The importance of naturally attenuated SARS-CoV-2in the fight against COVID-19.

The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is wreaking havoc throughout the world and has rapidly become a global health emergency. A central question concerning COVID-19 is why some individuals become sick and others not. Many have pointed already at variation in risk factors between individuals.

First molecular characterization of related cases of healthcare-associated infections involving multidrug-resistant in Algeria.

Purpose: Vancomycin-resistant (VRE) (VREfm) are highly resistant bacteria emerging worldwide and rarely studied using molecular tools in Algeria since their first report in 2006. The aim of the study was to investigate healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) involving the first VRE in Batna University Hospital, Algeria, and characterize isolates using molecular tools.

Patients And Methods: Medical charts were reviewed for patients with VREfm.

Performance and economic evaluation of the molecular detection of pathogens for patients with severe infections: the EVAMICA open-label, cluster-randomised, interventional crossover trial.

Purpose: Microbiological diagnosis (MD) of infections remains insufficient. The resulting empirical antimicrobial therapy leads to multidrug resistance and inappropriate treatments. We therefore evaluated the cost-effectiveness of direct molecular detection of pathogens in blood for patients with severe sepsis (SES), febrile neutropenia (FN) and suspected infective endocarditis (SIE).

High susceptibility of MDR and XDR Gram-negative pathogens to biphenyl-diacetylene-based difluoromethyl-allo-threonyl-hydroxamate LpxC inhibitors.

Objectives: Inhibitors of uridine diphosphate-3-O-(R-3-hydroxymyristoyl)-N-acetylglucosamine deacetylase (LpxC, which catalyses the first, irreversible step in lipid A biosynthesis) are a promising new class of antibiotics against Gram-negative bacteria. The objectives of the present study were to: (i) compare the antibiotic activities of three LpxC inhibitors (LPC-058, LPC-011 and LPC-087) and the reference inhibitor CHIR-090 against Gram-negative bacilli (including MDR and XDR isolates); and (ii) investigate the effect of combining these inhibitors with conventional antibiotics.

Methods: MICs were determined for 369 clinical isolates (234 Enterobacteriaceae and 135 non-fermentative Gram-negative bacilli).

Infective endocarditis: does a new 16S rDNA set of primers improve the microbiological diagnosis?

Background: In infective endocarditis (IE), blood cultures are negative in 2.5-31% of cases because of a previously prescribed antimicrobial treatment. Molecular methods may represent an alternative to conventional microbiological techniques to identify the causative agent.

Identification of clinically relevant Corynebacterium strains by Api Coryne, MALDI-TOF-mass spectrometry and molecular approaches.

We evaluated the Bruker Biotyper matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) for the identification of 97 Corynebacterium clinical in comparison to identification strains by Api Coryne and MALDI-TOF-MS using 16S rRNA gene and hypervariable region of rpoB genes sequencing as a reference method. C. striatum was the predominant species isolated followed by C.

[Contamination of human milk with aerobic flora: Evaluation of losses for a human milk bank].

Introduction: In France, human milk banks pasteurize milk for the mother's own hospitalized baby (personalized milk) and for donation. There is specific legislation regulating the activity of human milk banks with bacterial screening of donor milk before and after pasteurization. Milk should be tested for Staphylococcus aureus and total aerobic flora.

Microbiologic profile of Staphylococci isolated from osteoarticular infections: evolution over ten years.

Background: Staphylococci, especially coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) represent the most frequent micro-organism associated with osteoarticular infections (OAIs), especially those involving orthopedic devices. The antibiotic susceptibility profile of the bacteria mostly responsible for OAIs is therefore crucial information for choosing the appropriate antibiotic regimen administered during the removal procedure until the first results of the conventional culture.

Methods: The antibiotic susceptibility profile of staphylococci isolated from OAIs in a referent center for osteoarticular infection was studied over a 10-y period to adapt antibiotic protocols to the ecology.

A new case of Mycoplasma hominis mediastinitis and sternal osteitis after cardiac surgery.

We report a case of nosocomial mediastinitis and sternal osteitis due to M. hominis after open-heart surgery in an immuno-competent patient. This infection has been diagnosed by incubating the culture media for an extended period of time, and sequencing 16S rDNA directly from the clinical samples.

Ruminococcus gnavus: an unusual pathogen in septic arthritis.

Ruminococcus gnavus is an anaerobic Gram positive coccus that can be found in the gastrointestinal tract of animals and humans. We report a case of septic arthritis caused by R. gnavus that was identified by mass spectrometry and confirmed by 16S rRNA sequencing.

Difficulty with identification by Microflex mass spectrometer in a pacemaker-induced endocarditis.

Introduction: This report describes the first case, to the best of our knowledge, of pacemaker-induced endocarditis due to .

