was to identify infection problems in this population associated with HSCT, and to study differences in infectious complications between this group and patients diagnosed with lymphoma who have undergone the same treatment.Method: The study was a retrospective descriptive study with quantitative data. A medical record review was conducted.

By the same time as the recent enlargement of the European Union, where Poland became a member, it was officially stated that the gender mainstreaming-policy was to be integrated into every area of EU. NGO:s working as entrepreneurs for the gender mainstreaming norm in Poland supported the accession largely because they believed it would help spreading the norm also on a national level. Qualitatively analyzing the Polish case and the difficulties gender mainstreaming as a norm candidate meets with I contrast expectations with what could actually be EU:s role in this matter.Arguing that EU is a context with room for spreading norms by both bargaining and socialization, this paper takes a social constructivist approach. Gender mainstreaming as a norm is difficult for EU to apply on their members, and thus was not widely discussed during accession negotiations. In the same time.

Nipahvirus is most likely spread from bats to other species and causes lethal encephalitis in humans and respiratory illness in pigs. Different species are affected with varying severity but it seems to have an unprecedented zoonotic capacity and the humans affected either die or receive permanent brain damage. Full recovery is possible but very uncommon. Pigs that live and are bread in the areas that these bats frequent are constantly in danger of contracting pneumonias and meningitis and they can spread the virus further on to the people who work with the pigs and process their carcasses. These workers could then infect other humans in their immediate surroundings, their families for instance.

The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable molecular-genetic method to determine the different species of helicobacter in dogs. The study is part of a larger project to map the prevalence of Helicobacter spp in healthy and sick dogs in Sweden, and to determine the possible connection of Helicobacter spp infection with gastrointestinal diseases in dogs. Several published studies have reported on the prevalence of Helicobacter spp in dogs. The problem is that three of the most common species are so alike that a 16SrRNA-PCR with sequencing is not able to differentiate between them. In this study, DNA has been purified from samples and then a Multiplex PCR has been performed. Multiplex PCRs use multiple primers in one single PCR.

Surgical site infections are a recurrent problem in veterinary medicine. A 2-5 % infection rate in clean surgery has been reported. During the last years the increase in methicillin resistant staphylococci has also taken its toll on veterinary medicine, demanding a stricter hygiene and antibiotic regime. The 2008 outbreak of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at the University animal hospital, Swedish University of Agriculture indicated that that the MRSA problem was now a real, possibly zoonotic problem.Since the first dog, in Sweden, was diagnosed as a carrier of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) in a study in 2006, the infection rate by this bacterium has increased. In 2009 (January 1st - December 2nd) the National Veterinary Institute (SVA) has identified 58 samples as MRSP positive.