Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; can it be used as a rapid typing method of Neisseria gonorrhoeae?

Background: Typing of Neisseria gonorrhoeae is necessary for epidemiologic surveillance, while time consuming and resource intensive. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has shown promising results when typing several bacterial species. This study investigates whether FTIR spectroscopy can be used as a rapid method for typing clinical N.

Identification of Mycobacterium abscessus Subspecies by MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry and Machine Learning.

Mycobacterium abscessus is one of the most common and pathogenic nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) isolated in clinical laboratories. It consists of three subspecies: M. abscessus subsp.

Multicentre study on the reproducibility of MALDI-TOF MS for nontuberculous mycobacteria identification.

The ability of MALDI-TOF for the identification of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) has improved recently thanks to updated databases and optimized protein extraction procedures. Few multicentre studies on the reproducibility of MALDI-TOF have been performed so far, none on mycobacteria. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of MALDI-TOF for the identification of NTM in 15 laboratories in 9 European countries.

Multicenter Evaluation of Rapid BACpro II for the Accurate Identification of Microorganisms Directly from Blood Cultures Using MALDI-TOF MS.

The identification of microorganisms directly from blood cultures using MALDI-TOF MS has been shown to be the most impacting application of this methodology. In this study, a novel commercial method was evaluated in four clinical microbiology laboratories. Positive blood culture samples ( = 801) were processed using a rapid BACpro II kit and then compared with the routine gold standard.

Standardised surveillance of Clostridium difficile infection in European acute care hospitals: a pilot study, 2013.

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) remains poorly controlled in many European countries, of which several have not yet implemented national CDI surveillance. In 2013, experts from the European CDI Surveillance Network project and from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control developed a protocol with three options of CDI surveillance for acute care hospitals: a 'minimal' option (aggregated hospital data), a 'light' option (including patient data for CDI cases) and an 'enhanced' option (including microbiological data on the first 10 CDI episodes per hospital). A total of 37 hospitals in 14 European countries tested these options for a three-month period (between 13 May and 1 November 2013).

Diversity and antifungal susceptibility of Norwegian Candida glabrata clinical isolates.

Background: Increasing numbers of immunocompromised patients have resulted in greater incidence of invasive fungal infections with high mortality. Candida albicans infections dominate, but during the last decade, Candida glabrata has become the second highest cause of candidemia in the United States and Northern Europe. Reliable and early diagnosis, together with appropriate choice of antifungal treatment, is needed to combat these challenging infections.

Identification of airborne bacteria by 16S rDNA sequencing, MALDI-TOF MS and the MIDI microbial identification system.

The aim of this study was to collect and identify airborne bacteria in Norway, Sweden and Finland and to compare three different technologies for identifying collected airborne bacterial isolates: the "gold standard" method 16S rDNA sequencing, MALDI-TOF MS using the MALDI Biotyper 2.0 and the MIDI Sherlock Microbial Identification System (MIDI MIS system). Airborne bacteria were collected during three different periods from May to October 2009 using air sampling directly on agar plates.

Multilocus sequence typing of serial Candida albicans isolates from children with cancer, children with cystic fibrosis and healthy controls.

Candida albicans is a fungal pathogen, but also a commensal in many individuals. Since detailed molecular studies of children carrying C. albicans are lacking, we longitudinally investigated fecal and tonsillopharyngeal samples from 10 children undergoing treatment for cancer, six children treated for cystic fibrosis (CF), and seven healthy children during the time period of 1999-2008.