Asymptomatic Visceral Leishmania infantum Infection in US Soldiers Deployed to Iraq.

Background: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), due to Leishmania infantum, is a persistent intracellular parasitic infection transmitted by the bite of infected sand flies. Symptomatic VL has been reported in U.S.

Improving detection of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing bacteria in a deployed setting.

Introduction: Organisms that produce extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) are significant causes of infection among deployed service members. These specific organisms have increased resistance to several antibiotics, limiting the choice of therapy for the provider. Currently, the deployed microbiology lab uses, by default, the Siemens NBPC30 panel to identify and measure antibiotic susceptibility of gram-negative organisms.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in wound cultures recovered from a combat support hospital in Iraq.

Background: Staphylococcus aureus infections complicate care of combat-related injuries and can independently result in skin and soft-tissue infections during deployments or training. Community-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA) strains seem to produce severe disease but retain susceptibility to many oral antimicrobials.

Changes in the incidences of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant organisms isolated in a military medical center.

Background: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa have emerged as the causes of nosocomial infections in critically ill patients.

Objective: To characterize the incidence of these MDR bacteria over time in the military healthcare system, comparing isolates recovered from overseas combat casualties with isolates recovered from local military and civilian patients.

Methods: Retrospective electronic records review of culture and/or susceptibility testing results of patients admitted to a military level I trauma center in San Antonio, Texas, during the period from January 2001 through December 2008.

Assessment of malaria in vitro drug combination screening and mixed-strain infections using the malaria Sybr green I-based fluorescence assay.

Several drug development strategies, including optimization of new antimalarial drug combinations, have been used to counter malaria drug resistance. We evaluated the malaria Sybr green I-based fluorescence (MSF) assay for its use in in vitro drug combination sensitivity assays. Drug combinations of previously published synergistic (atovaquone and proguanil), indifferent (chloroquine and azithromycin), and antagonistic (chloroquine and atovaquone) antimalarial drug interactions were tested against Plasmodium falciparum strains D6 and W2 using the MSF assay.

Resistance mechanisms in an in vitro-selected amoxicillin-resistant strain of Helicobacter pylori.

We investigated the beta-lactam resistance mechanism(s) of an in vitro-selected amoxicillin-resistant Helicobacter pylori strain (AmoxR). Our results demonstrated that resistance is due to a combination of amino acid substitutions in penicillin binding protein 1 (PBP1), HopB, and HopC identified in AmoxR, resulting in decreased affinity of PBP1 for amoxicillin and decreased accumulation of penicillin.