Within-episode repeat antibiotic prescriptions in patients with respiratory tract infections: A population-based cohort study.

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship interventions mainly focus on initial antibiotic prescriptions, with few considering within-episode repeat prescriptions. We aimed to describe the magnitude, type and determinants of within-episode repeat antibiotic prescriptions in patients presenting to primary care with respiratory tract infections (RTIs).

Methods: We conducted a population-based cohort study among 530 sampled English general practices within the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD).

Deep Eutectic Liquids as a Topical Vehicle for Tadalafil: Characterisation and Potential Wound Healing and Antimicrobial Activity.

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) and ionic liquids (ILs) offer novel opportunities for several pharmaceutical applications. Their tunable properties offer control over their design and applications. Choline chloride (CC)-based DESs (referred to as Type III eutectics) offer superior advantages for various pharmaceutical and therapeutic applications.

Removing carbon catabolite repression in DSM 2542.

is a thermophilic bacterium of interest for lignocellulosic biomass fermentation. However, carbon catabolite repression (CCR) hinders co-utilization of pentoses and hexoses in the biomass substrate. Hence, to optimize the fermentation process, it is critical to remove CCR in the fermentation strains with minimal fitness cost.

An in vitro and ex vivo wound infection model to test topical and systemic treatment with antibiotics.

Aims: This study aimed to develop a wound infection model that could be used to test antibiotic-loaded electrospun matrices for the topical treatment of infected skin and compare the effectiveness of this treatment to systemically applied antibiotics.

Methods And Results: 3D-printed flow chambers were made in which Staphylococcus aureus biofilms were grown either on a polycarbonate membrane or explanted porcine skin. The biofilms were then treated either topically, by placing antibiotic-loaded electrospun matrices on top of the biofilms, or systemically by the addition of antibiotics in the growth medium that flowed underneath the membrane or skin.

Relaxed control of sugar utilization in Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius DSM 2542.

Though carbon catabolite repression (CCR) has been intensively studied in some more characterised organisms, there is a lack of information of CCR in thermophiles. In this work, CCR in the thermophile, Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius DSM 2542 has been studied during growth on pentose sugars in the presence of glucose. Physiological studies under fermentative conditions revealed a loosely controlled CCR when DSM 2542 was grown in minimal medium supplemented with a mixture of glucose and xylose.

An evaluation of toxigenic positivity as a patient outcome metric of antimicrobial stewardship in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship has been associated with a reduction in the incidence of healthcare-associated infection (HA-CDI). However, CDI remains under-recognised in many low and middle-income countries where clinical and surveillance resources required to identify HA-CDI are often lacking. The rate of toxigenic stool positivity in the stool of hospitalised patients may offer an alternative metric for these settings, but its utility remains largely untested.

Prevention and Treatment of Fungal Skin Infections Using Cationic Polymeric Films.

Dermatophytosis is a fungal infection of skin, nails and hair. Treatments can be long and infections are often recurrent, and novel treatments are desirable. Here we tested the use of polymeric films that can be sprayed on the skin for the prevention and treatment of dermatophytosis.

A requirement for flow to enable the development of Ureaplasma parvum biofilms in vitro.

Aims: To use a flow-based method to establish, quantify and visualize biofilms of Ureaplasma parvum.

Methods And Results: Absorbance readings of a U. parvum HPA5 culture were taken at 550 nm every 3 h for 30 h in order to establish a growth curve, with viability determined by the number of colour changing units (CCUs).

Inhibition of biofilm formation by alpha-mangostin loaded nanoparticles against .

This study aimed to investigate the antibiofilm activity of alpha-mangostin (AMG) loaded nanoparticles (nanoAMG) against , including the methicillin-resistant strain MRSA252. The results indicated that treatment with 24 μmol/L nanoAMG inhibited the formation of biofilm biomass by 53-62%, compared to 40-44% for free AMG (p < 0.05).

Biofilm-specific uptake of a 4-pyridone-based iron chelator by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Iron is an essential nutrient for virtually all microbes and limiting the concentration of available iron is a potential strategy to be used as an alternative to antibiotic treatment. In this study we analysed the antimicrobial activity of two chelators, specifically 3-hydroxy-1,2-dimethyl-4(1H)-pyridone (deferiprone, DFP), which is clinically approved for the treatment of iron overload disorders, and its 1,2-diethyl homologue, CP94. Both compounds showed moderate activity towards planktonically growing P.

The effect of particle size of inhaled tobramycin dry powder on the eradication of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the predominant opportunistic bacterium that causes chronic respiratory infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. This bacterium can form biofilms, which are structured communities of cells encased within a self-produced matrix. Such biofilms have a high level of resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics.

Evaluation of an Explanted Porcine Skin Model to Investigate Infection with the Dermatophyte Trichophyton rubrum.

