Screening for Clostridioides difficile colonization at admission to the hospital: a multi-centre study.

Objectives: To assess the value of screening for Clostridioides difficile colonization (CDC) at hospital admission in an endemic setting.

Methods: A multi-centre study was conducted at four hospitals located across the Netherlands. Newly admitted patients were screened for CDC.

Whipple's endocarditis: a case report of a blood culture-negative endocarditis.

Background: Whipple's disease is caused by and causes a self-limiting gastrointestinal infection. The majority of the population is an asymptomatic carrier, however, in some patients, it causes an invasive infection with for example arthritis, endocarditis, or involvement of the eyes.

Case Summary: This case describes a man with long-lasting complaints of progressive dyspnoea caused by heart failure due to total destruction of the aortic and mitral valve as a result of endocarditis, diagnosed with serum polymerase chain reaction.

Successful Debridement of a Knee Joint Prosthesis Infected with . Case Report and Review of Current Literature.

According to the relevant literature, prosthetic joint infections caused by require two stage revision surgery or prosthesis removal for a successful outcome. We present the case of a patient who suffered such an infection after Total Knee Replacement surgery and was successfully treated with antibiotics, joint lavage, debridement and retention of the prosthesis.

Sepsis caused by acute phlegmonous gastritis based on a group A .

We present a case of 45-year-old male with acute phlegmonous gastritis (APG) based on a hemolytic group A APG is a rare and often a potentially fatal disease, which is characterized by a severe bacterial infection of the gastric wall. Because APG is a rapidly progressive disease, it comes with high mortality rates. Patients with an early diagnosis may undergo successful treatment and have a survival benefit.

Detection of Clostridium difficile in Feces of Asymptomatic Patients Admitted to the Hospital.

Recent evidence shows that patients asymptomatically colonized with Clostridium difficile may contribute to the transmission of C. difficile in health care facilities. Additionally, these patients may have a higher risk of developing C.

Current evidence on hospital antimicrobial stewardship objectives: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship is advocated to improve the quality of antimicrobial use. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess whether antimicrobial stewardship objectives had any effects in hospitals and long-term care facilities on four predefined patients' outcomes: clinical outcomes, adverse events, costs, and bacterial resistance rates.

Methods: We identified 14 stewardship objectives and did a separate systematic search for articles relating to each one in Embase, Ovid MEDLINE, and PubMed.

Diagnosis and management of aspergillosis in the Netherlands: a national survey.

A survey of diagnosis and treatment of invasive aspergillosis was conducted in eight University Medical Centers (UMCs) and eight non-academic teaching hospitals in the Netherlands. Against a background of emerging azole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus routine resistance screening of clinical isolates was performed primarily in the UMCs. Azole resistance rates at the hospital level varied between 5% and 10%, although rates up to 30% were reported in high-risk wards.

Coccidioidomycosis infection of a total knee arthroplasty in a nonendemic region.

Fungal prosthetic joint infections are rare and difficult to treat. There is an ongoing discussion about the type and duration of antifungal treatment and the necessity of prosthesis removal. We report the first European case of an infected total knee arthroplasty with Coccidioides immitis.

Moraxella catarrhalis is only a weak activator of the mannose-binding lectin (MBL) pathway of complement activation.

A hemolytic bystander assay was used to assess the functional serum mannose-binding lectin (MBL) activating capacity of five isolates of Moraxella catarrhalis obtained from children who suffered recurrent acute otitis media episodes. Results showed that this organism is only a poor activator of the lectin pathway of complement activation, with subsequent consequences for the etiology of otitis media by this organism.

A novel plasmid (pEMCJH03) isolated from moraxella catarrhalis possibly useful as a cloning and expression vector within this species.

A preliminary screening study of six Moraxella catarrhalis isolates from primary school children in the Netherlands identified a small 3.5 kb plasmid (pEMCJH03), containing four open reading frames, which encoded three mobilizing and one replicase protein. Insertion of a kanamycin containing transposon (yielding pEMCJH04) allowed selection and isolation of the plasmid in Escherichia coli.

Severity of nonbullous Staphylococcus aureus impetigo in children is associated with strains harboring genetic markers for exfoliative toxin B, Panton-Valentine leukocidin, and the multidrug resistance plasmid pSK41.

Nonbullous impetigo is a common skin infection in children and is frequently caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Staphylococcal toxins and especially exfoliative toxin A are known mediators of bullous impetigo in children. It is not known whether this is also true for nonbullous impetigo.

A case of Mycoplasma hominis meningo-encephalitis in a full-term infant: rapid recovery after start of treatment with ciprofloxacin.

Unlabelled: The role of Mycoplasma hominisas a causative agent for neonatal sepsis and meningitis is still unclear. Meningitis secondary to M. hominisis well-described in the literature; however, M.

Pathological and therapeutic significance of cellular invasion by Proteus mirabilis in an enterocystoplasty infection stone model.

Proteus mirabilis infection often leads to stone formation. We evaluated how bacterium-mucin adhesion, invasion, and intracellular crystal formation are related to antibiotic sensitivity and may cause frequent stone formation in enterocystoplasties. Five intestinal (Caco-2, HT29, HT29-18N2, HT29-FU, and HT29-MTX) and one ureter cell line (SV-HUC-1) were incubated in artificial urine with five Proteus mirabilis strains.

Extended-interval dosing of tobramycin in neonates: implications for therapeutic drug monitoring.

Objective: Our objective was to individualize tobramycin dosing regimens in neonates of various gestational ages with use of early therapeutic drug monitoring.

Methods: This study was performed in neonatal patients with suspected septicemia in the first week of life. All patients received tobramycin, 4 mg/kg per dose, as a 30-minute intravenous infusion, with a gestational age-related initial interval of 48 hours (<32 weeks), 36 hours (32-36 weeks), and 24 hours (> or =37 weeks).

Fusidic acid cream in the treatment of impetigo in general practice: double blind randomised placebo controlled trial.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that fusidic acid would not increase the treatment effect of disinfecting with povidone-iodine alone in children with impetigo.

Design: Randomised placebo controlled trial.

Setting: General practices in Greater Rotterdam.

Moraxella catarrhalis: from emerging to established pathogen.

Moraxella catarrhalis (formerly known as Branhamella catarrhalis) has emerged as a significant bacterial pathogen of humans over the past two decades. During this period, microbiological and molecular diagnostic techniques have been developed and improved for M. catarrhalis, allowing the adequate determination and taxonomic positioning of this pathogen.