Detection of metallo-β-lactamase genes in clinical specimens by a commercial multiplex PCR system.

hyplex®-MBL ID Multiplex PCR-ELISA, a novel method for identifying metallo-β-lactamase genes directly in clinical specimens, was evaluated using a consecutive collection of 326 samples from three hospitals in Greece characterized by high prevalence of VIM producers. The method exhibited high sensitivity (98.0%) and specificity (98.

High rates of community-acquired, Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)- positive methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections in adult outpatients in Greece.

Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in 88 (30.8%) of 286 adult patients suffering from various skin and soft-tissue infections examined in the outpatient department of a 650 bed tertiary-care hospital of Athens, Greece between January 2006 and December 2007. Twenty-seven (30.

Acanthamoeba keratitis and contact lens disinfecting solutions.

Objectives: To report cases of culture-proved Acanthamoeba keratitis in Greece over a 10-year period and to evaluate the effectiveness of the commonly used commercial contact lens disinfecting systems in clinical cases of Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Material And Methods: During the years 1994-2004, 45 contact lens wearers and 3 non-contact lens wearers presenting with symptoms and signs of keratitis underwent corneal sampling. The scrapings obtained were inoculated directly onto appropriate culture media for bacteria, fungi and Acanthamoeba.

Evaluation of imipenem/imipenem+EDTA disk method for detection of metallo-beta-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from blood cultures.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the imipenem (IMP) and IMP+EDTA (IMP/IMP+EDTA) disk method for the detection of metallo-beta-lactamases (MBLs) in clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae with various MIC levels to IMP. Forty-one blood isolates of K. pneumoniae with MIC to IMP ranging from < or =0.