Clinical and microbiological evaluation of temocillin for bloodstream infections with Enterobacterales: a Belgian single-centre retrospective study.

Background: Expanding the use of temocillin could be an important weapon in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. However, EUCAST defined clinical breakpoints for a limited number of species and only for urinary tract infections (UTI), including urosepsis but excluding severe sepsis and septic shock. Moreover, a dosage of 2 g q8h is advised in most cases.

Multicenter evaluation of the revised RIDA® QUICK test (N1402) for rapid detection of norovirus in a diagnostic laboratory setting.

The updated RIDA® QUICK (N1402) immunochromatographic assay (R-Biopharm) for detection of norovirus was evaluated during a prospective, multicenter study using 771 stool samples from patients with gastroenteritis. Compared to real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-rtPCR) as gold standard, the RIDA® QUICK had an overall sensitivity of 72.8% (91/125) and a specificity of 99.

The preanalytical optimization of blood cultures: a review and the clinical importance of benchmarking in 5 Belgian hospitals.

Bloodstream infections remain a major challenge in medicine. Optimal detection of pathogens is only possible if the quality of preanalytical factors is thoroughly controlled. Since the laboratory is responsible for this preanalytical phase, the quality control of critical factors should be integrated in its quality control program.

Performance of a new chromogenic medium, BBL CHROMagar MRSA II (BD), for detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in screening samples.

Two chromogenic media for the detection of MRSA were compared: BBL CHROMagar MRSA II (BD) and MRSA ID agar (bioMérieux). Following overnight nonselective enrichment, 1,919 screening samples were inoculated on both chromogenic agars. After 24 h, the sensitivities of both media were high and comparable.

Different clonal complexes of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus are disseminated in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine region.

The Euregio Meuse-Rhine (EMR) is formed by the border regions of Belgium, Germany, and The Netherlands. Cross-border health care requires infection control measures, in particular since the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) differs among the three countries. To investigate the dissemination of MRSA in the EMR, 152 MRSA isolates were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), SCCmec typing, and multilocus sequence typing.