Presentation: Pacemaker-induced endocarditis due to infection was determined in a 92-year old man. This Gram-positive bacillus failed to be identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry technology, whereas the taxon was indexed in the database.

Psychrobacter sanguinis: an unusual bacterium for nosocomial meningitis.

We report the first case of postneurosurgical meningitis due to Psychrobacter sanguinis, identified only by 16S rRNA analysis. Psychrobacter spp. usually live in deep sea environments and cold habitats.

First evaluation of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates from Congo revealed misdetection of fluoroquinolone resistance by line probe assay due to a double substitution T80A-A90G in GyrA.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major public health problems in Congo. However, data concerning Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance are lacking because of the insufficient processing capacity. So, the aim of this study was to investigate for the first time the resistance patterns and the strain lineages of a sample of M.

Molecular methods in the diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infections: an update.

Nucleic acid amplification techniques (NAATs) represent a major advance in the diagnosis of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection. This review analyzes the different options available for a molecular diagnosis of C.

Bacterial epidemiology of osteoarticular infections in a referent center: 10-year study.

Introduction: Management of osteoarticular infections combines surgical treatment with antibiotic therapy. For some teams the immediate postoperative regimen requires at least partly wide-spectrum probabilistic treatment while waiting for the microbiological results. This protocol exposes the patient to the selection of resistant bacteria and the hospital unit to a modification of its bacterial ecology.

Performance of stool cultures before and after a 3-day hospitalization: fewer cultures, better for patients and for money.

We evaluated retrospectively the yield of stool culture (SC) depending on the length of hospitalization, and we characterized the patients missed by the 3-day rejection rule. SC detects bacterial enteric pathogens (Campylobacter spp., Salmonella enterica, Yersinia spp.

Helicobacter pylori urease and flagellin alter mucin gene expression in human gastric cancer cells.

Background: Helicobacter pylori (Hp), which is one of the causative agents in human gastric adenocarcinoma, is known to interact with mucous gel and alter mucin gene expression. The aim of this work was to study, using an in vitro model of cell infection, the effects of urease, flagellin, and CagA virulence factors on the regulation of the four 11p15 mucin genes (MUC2, MUC5AC, MUC5B, and MUC6).

Methods: KATO-III and AGS gastric cancer cells were infected for 1, 3 or 6 h with Hp wild-type strains (ATCC 43504, N6, and SS1) or corresponding isogenic mutants deficient for urease subunit B, flagellin subunit A, and CagA.

Optimization of continuous infusion of piperacillin-tazobactam in children with fever and neutropenia.

The study through Monte Carlo simulation of β-lactam pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic target attainment and determination of subsequent serum concentrations of piperacillin-tazobactam administered through continuous infusion to children treated for fever and neutropenia shows that 400 mg/kg/day has the highest probability of target attainment against Pseudomonas aeurginosa in our oncology ward compared with the standard regimen of 300 mg/kg/day.

PCR-electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry: a new tool for the diagnosis of infective endocarditis from heart valves.

A polymerase chain reaction with an injection of the amplicons in an electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (PCR-ESI-MS) technique was evaluated for the diagnosis of bacterial and yeast pathogens on 13 cardiac valves with suspected endocarditis. At the moment of surgery, 3/13 PCR-ESI-MS results matched with microbiological documentation. Nine PCR-ESI-MS results correlated with Duke's criteria, leukocytes, C-reactive protein and blood cultures before surgery.

Efficacy of ciprofloxacin-gentamicin combination therapy in murine bubonic plague.

Potential benefits of combination antibiotic therapy for the treatment of plague have never been evaluated. We compared the efficacy of a ciprofloxacin (CIN) and gentamicin (GEN) combination therapy with that of each antibiotic administered alone (i) against Yersinia pestis in vitro and (ii) in a mouse model of bubonic plague in which animals were intravenously injected with antibiotics for five days, starting at two different times after infection (44 h and 56 h). In vitro, the CIN+GEN combination was synergistic at 0.

Assessment of the bio-preparedness and of the training of the French hospital laboratories in the event of biological threat.

A national laboratory network 'Biotox-Piratox' was created in 2003 in France with the purpose of detecting, confirming and reporting potential biological and chemical threat agents. This network is divided into three levels: Level 1 is dedicated to the evaluation of risks (biological, chemical, radiological), to sampling and packing. Level 2 consists of university and military hospitals, who deal with biological specimens, and of environmental and veterinary laboratories, who deal with environmental and animal samples.

An unusual case of fatal pericarditis due to Listeria monocytogenes.

Pericarditis due to Listeria monocytogenes is a very uncommon and serious disease. We describe a case of fatal subacute pericarditis that was caused by L. monocytogenes in a 61-year-old woman with Hodgkin's disease who was diagnosed in 1975 and considered cured.