Evaluation of a new protocol for rapid identification of in blood cultures using the modified bile solubility test: Gram staining is still standing.

This study aimed to evaluate a new protocol of the bile solubility test performed directly on the blood from positive blood culture bottles to identify rapidly. Seventy-five positive blood cultures (PBC) showing Gram-positive cocci in pairs or chains on Gram stain, including 32 isolates and three reference American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) isolates were included to evaluate the performance of a modified bile solubility test (MBST). One milliliter of blood from the PBC bottle was mixed with 0.

Molecular Diagnostics for Group A Streptococcal Pharyngitis: Clinical and Economic Benefits in the Belgian Healthcare Context.

Unlabelled: (1) Background: Group A Streptococcal (GAS) pharyngitis is common, resulting in numerous ambulatory visits. Accurate diagnosis is challenging. This study evaluated the clinical utility, cost, and performance of a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) for GAS detection, comparing it to a rapid antigen detection test (RADT) and throat culture.

Comparison of two commercial broth microdilution panels for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria: Thermo Scientific™ Sensititre DKMGN vs. Beckman Coulter MicroScan NMDRM1.

Introduction: Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) using broth microdilution (BMD) is usually the reference method to obtain accurate minimum inhibitory concentrations and optimally manage infections with resistant organisms. Several commercial dry BMD are available for AST in clinical laboratories.

Materials And Methods: Two commercial BMD panels for testing of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria were compared: the Thermo Scientific™ Sensititre DKMGN and the Beckman Coulter NMDRM1, for 17 antimicrobial agents.

Case report: Personalized triple phage-antibiotic combination therapy to rescue necrotizing fasciitis caused by Panton-Valentine leukocidin-producing MRSA in a 12-year-old boy.

Maximal standard-of-care (SOC) management could not stop the life-threatening progression of a necrotizing fasciitis induced by Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-producing Methicillin-Resistant (MRSA) in a 12-year-old boy. Multi-route phage therapy was initiated along with antibiotics against and , eventually leading to full recovery with no reported adverse events.

Antibiotic use by clinical presentation across all healthcare providers in rural Burkina Faso: a healthcare visit exit survey.

Background: To guide antibiotic stewardship interventions, understanding for what indications antibiotics are used is essential.

Methods: In rural Burkina Faso, we measured antibiotic dispensing across all healthcare providers. From October 2021 to February 2022, we surveyed patients in Nanoro district, Burkina Faso, following visits to health centres (3), pharmacies (2), informal medicine vendors (5) and inpatients in health centres.

A Rare Case of Streptococcus cristatus Spondylodiscitis Identified by Bacterial 16S rRNA Polymerase Chain Reaction Sequencing: A Case Report and a Review of the Literature.

We report here a rare case of spondylodiscitis due to in a healthy 66-year-old male. Due to an abscess causing neurological deficit, which required immediate surgical intervention, a PCR targeting 16S rRNA was performed on the surgical samples as all blood and tissue cultures remained negative. This molecular assay allowed for the identification of this rare , a member of the mitis group and commensal of the oral cavity, whose pathogenicity remains uncertain although it has been seldom reported in cases of human infections, mostly bacteremia and endocarditis.

Low specificity of spp. ELITe MGB assay, and potential risks in management of invasive aspergillosis.

Objectives: In recent years, commercial molecular tools for diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis have emerged, requiring evaluation to ensure quality. Here we assessed the specificity of spp.-ELITe MGB Assay a commercial assay tergeting 18S gene of spp.

Protective effect of microbisporicin (NAI-107) against vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecium infection in a Galleria mellonella model.

Increasing antimicrobial resistance in Enterococcus faecium necessitates the search for novel treatment agents, such as bacteriocins. In this study, we conducted an in vivo assessment of five bacteriocins, namely Lacticin Z, Lacticin Q, Garvicin KS (ABC), Aureocin A53 and Microbisporicin (NAI-107), against vanB-resistant Enterococcus faecium using a Galleria mellonella model. Our in vitro experiments demonstrated the efficacy of all five bacteriocins against vanB-resistant E.

Triple Gram-negative bacterial endophthalmitis following intravitreal injection.

Purpose: To describe a puzzling case of endophthalmitis caused by three unusual bacteria after intravitreal injection, its outcome, and underlying questions.

Findings: A 70-year-old female patient was diagnosed with acute endophthalmitis following intravitreal aflibercept injection for age-related macular degeneration. A standard tap and inject procedure was performed.

Optimized Antibiotic Management of Critically Ill Patients with Severe Pneumonia Following Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction Testing: A Prospective Clinical Exploratory Trial.

Molecular diagnostic testing is assumed to enable fast respiratory pathogen identification and contribute to improved pneumonia management. We set up a prospective clinical trial at a tertiary hospital intensive care unit including adult patients suspected of severe pneumonia from whom a lower respiratory tract sample could be obtained. During control periods (CPs), routine testing was performed, and during intervention periods (IPs), this testing was completed with the FilmArray Pneumonia Panel test (FA-PNEU) executed 24/7.

Multicenter interlaboratory study of routine systems for the susceptibility testing of temocillin using a challenge panel of multidrug-resistant strains.

Accurate susceptibility result of temocillin (TMO) is important for treating infections caused by multidrug-resistant Enterobacterales. This multicenter study aimed to investigate the performance of routine temocillin testing assays against Enterobacterales challenging strains. Forty-seven selected clinical isolates were blindly analyzed by 12 Belgian laboratories using VITEK® 2 (n = 5) and BD Phoenix™ (n = 3) automated systems, ETEST® gradient strip (n = 3), and disk (3 brands) diffusion method (DD; n = 6) for temocillin susceptibility using standardized methodology.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on infection in a tertiary healthcare institution in Belgium.

