Isolation and Detection of the Emerging Pathogen in Clinical Stool Samples and the Potential Transmission by Meat Samples in Retail.

The significance of as a foodborne pathogen is increasingly acknowledged, but the assessment of its occurrence and transmission remains challenging due to the lack of validation of selective isolation, detection, and identification methods. The aim of the present study was to examine its presence on various meat samples at the retail level in order to assess a potential foodborne transmission and its occurrence in clinical stool samples. First, the evaluation and selection of a selective enrichment broth and isolation medium, combined with an optimized identification by MALDI-TOF MS, as well as a suitable DNA extraction method and a PCR-based detection strategy were developed.

Campylobacter occurrence and antimicrobial resistance profile in under five-year-old diarrheal children, backyard farm animals, and companion pets.

Campylobacteriosis disproportionately affects children under five in low-income countries. However, epidemiological and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) information at the children-animal interface is lacking. We hypothesized that Campylobacter is a major cause of enteritis in children in Ethiopia, and contact with animals is a potential source of transmission.

Multicenter comparison of Etest, Vitek2 and BD Phoenix to broth microdilution for beta-lactam susceptibility testing of Streptococcus pneumonia.

Purpose: To assess performance of Etest®, Vitek®2 and BD Phoenix™ to determine the susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae strains to penicillin, ampicillin and cefotaxime.

Methods: Sixty unique S. pneumoniae challenge strains were selected to cover a wide range of penicillin, ampicillin and cefotaxime minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs).

Postoperative Staphylococcus aureus Infections in Patients With and Without Preoperative Colonization.

Importance: Staphylococcus aureus surgical site infections (SSIs) and bloodstream infections (BSIs) are important complications of surgical procedures for which prevention remains suboptimal. Contemporary data on the incidence of and etiologic factors for these infections are needed to support the development of improved preventive strategies.

Objectives: To assess the occurrence of postoperative S aureus SSIs and BSIs and quantify its association with patient-related and contextual factors.

Multicenter interlaboratory study of routine systems for the susceptibility testing of temocillin using a challenge panel of multidrug-resistant strains.

Accurate susceptibility result of temocillin (TMO) is important for treating infections caused by multidrug-resistant Enterobacterales. This multicenter study aimed to investigate the performance of routine temocillin testing assays against Enterobacterales challenging strains. Forty-seven selected clinical isolates were blindly analyzed by 12 Belgian laboratories using VITEK® 2 (n = 5) and BD Phoenix™ (n = 3) automated systems, ETEST® gradient strip (n = 3), and disk (3 brands) diffusion method (DD; n = 6) for temocillin susceptibility using standardized methodology.

Three Cases of Atypical Pneumonia with : The Role of Laboratory Vigilance in the Diagnosis of Psittacosis.

is an established zoonotic agent causing respiratory disease in humans. An infection often remains asymptomatic but can also result in flu-like illness, pneumonia or even multi-organ failure. This paper describes three patients, hospitalised at AZ Sint-Lucas Hospital, with atypical pneumonia who were diagnosed with after an in-depth anamnesis and laboratory investigation in the midst of the COVID pandemic.

Multicentre interlaboratory analysis of routine susceptibility testing with a challenge panel of resistant strains.

Objectives: In order to elaborate a new national challenge panel of resistant Gram-negative bacilli and Gram-positive cocci strains for the validation of routine antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) methods, an interlaboratory evaluation was organised.

Methods: The results of 12 well-characterised multidrug-resistant strains tested by nine laboratories using local disk diffusion (DD) and automated AST (AUST) methods were compared with the reference broth microdilution method.

Results: Overall categorical agreement ranged from 70% to 100% both for DD and AUST and was >90% for all but one strain for all antibiotics.

On the nature of peculiar expectorated bronchial casts: Can infrared spectroscopy enlighten us?

Background: Bronchial casts can be defined as gelatinous structures originating from the airways. While several cases of bronchial cast formation have been reported in literature, unravelling its nature is often a difficult task.

Methods: In this case report, we applied infrared (IR) spectroscopy on a bronchial cast fragment originating from a patient who suffered from a 2-y history of frequent coughing accompanied by the occasional expectoration of viscous and thick white-yellow bronchial-like structures.

Isolation, characterization and antibiotic resistance of Proteus mirabilis from Belgian broiler carcasses at retail and human stool.

Proteus mirabilis is an important pathogen involved in human urinary tract infections, and also more isolated from stools of patients with diarrheal disease than from healthy patients. The role of food, especially poultry products as source for human infection and multi-resistant strains remains unclear. As a resident in broilers' intestines, P.

Multicenter study of automated systems for colistin susceptibility testing.

Purpose: Broth microdilution (BMD) stays as the reference testing method for determination of antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) to colistin and is considered essential for patient management and for monitoring of colistin resistance. This multicenter study aimed to evaluate the performance of automated systems for colistin AST among Enterobacterales as an alternative for BMD since the majority of laboratories use automated systems as first-line method.

Methods: Twenty colistin resistant (COL-R) including 10 MCR producers and 10 colistin-susceptible (COL-S) Enterobacterales isolates were blindly tested for colistin susceptibility with the routine automated AST systems used by 8 laboratories (3 with BD Phoenix, 3 with Vitek2 and 2 with MicroScan).

