Enterobacter cloacae Complex Isolates Harboring or -Type Class A Carbapenemase Genes on Novel Chromosomal Integrative Elements and Plasmids.

Carbapenem-resistant complex isolates submitted to a reference laboratory from 2010 to 2015 were screened by PCR for seven common carbapenemase gene groups, namely, KPC, NDM, OXA-48, VIM, IMP, GES, and NMC-A/IMI. Nineteen of the submitted isolates (1.7%) were found to harbor Ambler class A or -type carbapenemases.

Antimicrobial co-resistance patterns of gram-negative bacilli isolated from bloodstream infections: a longitudinal epidemiological study from 2002-2011.

Background: Increasing multidrug resistance in gram-negative bacilli (GNB) infections poses a serious threat to public health. Few studies have analyzed co-resistance rates, defined as an antimicrobial susceptibility profile in a subset already resistant to one specific antibiotic. The epidemiologic and clinical utility of determining co-resistance rates are analyzed and discussed.

Ten-year review of candidemia in a Canadian tertiary care centre: Predominance of non-albicans Candida species.

Objective: To review the epidemiology and associated risk factors for candidemia at a tertiary care centre, in view of recent reports on the changing epidemiology of bloodstream infection due to Candida species.

Methods: Between January 2000 and December 2009, patients with blood culture samples positive for Candida species were identified using the microbiology laboratory information system. Patient data were collected by retrospective chart review of clinical characteristics including demographic data, underlying medical diagnoses and risk factors.

Changing epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Canada.

Objectives: To compare the demographics, antimicrobial susceptibilities and molecular epidemiology of community-associated (CA) and healthcare-associated (HA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Canada.

Methods: Between 2007 and 2011, 1266 MRSA were collected from inpatients and outpatients attending tertiary-care medical centres across Canada. Susceptibility testing was performed using broth microdilution and isolates were characterized by spa typing and PCR to detect the Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL) gene.

Antibiotic resistance in isolates recovered from women with community-acquired urinary tract infections presenting to a tertiary care emergency department.

Introduction: We sought to determine the antibiotic susceptibility of organisms causing community-acquired urinary tract infections (UTIs) in adult females attending an urban emergency department (ED) and to identify risk factors for antibiotic resistance.

Methods: We reviewed the ED charts of all nonpregnant, nonlactating adult females with positive urine cultures for 2008 and recorded demographics, diagnosis, complicating factors, organism susceptibility, and risk factors for antibiotic resistance. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for potential risk factors were calculated.

Microbiologic investigations for head and neck infections.

A variety of methods, including direct examination of stained smears, antigen detection, routine and special cultures, and histopathologic evaluation are available for investigation of head and neck infections. Newer rapid molecular techniques with increased sensitivity and specificity are becoming available at many centers. Evaluation of specific causes in head and neck infections is complicated by the tendency for polymicrobial infections, difficulty in obtaining adequate specimens, and the presence of a diverse endogenous microflora at various mucosal sites that also can include true pathogens.

Coordinated response to SARS, Vancouver, Canada.

Two Canadian urban areas received travelers with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) before the World Health Organization issued its alert. By July 2003, Vancouver had identified 5 cases (4 imported); Toronto reported 247 cases (3 imported) and 43 deaths. Baseline preparedness for pandemic threats may account for the absence of sustained transmission and fewer cases of SARS in Vancouver.

The antimicrobial effect of nitric oxide on the bacteria that cause nosocomial pneumonia in mechanically ventilated patients in the intensive care unit.

Background: Nosocomial pneumonia is the second most frequent nosocomial infection and the leading cause of death from hospital-acquired infection. Endogenously produced nitric oxide is an important component of the body's natural defense mechanism. Recent studies have demonstrated that exogenous gaseous nitric oxide (gNO) is bactericidal and that inhaled gNO is beneficial to bacterial clearance.

Cryptococcus neoformans infections at Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre (1997-2002): epidemiology, microbiology and histopathology.

An outbreak of infections due to a rare subspecies of Cryptococcus neoformans (var. gattii) was recognized on Vancouver Island (VI), British Columbia, in 2002, which had affected 59, mostly immunocompetent, individuals since 1999. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine if the outbreak had spread to Vancouver and its surrounding communities and (2) review the epidemiological, clinical and pathological features of all cryptococcal infections in patients admitted to the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre (VHHSC) over a 5 year period.