Dermatophytosis is a fungal infection of skin, hair and nails, and the most frequently found causative agent is Trichophyton rubrum. The disease is very common and often recurring, and it is therefore difficult to eradicate. To develop and test novel treatments, infection models that are representative of the infection process are desirable.

products subvert the -induced inflammatory response in airway epithelial cells.

Chronic pulmonary infection is associated with colonization with multiple micro-organisms but host-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions are poorly understood. This study aims to investigate the differences in host responses to mono- and co-infection with and in human airway epithelial cells. We assessed the effect of co-infection with and on host signalling and inflammatory responses in the human airway epithelial cell line 16HBE, using ELISA and western blot analysis.

A microtiter plate-based quantitative method to monitor the growth rate of dermatophytes and test antifungal activity.

Dermatophytosis is one of the most common superficial fungal infections, which is mainly caused by filamentous fungi such as Trichophyton species. A challenging aspect in dermatophyte research is the lack of a straightforward method to measure the rate of growth, in particular when growing dermatophytes in small volumes such as in microtitre plates. However, one characteristic of dermatophytes is their ability to produce compounds such as ammonia that make the growth medium more alkaline.

Inhibition of extracellular proteases improves the production of a xylanase in Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius.

Background: Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius is a thermophilic and ethanol-producing bacterium capable of utilising both hexose and pentose sugars for fermentation. The organism has been proposed to be a suitable organism for the production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic feedstocks. These feedstocks may be difficult to degrade, and a potential strategy to optimise this process is to engineer strains that secrete hydrolases that liberate increased amounts of sugars from those feedstocks.

Investigation and simulation of dissolution with concurrent degradation under healthy and hypoalbuminaemic simulated parenteral conditions- case example Amphotericin B.

Guidance on dissolution testing for parenteral formulations is limited and not often related in vivo performance. Critically ill patients represent a target cohort, frequently hypoalbuminaemic, to whom certain parenteral formulations are administered. Amphotericin B (AmB) is a poorly soluble, highly protein-bound drug, available as lipid-based formulations and used in critical illness.

Antibiofilm activity of α-mangostin extracted from Garcinia mangostana L. against Staphylococcus aureus.

Objective: To isolate α-mangostin (AMG) from the peels of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.), grown in Vietnam, and to investigate antibiofilm activity of this compound against three Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) strains, one of which was methicillin-resistant S.

Towards an overarching European health information system.

A European health information system (HIS) supports mutual learning between member states through international comparisons. In addition, it informs international policy agendas. Collaboration between the major stakeholders, most importantly the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO-Euro), the European Commission and OECD, is important for member states, as this will contribute to better and more efficiently produced health intelligence.

Development of a filter to prevent infections with spore-forming bacteria in injecting drug users.

Background: In heroin injectors, there have been a number of outbreaks caused by spore-forming bacteria, causing serious infections such as anthrax or botulism. These are, most likely, caused by injecting contaminated heroin, and our aim was to develop a filter that efficiently removes these bacteria and is also likely to be acceptable for use by people who inject drugs (i.e.

Electrospun Zein/PCL Fibrous Matrices Release Tetracycline in a Controlled Manner, Killing Staphylococcus aureus Both in Biofilms and Ex Vivo on Pig Skin, and are Compatible with Human Skin Cells.

Purpose: To investigate the destruction of clinically-relevant bacteria within biofilms via the sustained release of the antibiotic tetracycline from zein-based electrospun polymeric fibrous matrices and to demonstrate the compatibility of such wound dressing matrices with human skin cells.

Methods: Zein/PCL triple layered fibrous dressings with entrapped tetracycline were electrospun. The successful entrapment of tetracycline in these dressings was validated.

Low dietary iron intake restrains the intestinal inflammatory response and pathology of enteric infection by food-borne bacterial pathogens.

Orally administrated iron is suspected to increase susceptibility to enteric infections among children in infection endemic regions. Here we investigated the effect of dietary iron on the pathology and local immune responses in intestinal infection models. Mice were held on iron-deficient, normal iron, or high iron diets and after 2 weeks they were orally challenged with the pathogen Citrobacter rodentium.

The antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of copper(II) complexes.

Biofilm-related bacterial infections pose a significant problem, as they are generally more tolerant to antibiotics and the immune system. Development of novel compounds with antibiofilm activity is therefore paramount. In this study we have analysed metal complexes of the general structure [M(IL)(AL)](2+) (where IL represents functionalised 1,10-phenanthrolines and AL represents 1S,2S- or 1R,2R-diaminocyclohexane) and [Cu(IL)3](2+).

DNA as a target for antimicrobials.

Resistance to antimicrobials is one of the biggest threats to our healthcare. However, in the last few decades very few truly novel antimicrobial compounds have been brought to market, creating the potential threat of a post-antibiotic era in which infections are very difficult to treat. Identification of novel compounds with antimicrobial activity is therefore paramount.