Antibiotic Resistance Trends in Carbapenem-Resistant Gram-Negative Pathogens and Eight-Year Surveillance of XDR Bloodstream Infections in a Western Greece Tertiary Hospital.

: The increased prevalence of antibiotic resistance among Gram-negative bacteria presents a severe public health challenge, leading to increased mortality rates, prolonged hospital stays, and higher medical costs. In Greece, the issue of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria is particularly alarming, exacerbated by overuse of antibiotics and inadequate infection control measures. This study aimed to detect the prevalence of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Gram-negative bacteria in a tertiary hospital in Western Greece over the last eight years from 2016 to 2023.

Incidence of Carbapenem-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19 as Compared to Non-COVID-19 Patients: A Prospective Case-Control Study.

Introduction: Critically ill COVID-19 patients hospitalized in intensive care units (ICU) are immunosuppressed due to SARSCoV-2-related immunological effects and are administered immunomodulatory drugs. This study aimed to determine whether these patients carry an increased risk of multi-drug resistant (MDR) and especially carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative (CRGN) bacterial infections compared to other critically ill patients without COVID-19.

Materials And Methods: A prospective case-control study was conducted between January 2022 and August 2023.

Role of source control in critically ill candidemic patients: a multicenter retrospective study.

Purpose: Candidemia is associated with high mortality especially in critically ill patients. Our aim was to identify predictors of mortality among critically ill patients with candidemia with a focus on early interventions that can improve prognosis.

Methods: Multicenter retrospective study.

Laboratory Surveillance of spp. Bloodstream Infections in a Tertiary University Hospital during a 9-Year Period.

Multidrug-resistant infections have become a threat for public health worldwide. The aim of the present study was to follow-up resistance patterns of spp. bloodstream isolates in a Tertiary University Hospital over the last nine years, from 2014 to 2022.

Acid-fast bacteria as causative agents of skin and soft tissue infections: case presentations and literature review.

Acid-fast bacteria can be implicated in skin and soft tissue infections. Diagnostic identification can be challenging or not feasible by routine laboratory techniques, especially if there is no access to the Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) technology. Here, we present two cases of skin and soft tissue infections caused by two different acid-fast bacteria, Nocardia brasiliensis and Mycobacterium marinum.

Fungemia due to rare non-Candida yeasts between 2018 and 2021 in a Greek tertiary care university hospital.

Introduction: Non-Candida yeasts, although rare, are increasingly encountered and recognized as a growing threat.

Methods: Cases of bloodstream infections (BSIs) due to non-Candida yeasts (NCYs) during the last four years (2018-2021) are presented.

Results: During the study period, 16 cases caused by non-Candida yeasts out of 400 cases of yeast BSIs were recorded, corresponding to an incidence of 4%.

A Seven-Year Microbiological and Molecular Study of Bacteremias Due to Carbapenemase-Producing : An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis of Changes in the Carbapenemase Gene's Distribution after Introduction of Ceftazidime/Avibactam.

Background: Ceftazidime/avibactam (CZA) is a new option for the treatment of KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae. The aim of this study was to determine resistance patterns and carbapenemase genes among K. pneumoniae (CP-Kp) bacteremic isolates before and after CZA introduction.

Pan-Echinocandin Resistant Harboring an F652S Fks1 Alteration in a Patient with Prolonged Echinocandin Therapy.

The isolation of a pan-echinocandin-resistant Candida parapsilosis strain (anidulafungin, caspofungin, micafungin and rezafungin EUCAST MICs > 8 mg/L) from urine of a patient following prolonged exposure to echinocandins (38 days of micafungin followed by 16 days of anidulafungin) is described. The isolate harbored the novel alteration F652S in the hotspot 1 region of fks1. Isogenic C.

Invasive Candida kefyr infection presenting as pyelonephritis in an ICU hospitalized COVID-19 patient: Case report and review of the literature.

Candida kefyr (Kluyveromyces marxianus), an ascomycetous environmental yeast, occasionally isolated from dairy products, represents an uncommon but emerging pathogen in immunocompromised patients. Herein, we present a case of C. kefyr pyelonephritis in a 41-year-old, previously immunocompetent, patient who was hospitalized in an COVID-19 ICU.

Risk factors for isolation of fluconazole and echinocandin non-susceptible species in critically ill patients.

Resistance rates to azoles and echinocandins of spp. increased over the last decade. Widespread use of antifungals could lead to development and dissemination of resistant spp.

Methicillin-Resistant ST80 Induce Lower Cytokine Production by Monocytes as Compared to Other Sequence Types.

Methicillin-resistant (MRSA) remains an important cause of nosocomial and community-associated infections due to its ability to produce toxins and evade host's immune responses. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of monocytes immune response in terms of cytokines produced after inoculation with different MRSA clones. Thirty-one clinical MRSA strains were selected on the basis of clonal types, accessory gene regulator (agr) groups and toxin genes carriage.

