Background: The current economic and social crisis in Latin America has caused migration to the USA, bringing with it Public Health challenges due to the importation of various infectious diseases. Migrants, particularly those with chronic conditions, such as HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections (STI), are at greater risk due to pharmacological interruption and access to medical care, so the timely detection of diseases acquired during their migration, such as malaria, is crucial to avoid health complications. Objective: To outline by a multidisciplinary approach (Infectology, Parasitology, Epidemiology, molecular Biology, Venereology, and Public Health) the diagnosis and management of a male case with malaria imported to Mexican territory, HIV chronic infection, and latent syphilis. Methods: A male migrant of Venezuelan nationality attended the Clínica Especializada Condesa Iztapalapa in Mexico City for health complications. A comprehensive analysis of laboratory and molecular tests was performed to confirm HIV infection. During the STI diagnostic algorithm, latent syphilis was detected and microscopic observation of blood smears revealed parasitic forms compatible with malaria. Standard and molecular tests were applied under the operational definition for malaria cases for identification, diagnosis, and treatment. Finally, study of clinical history and migration route by questioning for the investigation of the imported case was performed. Results: The immigrant was diagnosed with HIV chronic-stage infection with interrupted antiretroviral therapy (ART), latent syphilis, and malaria by Plasmodium vivax. The ART administered was chosen based on the possible drug interaction with antimalarials and genetic barrier to the HLA-B* allele. Finally, antimicrobial therapy against syphilis was penicillin. From the analysis of the migratory route, incubation time of imported malaria, and questioning, we speculated that the migrant acquired the P. vivax infection in Panama. Conclusions: This case highlights the complex health problems faced by migrants with HIV infection, particularly when they contract additional infections such as malaria during migration and highlights the need for comprehensive access to healthcare and ART, antimalarial and antimicrobial treatments to mitigate the health risks of this vulnerable population.

The presence of skin bacteria capable of forming biofilm, exhibiting antibiotic resistance, and displaying virulence represents a significant challenge in the field of transfusion medicine. This underscores the necessity of enhancing the microbiological safety of blood and blood components against pathogens with virulent characteristics. The aim of this work was to demonstrate bacterial inactivation in plasma by using a photoinactivation method against virulent bacteria and to evaluate coagulation factors before and after treatment. Logarithmic loads of biofilm-producing, antibiotic-resistant, and virulent bacteria isolated from skin (Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella ozaenae, and Staphylococcus epidermidis) were used in artificial contamination assays of fresh frozen plasma bags and subjected to photoreduction. FVIII and FI activity were evaluated before and after photoinactivation. The photoinactivation of plasma was demonstrated to be an effective method for the elimination of these bacteria. However, the efficiency of this method was found to be dependent on the bacterial load and the type of test microorganism. Conversely, decay of coagulation factors was observed with net residual activities of 61 and 69% for FVIII and FI, respectively. The photoinactivation system could have a bias in its effectiveness that is dependent on the test pathogen. These findings highlight the importance of employing technologies that increase the safety of the recipient of blood and/or blood components, especially against virulent bacteria, and show the relevance of the role of photoinactivation systems as an option in transfusion practice.

Microbiological verification of reprocessed mechanical ventilators serves as a quality control measure aimed at interrupting potential transmission routes of pathogens before patient intubation. The aim of this study was to describe the microbiological findings and operational costs of the post-reprocessing surveillance program for mechanical ventilators at Hospital Juárez de México and to contextualize these costs using a hypothetical VAP-associated economic reference. This retrospective observational study included 1456 post-reprocessing microbiological evaluation events involving mechanical ventilators previously used by patients with laboratory-confirmed ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). All events meeting the surveillance eligibility criteria during the study period were included. Inspiratory and expiratory limbs were sampled for bacterial culture, with microbial identification by mass spectrometry. Any bacterial growth was considered residual contamination, and the ventilator underwent a new complete cycle of cleaning and high-level disinfection. An institutional analysis was applied to estimate operational costs and to contextualize the potential VAP-associated economic burden using the culture-positive ventilators as a hypothetical reference calculation, without assuming that each positive device represented a prevented VAP episode. Residual bacterial contamination was detected in 95 evaluation events (6.5%), with recovery of organisms including Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The operational cost of the microbiological surveillance program was 40,993 USD. Using institutional VAP cost estimates, a hypothetical calculation assigning the annual VAP cost to each of the 95 culture-positive evaluation events produced a reference value of 1,285,650 USD. Under this reference calculation, the difference between the VAP-associated reference value and program cost was 1,244,657 USD, corresponding to a cost ratio of 31.4:1. These estimates are hypothetical and depend on assumptions regarding infection probability and preventive effectiveness; they do not represent demonstrated economic savings. The break-even probability of device-attributable VAP per culture-positive evaluation event was 3.19%, assuming full institutional coverage of VAP-associated costs and complete prevention of these episodes through additional reprocessing. Within this defined surveillance population, microbiological surveillance of reprocessed mechanical ventilators is a useful quality-control strategy prior to patient intubation.

Hospital wastewater (HWW) is increasingly recognized as an environmental hotspot for the selection and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Although surveillance programs primarily target ESKAPE pathogens, the contribution of environmental bacteria such as Aeromonas spp. remains poorly characterized. The aim of this work was to investigate antimicrobial resistance mechanisms, focusing on carbapenem and cephalosporin resistance, in Aeromonas spp. recovered from HWW. Thirty Aeromonas isolates were identified by rpoD restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and characterized by antimicrobial susceptibility testing, detection of β-lactam resistance genes, class 1 integrons, and genetic relatedness using ERIC-PCR fingerprinting. All isolates exhibited operationally defined multidrug-resistant (MDR) or extensively drug-resistant (XDR) phenotypes, with resistance predominating against cephalosporins, carbapenems, and trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole. The clinically relevant gene families/groups bla_KPC family, bla_OXA-48-like, bla_CTX-M group 1, and bla_SHV were detected by PCR, whereas bla_NDM, bla_VIM, bla_IMP, and mcr-1 were absent. Class 1 integrons were identified in 36.7% of isolates, revealing diverse cassette arrays carrying dfrA and aadA resistance genes. ERIC-PCR demonstrated high fingerprint diversity with limited genetic relatedness. Microbiological surveillance of HWW revealed that Aeromonas populations constitute an environmental reservoir of clinically relevant β-lactam resistance determinants, supporting further evaluation of their potential role in AMR surveillance strategies at the hospital–environment interface.