Gluconobacter as well as Asaia species, newly emerging opportunistic human pathogens among acetic acid bacteria.

Acetic acid bacteria (AAB) are broadly used in industrial food processing. Among them, members of the genera Asaia, Acetobacter, and Granulibacter were recently reported to be human opportunistic pathogens. We isolated AAB from clinical samples from three patients and describe here the clinical and bacteriological features of these cases.

Novel synthetic molecules targeting the bacterial RNA polymerase assembly.

Objectives: Despite extensive functional screening of the bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) over the past years, very few novel inhibitors have been reported. We have, therefore, decided to screen with a radically different, non-enzymic, protein-protein interaction assay. Our target is the highly conserved RNAP-sigma interaction that is essential for transcription.

Molecular and phenotypic features for identification of the opportunistic pathogens Ochrobactrum spp.

Among the six species characterized within the genus Ochrobactrum, Ochrobactrum anthropi and Ochrobactrum intermedium are currently reported as opportunistic pathogens in humans. Since the species identification is mainly based on 16S rDNA analysis, the aim of this study was to search for other characteristics useful for Ochrobactrum species discrimination. Ribotyping, morphological and biochemical analyses, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were performed for a panel of 35 clinical isolates, first identified to the species level using 16S rDNA sequencing.

[Mycobacterium simiae infections: about two cases].

We report two cases of Mycobacterium simiae infections differing by the site of infection, the immunological status of the patients and the diagnostic methods used. The first case is a disseminated infection in an advanced immunosuppressed patient who died quickly confirming the severity of this infection in the context of HIV infection. The second case presented is a respiratory disease in a women with a past history of tuberculosis and an uneventful evolution of the M.

Risk factors for multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa nosocomial infection.

A case-control study was conducted in a university hospital to determine the risk factors for nosocomial infection with multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MDR-PA) among all hospitalized patients and among those with a nosocomial infection due to P. aeruginosa. Eighty patients infected with MDR-PA, 75 infected with a non-MDR phenotype and 240 random controls were included in the 12-month study.

Risk factors for antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli isolated from hospitalized patients with urinary tract infections: a prospective study.

From November 1998 to February 1999 we prospectively evaluated the prevalence of resistance to penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenem, quinolones, aminoglycosides, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT) in 320 Escherichia coli isolates isolated from hospitalized patients with acute urinary tract infections (UTIs). We also studied for these strains risk factors for resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (AMC), fluoroquinolones (FQs), and SXT. Resistance rates were consistent with those from major recent studies reported in the literature.

A population approach to the forecasting of amikacin plasma and urinary levels using a prescribed dosage regimen.

We retrospectively analyzed amikacin pharmacokinetics in 19 critically ill patients who received amikacin intravenously. Fourteen subjects (577 serum amikacin concentrations, 167 urine measurements) were studied to obtain data for population modeling, while 5 patients (267 serum amikacin concentrations, 68 urine measurements) were studied for the assessment of predictive performance. The population analysis was performed using serum and urine amikacin measurements; the renal clearance of amikacin was expressed as a function of creatinine clearance.

Population pharmacokinetics of amikacin in critically ill patients.

The pharmacokinetic parameters of amikacin were determined in a population of 20 adults and 36 pediatric patients admitted into an intensive care unit. Amikacin was administered by repeated intravenous infusion over 0.5 h (600 to 1,350 mg for adults; 70 to 1,500 mg for children).

Pefloxacin clinical pharmacokinetics.

Pefloxacin has a broad spectrum of activity against a great number of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. It is also capable of penetration into cells, yielding high tissue:serum ratios, with implications for the treatment of infections caused by intracellular pathogens. Pefloxacin is well absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract.

Epidemiological study by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of an outbreak of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in a geriatric hospital.

Twelve cases of infections caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBla)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae were reported between August 1991 and March 1993 in the Geriatric Department of the Nimes University Hospital, where these bacterial had not been previously isolated. Restriction profiles of total genomic DNAs cleaved by XbaI and SpeI were compared by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The strains that were tested included the 12 isolates from K.

Disposition of roxithromycin in the epididymis after repeated oral administration.

The epididymal penetration of roxithromycin was studied in order to evaluate the drug for use in the treatment of epididymo-orchitis. Seventeen patients hospitalized for surgery as part of treatment for prostatic adenoma or prostatic cancer were premedicated orally with roxithromycin 150 mg bd for three days followed by 150 mg pre-operatively (3 h before surgical incision). Roxithromycin concentrations in serum and epididymis were determined by microbiological assay.

