The impact of serum vancomycin levels and minimum inhibitory concentrations of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on mortality in patients with nosocomial pneumonia.

Background: Vancomycin is the treatment of choice for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections; however, treatment failure is not uncommon, even when the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the MRSA strain is within the susceptible range for vancomycin.

Objective: To describe the relationship between molecular markers such as the mecA and agrII genes, serum vancomycin levels and vancomycin MICs, and the 30-day mortality rate of patients with nosocomial MRSA pneumonia in an intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: The present study was a prospective cohort study including all patients with MRSA hospital-acquired pneumonia or ventilator-associated pneumonia who were admitted to the ICU of a tertiary care hospital between June 2009 and December 2011.

Sporotrichosis in renal transplant patients.

The current report describes two renal transplant recipients who presented with sporotrichosis. In addition, the authors review the general aspects of sporotrichosis in renal transplant recipients reported in the literature. Sporotrichosis is a rare fungal infection in transplant patients and has been reported primarily in renal transplant recipients not treated with antifungal prophylaxis.