A Bird's-Eye View of Chronic Unilateral Conjunctivitis: Remember about .

causes psittacosis in humans, mainly in people in contact with birds in either the setting of occupational or companion bird exposure. Infection is associated with a range of clinical manifestations from asymptomatic infection to severe atypical pneumonia and systemic disease. has also been associated with ocular adnexal lymphoma in human patients.

Use of fosfomycin as targeted antibiotic prophylaxis before prostate biopsy: A prospective randomized study.

Objectives: To investigate whether switching ciprofloxacin to fosfomycin in the case of fluoroquinolone-resistant rectal bacteria influences the incidence of infectious complications after transrectal prostate biopsy.

Methods: From December 2015 until December 2017, patients undergoing prostate biopsy were randomly assigned to a control group or an intervention group in a prospective, open-label fashion at three different centers. The presence of fluoroquinolone-resistant organisms was detected by rectal swabs.

Decontamination Strategies and Bloodstream Infections With Antibiotic-Resistant Microorganisms in Ventilated Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: The effects of chlorhexidine (CHX) mouthwash, selective oropharyngeal decontamination (SOD), and selective digestive tract decontamination (SDD) on patient outcomes in ICUs with moderate to high levels of antibiotic resistance are unknown.

Objective: To determine associations between CHX 2%, SOD, and SDD and the occurrence of ICU-acquired bloodstream infections with multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria (MDRGNB) and 28-day mortality in ICUs with moderate to high levels of antibiotic resistance.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Randomized trial conducted from December 1, 2013, to May 31, 2017, in 13 European ICUs where at least 5% of bloodstream infections are caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae.

Filling the gaps in clinical proteomics: a do-it-yourself guide for the identification of the emerging pathogen Arcobacter by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry.

Arcobacters are considered emerging gastrointestinal pathogens. Rapid, reliable and species-specific identification of these bacteria is important. Biochemical tests commonly yield negative or variable results.

Listeria monocytogenes sepsis in the nursing home community: a case report and short review of the literature.

Objective And Importance: Listeria monocytogenes is a rare foodborne pathogen, causing both outbreaks and sporadic infections. Severe, systemic infections are more prevalent in at-risk populations, such as pregnant women, but occur mostly in older people and immunocompromised individuals. In this case report, we describe the presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of Listeria monocytogenes sepsis in an older patient, and we briefly review the literature about listeriosis and the importance of safe food practices.

Effects of urbanization on host-pathogen interactions, using Yersinia in house sparrows as a model.

Urbanization strongly affects biodiversity, altering natural communities and often leading to a reduced species richness. Yet, despite its increasingly recognized importance, how urbanization impacts on the health of individual animals, wildlife populations and on disease ecology remains poorly understood. To test whether, and how, urbanization-driven ecosystem alterations influence pathogen dynamics and avian health, we use house sparrows (Passer domesticus) and Yersinia spp.

Characterization of the emerging zoonotic pathogen Arcobacter thereius by whole genome sequencing and comparative genomics.

Four Arcobacter species have been associated with human disease, and based on current knowledge, these Gram negative bacteria are considered as potential food and waterborne zoonotic pathogens. At present, only the genome of the species Arcobacter butzleri has been analysed, and still little is known about their physiology and genetics. The species Arcobacter thereius has first been isolated from tissue of aborted piglets, duck and pig faeces, and recently from stool of human patients with enteritis.

Endomyocardial and pericardial aspergillosis in critically ill patients.

Invasive aspergillosis(IA) is a potentially lethal complication of Aspergillus infection affecting mainly immunocompromised hosts; however, during the last two decades its incidence was increasingly observed in critically ill immunocompetent patients. The objective of this study is to describe the clinical characteristics of histologically proven endomyocardial and pericardial invasion, in the context of IA, in critically ill patients. Eight critically ill patients with histopathological confirmation of endomyocardial/pericardial aspergillosis were evaluated.

Low prevalence of human enteropathogenic Yersinia spp. in brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) in Flanders.

Brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) have been identified as potential carriers of Yersinia enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis, the etiological agents of yersiniosis, the third most reported bacterial zoonosis in Europe. Enteropathogenic Yersinia spp.

Severe sensitivity loss in an influenza A molecular assay due to antigenic drift variants during the 2014/15 influenza season.

The 2014-2015 influenza season in Belgium was dominated by the circulation of 2 influenza A(H3N2) subgroups: 3C.2a and 3C.3b.

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Arcobacter butzleri and Arcobacter cryaerophilus strains isolated from Belgian patients.

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility of different methods for susceptibility testing of human Arcobacter isolates, to assess susceptibility to antibiotics commonly used to treat diarrhoeal illness and to obtain MIC distribution data.

Methods: One-hundred-and-six unique Arcobacter strains were collected during an epidemiological study on pathogens in gastroenteritis. Strains were identified by multiplex PCR and PCR-RFLP, and characterized by PFGE.

Epidemiology of invasive aspergillosis in critically ill patients: clinical presentation, underlying conditions, and outcomes.

Introduction: Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a fungal infection that particularly affects immunocompromised hosts. Recently, several studies have indicated a high incidence of IA in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. However, few data are available on the epidemiology and outcome of patients with IA in this setting.

Prevalence of Arcobacter species among humans, Belgium, 2008-2013.

We examined fecal samples from 6,774 patients with enteritis in Belgium, 2008-2013. Members of the genus Arcobacter were the fourth most common pathogen group isolated, and the isolation rate was higher than previously reported. Culturing Arcobacter in a microbiology laboratory is feasible and should thus be tested for in cases of diarrheal disease.