Objectives: Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) causes the greatest number of healthcare-associated infectious diarrhoea. CDIs are transmitted by direct and indirect patient-to-patient contact and risk increases with the use of antibiotics. Since early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected healthcare systems in many ways including substantial changes in hygiene behaviour.

Selective Bacteriocins: A Promising Treatment for Skin Infections Reveals Insights into Resistant Mutants, Vancomycin Resistance, and Cell Wall Alterations.

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant has become a major public health concern, necessitating the discovery of new antimicrobial compounds. Given that the skin microbiome plays a critical role in the host defence against pathogens, the development of therapies that target the interactions between commensal bacteria and pathogens in the skin microbiome offers a promising approach. Here, we report the discovery of two bacteriocins, cerein 7B and cerein B4080, that selectively inhibit without affecting , a commensal bacterium on the skin.

Evaluation of a commercial interferon-γ release assay for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 T-cell response after vaccination.

Objective: Evidence regarding the role of cellular immunity in protecting against COVID-19 is emerging. To better assess immune status, simple and robust assays measuring specific T-cell responses associated with humoral responses are needed. We aimed to evaluate the Quan-T-Cell SARS-CoV-2 test for measuring cellular immune responses in vaccinated healthy and immunosuppressed subjects.

Targeted Chromosomal Barcoding Establishes Direct Genotype-Phenotype Associations for Antibiotic Resistance in Mycobacterium abscessus.

A bedaquiline-resistant Mycobacterium abscessus isolate was sequenced, and a candidate mutation in the gene was identified as responsible for the antibiotic resistance phenotype. To establish a direct genotype-phenotype relationship of this mutation which results in a Asp-to-Ala change at position 29 (D29A), we developed a recombineering-based method consisting of the specific replacement of the desired mutation in the bacterial chromosome. As surrogate bacteria, we used two M.

Healthcare seeking outside healthcare facilities and antibiotic dispensing patterns in rural Burkina Faso: A mixed methods study.

Objective: Optimising antibiotic use is important to limit increasing antibiotic resistance. In rural Burkina Faso, over-the-counter dispensing of antibiotics in community pharmacies and non-licensed medicine retail outlets facilitates self-medication. We investigated its extent, reasons and dispensing patterns.

SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Belgian French-Speaking Primary Schools: An Epidemiological Pilot Study.

Schools have been a point of attention during the pandemic, and their closure one of the mitigating measures taken. A better understanding of the dynamics of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in elementary education is essential to advise decisionmakers. We conducted an uncontrolled non-interventional prospective study in Belgian French-speaking schools to describe the role of attending asymptomatic children and school staff in the spread of COVID-19 and to estimate the transmission to others.

A systematic review of epidemiology, risk factors, diagnosis, antifungal resistance, and management of invasive aspergillosis in Africa.

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) affects more than 300,000 people annually worldwide with a case fatality rate reaching 80%. However, in Africa despite the presence of risk factors for the development of IA, the burden of these fungal infections remained unknown. This systematic review aimed to update the available information on the epidemiology and the therapeutic management of IA in Africa.

Performance evaluation of the FAST™ System and the FAST-PBC Prep™ cartridges for speeded-up positive blood culture testing.

Objectives: As time to appropriate antimicrobial therapy is major to reduce sepsis mortality, there is great interest in the development of tools for direct identification (ID) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of positive blood cultures (PBC). Very recently, the FAST™ System (Qvella) has been developed to isolate and concentrate microorganisms directly from PBCs, resulting in the recovery of a Liquid Colony™ (LC) within 30 min. The LC can be used as equivalent of an overnight subcultured colony for downstream testing.

Bacteriophage-antibiotic combination therapy against extensively drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection to allow liver transplantation in a toddler.

Post-operative bacterial infections are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity after ongoing liver transplantation. Bacteria causing these infections in the hospital setting can exhibit high degrees of resistance to multiple types of antibiotics, which leads to major therapeutic hurdles. Alternate ways of treating these antibiotic-resistant infections are thus urgently needed.

Population Pharmacokinetics of Temocillin Administered by Continuous Infusion in Patients with Septic Shock Associated with Intra-Abdominal Infection and Ascitic Fluid Effusion.

Temocillin is active against Gram-negative bacteria, including many extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacterales. We studied its pharmacokinetics in plasma and ascitic fluid after intravenous administration of a loading dose of 2 g over 30 min, followed by continuous infusion of 6 g/24 h, to 19 critically-ill patients with septic shock associated with complicated intra-abdominal infection. We established a pharmacokinetic model describing unbound temocillin concentrations in plasma and ascitic fluid and performed Monte-Carlo simulations to evaluate the probability of target attainment (PTA) of unbound concentrations (100% fT > MIC, i.

Promising Antimicrobial Activity and Synergy of Bacteriocins Against .

In this study, we assessed the potential of bacteriocins and their synergistic effects in combination with anti-tuberculosis drugs against . We evaluated the activity of chemically synthesized bacteriocins in combination with rifampicin (RIF), ofloxacin, and moxifloxacin against the reference H37Rv and a clinical-resistant strain. We first screened the bacteriocin PARAGEN collection and found active bacteriocins.