Outbreak of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Klebsiella oxytoca infections associated with contaminated handwashing sinks(1).

Klebsiella oxytoca is primarily a health care-associated pathogen acquired from environmental sources. During October 2006-March 2011, a total of 66 patients in a hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, acquired class A extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing K. oxytoca with 1 of 2 related pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns.

New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase-1: local acquisition in Ontario, Canada, and challenges in detection.

New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) is a recently identified metallo-β-lactamase that confers resistance to carbapenems and all other β-lactam antibiotics, with the exception of aztreonam. NDM-1 is also associated with resistance to many other classes of antibiotics. The enzyme was first identified in organisms isolated from a patient in Sweden who had previously received medical treatment in India, but it is now recognized as endemic throughout India and Pakistan and has spread worldwide.

Antimicrobial properties of hemokinin-1 against strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Aims: In this study, we examined whether hemokinin-1, the newest member of the tachykinin family and a close relative of substance P, has antimicrobial properties which have been attributed to other neuropeptides including substance P.

Main Methods: Top agar assays were performed to determine the antimicrobial activity of hemokinin-1 and substance P against various microorganisms.

Key Findings: Here we provide evidence that hemokinin-1 peptide possesses antimicrobial properties against some strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, while substance P was only marginally effective.

Outbreak of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization and infection secondary to imperfect intensive care unit room design.

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been increasingly recognized for its ability to cause significant hospital-associated outbreaks, particularly since the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains. Biofilm formation allows the pathogen to persist in environmental reservoirs. Thus, multiple hospital room design elements, including sink placement and design, can impact nosocomial transmission of P.

Detecting latent tuberculosis infection in hemodialysis patients: a head-to-head comparison of the T-SPOT.TB test, tuberculin skin test, and an expert physician panel.

Current guidelines advocate screening hemodialysis patients for latent tuberculosis infection; however, the tuberculin skin test (TST) is believed to be insensitive in this population. This study compared the diagnostic utility of the TST with that of an IFN-gamma assay (T-SPOT.TB) and the clinical consensus of an expert physician panel.

Routine use of mupirocin at the peritoneal catheter exit site and mupirocin resistance: still low after 7 years.

Objective: The purpose of this study (the third in a series of similar studies) is to evaluate the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus (SA), methicillin-resistant SA (MRSA) and mupirocin-resistant SA (MuRSA) carriers in a peritoneal dialysis centre where patients have been instructed to use prophylactic mupirocin ointment at the catheter exit site over the last 7 years.

Methods: Swabs were taken from catheter exit site, nares, axillae and groin in 147 chronic peritoneal dialysis out-patients between November 2003 and January 2004. Axillae/groin and nasal samples were pooled and cultured in the same medium, whereas exit site swabs were cultured separately.

Stability of reconstituted freeze-dried Bacille Calmette-Guérin used for intravesical immunotherapy for bladder cancer.

The product monographs for the commercially available products of Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) state they must be used immediately following reconstitution. We hypothesized that the viability of the reconstituted preparations of BCG would not be altered for a period of up to 4 hours thus allowing a longer time interval between full preparation and its intravesical administration. Vials of freeze-dried ImmuCysttrade mark (Connaught Laboratories) and TICEtrade mark BCG (Organon-Teknika) were fully reconstituted in approximately 50 ml of saline and aliquots of the fully reconstituted product were serially diluted and inoculated onto freshly prepared Lowenstein-Jensen slants and colony counts were conducted at 0, 2, and 4 hours.