Publications by authors named "Dijana Varda-Brkic"

Introduction: Nocardia spp. is an opportunistic pathogen capable of causing localized and disseminated infections in immunocompromised hosts. It is critical for serious infections to have an early and accurate identification of this pathogen in order to enable timely and focused combination antimicrobial treatment.

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Resistance to carbapenems in has become a matter of the highest concern in the last decade. Recently, harboring multiple carbapenemases were detected in three hospital centers in Croatia and in the outpatient setting, posing a serious therapeutic challenge for clinicians. In this study, we analyzed eight and two complex isolates with multiple carbapenemases, with regard to antibiotic susceptibility, β-lactamase production and plasmid content.

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Colistin is a last-resort antibiotic for the treatment of infections caused by multidrug and carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Colistin resistance has been emerging and multiple outbreaks have been reported in Europe and elsewhere. It has been most frequently reported in carbapenem-resistant K.

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Purpose: A dramatic increase in OXA-48 β-lactamase was observed recently not only in large hospital centres, but also in smaller suburban hospital centres in geographic areas bordering Croatia. The aim of the study was to analyse the epidemiology, the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and the routes of spread of OXA-48 carbapenemase in Croatia.

Methods: Carbapenemase and other β-lactamase and fluoroquinolone resistance genes were detected by PCR and sequencing.

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Aim: We report the first outbreak caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing K. pneumoniae sequence type 258 (ST 258) clone that occurred in Croatia from May to December 2012.

Materials & Methods: 23 carbapenem-resistant K.

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Enterobacter spp. develops resistance to expanded-spectrum cephalosporins by induction or derepression of chromosomal AmpC β-lactamase, or production of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) or carbapenemases. The aim of the study was to analyze the mechanisms of resistance to expanded-spectrum cephalosporins and the evolution of resistance mechanism during the study period (2008–2011) on a collection of 58 randomly collected Enterobacter spp.

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The aims of this study were to induce in vitro metronidazole resistance in nim-negative Bacteroides fragilis group strains and to determine the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity of the induced strains. A collection of B. fragilis group strains were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS).

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Carbapenemases involved in acquired carbapenem resistance in Enterobacteriaceae belong to Ambler class A serin β-lactamases, class B metallo-β-lactamases (MBL) or class D OXA-48-like β-lactamases. The aim of the present study was to analyse the molecular epidemiology and the mechanisms and routes of spread of class B and class D carbapenemases in Croatia. In total 68 isolates were analyzed.

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Purpose: Aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), extended-spectrum (ESBL) and plasmid-mediated AmpC beta-lactamase producing Gram-negative bacteria in children.

Methods: Antibiotic susceptibility of MRSA and beta-lactamase producing Gram-negative bacteria was determined by disc diffusion and broth microdilution methods according to CLSI guidelines. Methicillin resistance was confirmed by the presence of mecA gene by PCR.

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