Acta Microbiologica Hellenica

Severely burned patients are at high risk of local and systemic infections due to skin barrier loss. Their clinical management is complex and requires coordinated intensive care and infection prevention strategies. Diagnosing infective endocarditis (IE) in this population is particularly difficult due to overlapping symptoms and limited diagnostic specificity. Common pathogens include Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii. We conducted a retrospective cohort study on 543 patients with burns affecting >18% of total body surface area (TBSA), admitted to our Burn Intensive Care Unit (BICU) from 2019 to 2024. The incidence of infective endocarditis was 1.47%, involving aortic (75%), mitral (12.5%), and tricuspid (12.5%) valves. Pathogens identified included S. aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, A. baumannii, and P. aeruginosa. This incidence is significantly higher than that in the general population. Mortality reached 50%, with an overall 3-month mortality of 75%. The literature on IE in burn patients is scarce, and the role of antibiotic prophylaxis remains controversial. Infective endocarditis in burn patients, although rare, represents a severe complication with high mortality. Early diagnosis and coordinated multidisciplinary care are essential to improve patient outcomes.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in high morbidity and mortality, as well as severe social and economic disruption globally. Since the pandemic began in 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome, coronavirus 2, has undergone numerous changes, resulting in the emergence of new variants and subvariants. The emergence of new variants of the virus poses a challenge to scientists. There is currently no SARS-CoV-2 variant meeting the criteria of variants of concern, whereas the only variant of interest is JN.1, and there are six variants under monitoring: LP8.1, NP1.8.1, XEC, KP.3, KP.3.1.1 and the latest, XFG (Stratus). Although the latter appears to be more transmissible than the others, genomic evidence indicates that it is less aggressive than some recent variants. Nevertheless, continuous genomic surveillance of COVID-19 is still important to detect any new variants that could threaten public health. Numerous therapeutic strategies, such as drugs, vaccines, and nutritional supplements, are being used to treat COVID-19. This narrative review is an overview of COVID-19 and its various facets, from the number of cases to the therapies used, the current variants, and the ongoing clinical trials, specifically focusing on the most recent studies.

Genome editing technologies, including CRISPR/Cas9, TALENs, and ZFNs, offer promising approaches to disrupt HPV oncogenes E6 and E7, thereby restoring tumor-suppressor pathways. In this review, we summarize recent preclinical findings demonstrating selective apoptosis and tumor regression in HPV-positive cell and animal models, as well as early-phase clinical studies exploring local CRISPR-based therapies. We also compare the relative strengths and limitations of major editing platforms, discuss delivery strategies, and highlight their potential integration with immunotherapy and conventional treatments. While preclinical studies show encouraging efficacy (e.g., up to 60% tumor regression in xenograft models and marked reactivation of p53/pRb pathways), translation into routine practice remains limited by challenges such as efficient delivery, minimizing off-target effects, long-term safety, cost, and ethical considerations. Continued optimization of high-fidelity nucleases, tissue-specific delivery systems, and genotype-tailored guide RNAs will be essential. Genome editing therefore represents a potential future addition to the therapeutic landscape of HPV-related diseases, but substantial barriers must be addressed before clinical implementation.