Increasing incidence of candidaemia and shifting epidemiology in favor of Candida non-albicans in a 9-year period (2009-2017) in a university Greek hospital.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to analyze candidaemia's epidemiology (incidence, species distribution, and susceptibility rates) and antifungal consumption during a 9-year period.

Methods: All candidaemias recorded at The University General Hospital of Patras, Greece, between 2009 and 2017 were included. Candida isolates were identified using the germ tube test, API 20C AUX System, and/or Vitek-2 YST card.

Risk factors and predictors of carbapenem-resistant and mortality in critically ill bacteraemic patients over a 6-year period (2010-15): antibiotics do matter.

and provoke serious infections, especially in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. The risk factors and predictors of mortality for (=84; 46 carbapenem-resistant) and (=129; all carbapenem-resistant) bloodstream infections (BSIs) in an ICU were evaluated. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using the agar disk diffusion method according to EUCAST guidelines.

Risk factors and predictors of mortality of candidaemia among critically ill patients: role of antifungal prophylaxis in its development and in selection of non-albicans species.

Purpose: The aim of the present study is to identify risk factors for development and predictors of mortality of candidaemia among critically ill patients.

Methods: A 1:7 case-control study was conducted during a 4-year period (2012-2015) in a Greek Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Candidaemia was confirmed by positive blood cultures.

Trends of Bloodstream Infections in a University Greek Hospital during a Three-Year Period: Incidence of Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria and Seasonality in Gram-negative Predominance.

The aim of the study was to assess the epidemiology, the incidence of multidrug-resistant bacteria and bloodstream infections' (BSIs) seasonality in a university hospital. This retrospective study was carried out in the University General Hospital of Patras, Greece, during 2011-13 y. Blood cultures from patients with clinical presentation suggestive of bloodstream infection were performed by the BacT/ALERT System.

Combination of commercially available molecular assays and culture based methods in diagnosis of tuberculosis and drug resistant tuberculosis.

Early diagnosis of tuberculosis is of major clinical importance. Among 4733 clinical specimens collected from 3363 patients and subjected to Ziehl-Neelsen microscopy, 4109 were inoculated onto Löwenstein-Jensen slants and 3139 in Bactec/9000MB. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was performed in 3139 specimens, whereas, a genotypic assay was directly applied in 93 Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex PCR-positive for isoniazid and rifampicin resistance detection specimens (GenoType MTBDRplus).

Pulmonary infection by Rhodococcus equi presenting with positive Ziehl-Neelsen stain in a patient with human immunodeficiency virus: a case report.

Introduction: Patients with human immunodeficiency virus carry a significant risk of contracting opportunistic infections. The worldwide increased incidence of tuberculosis has instituted pulmonary tuberculosis as an important diagnostic consideration in patients with human immunodeficiency virus presenting with lower respiratory tract infection. A positive result on the readily-available Ziehl-Neelsen stain usually leads to the initiation of antituberculous treatment, since tuberculosis may exert a rapid and even fatal clinical progress in human immunodeficiency virus coinfection.

Relapsing peritonitis in a patient treated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

Introduction: Peritonitis is a severe complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD) due to associated morbidity and mortality. Although is mostly considered as a contaminant, its role as a causative agent in a few cases of PD peritonitis has been documented. Peritonitis due to .

Evaluation of a commercial PCR test for the diagnosis of dermatophyte nail infections.

Tinea unguium, known as onychomycosis, is a dermatophyte infection of nails with worldwide distribution. Conventional methods for detecting fungi in nail specimens are either non-specific (microscopy) or insensitive (culture). PCR has been used to improve sensitivity in detecting the causative fungi in nail specimens from patients with suspected onychomycosis.

Association of KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae colonization or infection with Candida isolation and selection of non-albicans species.

Clinical specimens from 565 patients hospitalized in 2 intensive care units (ICUs A and B) during a 28-month period were cultured on appropriate media for isolation of Candida. Forty-nine (9%) patients had at least a Candida spp.-positive sample.

In vitro activity of tigecycline and colistin against A. baumannii clinical bloodstream isolates during an 8-year period.

Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as an important and problematic pathogen causing bloodstream infections (BSI) in hospitalized patients. Results of an 8-year period from a university hospital are presented. Identification of A.

An extracellular Staphylococcus epidermidis polysaccharide: relation to Polysaccharide Intercellular Adhesin and its implication in phagocytosis.

Background: The skin commensal and opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus epidermidis is a leading cause of hospital-acquired and biomaterial-associated infections. The polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA), a homoglycan composed of β-1,6-linked N-acetylglucosamine residues, synthesized by enzymes encoded in icaADBC is a major functional factor in biofilm accumulation, promoting virulence in experimental biomaterial-associated S. epidermidis infection.