DNA polymorphisms in methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus.

Restriction fragment length polymorphisms in methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant (MRSA) strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated in the same hospital over a 4-month period were studied by using SmaI and ApaI digestion of genomic DNA and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Each of the 20 methicillin-susceptible strains had a unique SmaI pattern, but the 27 MRSA strains showed only seven SmaI patterns. More than half of the SmaI fragments in all of these seven patterns were identical, as were those in the patterns from two unrelated MRSA strains.

Use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis for investigation of hospital outbreaks of Acinetobacter baumannii.

Genomic DNAs from taxonomically and epidemiologically well-defined strains of Acinetobacter baumannii were digested with restriction endonucleases that cleave with low frequency, and the fragments were separated by pulse-field gel electrophoresis. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms were observed. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis can be used as an epidemiological tool to delineate outbreaks of nosocomial infections caused by A.

Altered tobramycin pharmacokinetics during chemoprophylaxis in bladder surgery.

The effect of bladder surgery on the pharmacokinetics of tobramycin in hospitalized patients was studied. Fourteen patients with vesical neoplasia undergoing urinary tract surgery were given tobramycin in a dose of 2 mg/kg of body weight. Each patient received the dose at the induction of anesthesia, about 1 h before surgical incision.

[A severe epidemic of Streptococcus group G infection in hemodialysis: epidemiologic survey by molecular biology and preventive measures].

An outbreak of group G streptococci infection affected 6 patients of an hemodialysis unit. Group G streptococci were isolated from patients and from numerous atmospheric specimens, different parts of two dialysis machines, and two blankets, but from only one nurse on the hospital staff. Typing of group G streptococci by an improved method of DNA fingerprinting showed that the isolates from one patient, the nurse and the two blankets differed from one another.

Use of low-frequency-cleavage restriction endonucleases for DNA analysis in epidemiological investigations of nosocomial bacterial infections.

Epidemiological investigations of bacterial infections are generally based on multiple phenotypic markers that are often difficult to verify. A more general and reliable method is genomic DNA analysis by restriction endonucleases. However, the commonly used endonucleases produce too many fragments for correct separation by agarose electrophoresis.

Two cases of Mycobacterium haemophilum infection in a renal-dialysis unit.

Two cases of Mycobacterium haemophilum infection in renal-transplant patients occurred in the same hospital department. This raised the possibility that infection may have been acquired in hospital.

[Pneumococcal pneumonia and septic shock in the newborn infant].

Pneumococcal sepsis and pneumonia in the neonate are rarely reported. They appear either as an early-onset respiratory distress with a high mortality rate or as a delayed infection. The authors describe 3 term neonates with an early respiratory distress syndrome and recall the main points of this severe foeto-maternal infection.

[Comparison of the efficacy of cefotaxime alone and the combination cefazolin-tobramycin in the treatment of enterobacterial septicemia].

In a prospective, randomized study we compared cefotaxime (C) with tobramycin plus cefazolin (C + T) in the treatment of Enterobacterial septicemia. Twenty-five patients received C and twenty two C + T. There are 8 treatment failures, in C + T group, 3 in C group.

Previously undescribed 6.6-kilobase R plasmid in penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

A penicillin-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae strain was isolated. The resistance was due to the production of TEM-1 beta-lactamase encoded by a plasmid. This 6.

Mycobacterium haemophilum and mycobacterium xenopi associated infection in a renal transplant patient.

The case is presented of a renal-transplant patient in Europe with a Mycobacterium haemophilum infection in association with M. xenopi infection. Clinical signs suggested the diagnosis of mycobacteriosis, which was confirmed by a skin biopsy.

In vitro immunosuppressive activity of gram-positive (Streptococcus pyogenes) peptidoglycan on mouse lymphocytes.

A peptidoglycan fraction prepared from group-A streptococcus was assayed for in vitro mitogenicity on mouse lymphocytes. This fraction reduced considerably the uptake of radioactive thymidine both on unstimulated cell suspensions and on suspensions stimulated by T(PHA)- or B(LPS)-mitogens. The immunosuppression was induced by relatively moderate doses of the fraction, and was dose-dependent.