Phenotypic and genetic characterization of antimicrobial profiles of Helicobacter pylori strains in Cuba.

The study evaluated the antibiotic resistance patterns of Helicobacter pylori strains against metronidazole and clarithromycin in a hospital in Havana, Cuba. Eighty-five percent, 22.5%, and 10% of 40 H.

Safety and preliminary immunogenicity of MenC/P64k, a meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccine with a new recombinant carrier.

This study reports the preliminary assessment of the safety and immunogenicity of the first serogroup C conjugate vaccine candidate that includes meningococcal P64k recombinant protein as the carrier (MenC/P64k). Twenty volunteers were recruited for a double-blind, randomized, controlled phase I clinical trial, receiving a single dose of MenC/P64k (study group) and a single dose of the commercial polysaccharide vaccine AC (control group). Only mild reactions were observed.

Evaluation of the BIOCEN GC agar medium base in antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Background: Since 1995, the Cuban Reference Laboratory for Neisseria has been monitoring the antibiotic susceptibility of gonococci, following the methodology of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards, which uses GC agar medium base supplemented with 1% Vitox. We evaluated three lots of GC agar medium base produced by BIOCEN, Cuba, in antibiotic susceptibility testing of reference and wild strains of gonococci.

Methods: The susceptibilities to five antibiotics were evaluated five times on three lots of GC agar medium base from BIOCEN.

[Evaluation of different methods of utilization of sugars in Neisseria gonorrhoeae].

5 methods of utilization of sugars were evaluated in 25 strains previously identified as N. gonorrhoeae: CTA agar, modified CTA agar, gelatin starch agar, Mueller Hinton agar plus bromotimol blue and rapid method. 100% of the strains of N.

Evaluation of four methods for detecting the beta-lactamase activity in Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated in Cuba.

Four methods (chromogenic, acidimetric, inhibition, and iodometric) for demonstration of the beta-lactamase production by 70 isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, were evaluated in Cuba. There was 100% correlation between all beta-lactamase methods and the standardized penicillin dilution susceptibility test for penicillinase-non-producing N. gonorrhoeae.

Antimicrobial susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Cuba (1995-1999): implications for treatment of gonorrhea.

Background: Antibiotic-resistant strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, especially those resistant to penicillin and tetracycline, have spread with remarkable rapidity in many Caribbean countries.

Goal: The goal of the study was to survey the antibiotic susceptibilities of N gonorrhoeae strains isolated from 1995 to 1999 in Cuba and to discuss the impact of antimicrobial resistance on the management of gonorrhea in the country.

Study Design: Susceptibility of the strains to penicillin, tetracycline, cefuroxime, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, spectinomycin, and azithromycin were determined by an agar dilution method.