Bacterial growth in patients with low back pain and Modic changes: protocol of a multicentre, case-control biopsy study.

Introduction: Bacterial infection and Modic changes (MCs) as causes of low back pain (LBP) are debated. Results diverged between two randomised controlled trials examining the effect of amoxicillin with and without clavulanic acid versus placebo on patients with chronic LBP (cLBP) and MCs. Previous biopsy studies have been criticised with regard to methods, few patients and controls, and insufficient measures to minimise perioperative contamination.

Risk of death in Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream infections is associated with specific phylogenetic lineages.

Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae species complex (KpSC) bloodstream infections (BSIs) are associated with considerable morbidity and mortality, particularly in elderly and multimorbid patients. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains have been associated with poorer outcome. However, the clinical impact of KpSC phylogenetic lineages on BSI outcome is unclear.

Meropenem pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic target attainment and clinical response in ICU patients: A prospective observational study.

Background: Several studies report lack of meropenem pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) target attainment (TA) and risk of therapeutic failure with intermittent bolus infusions in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. The aim of this study was to describe meropenem TA in an ICU population and the clinical response in the first 72 h after therapy initiation.

Methods: A prospective observational study of ICU patients ≥18 years was conducted from 2014 to 2017.

Guideline for management of septic arthritis in native joints (SANJO).

This clinical guideline is intended for use by orthopedic surgeons and physicians who care for patients with possible or documented septic arthritis of a native joint (SANJO). It includes evidence and opinion-based recommendations for the diagnosis and management of patients with SANJO.

Emergence and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli causing bloodstream infections in Norway in 2002-17: a nationwide, longitudinal, microbial population genomic study.

Background: The clonal diversity underpinning trends in multidrug resistant Escherichia coli causing bloodstream infections remains uncertain. We aimed to determine the contribution of individual clones to resistance over time, using large-scale genomics-based molecular epidemiology.

Methods: This was a longitudinal, E coli population, genomic, cohort study that sampled isolates from 22 512 E coli bloodstream infections included in the Norwegian surveillance programme on resistant microbes (NORM) from 2002 to 2017.

Factors increasing the risk of inappropriate vancomycin therapy in ICU patients: A prospective observational study.

Background: Vancomycin trough levels are frequently subtherapeutic in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. The aim of this study was to identify patients at risk of therapeutic failure defined as vancomycin area-under-the-curve /minimum inhibitory concentration (AUC /MIC) <400, and to examine possible effects of different MICs, the variability in renal clearance and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), and the relevance of vancomycin therapy.

Methods: A prospective observational study of ICU patients 18 years at initiation of vancomycin therapy was conducted from May 2013 to October 2015.

Correction: Impact of extensive antibiotic treatment on faecal carriage of antibiotic-resistant enterobacteria in children in a low resistance prevalence setting.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Transfer of a bla -carrying plasmid between different Escherichia coli strains within the human gut explored by whole genome sequencing analyses.

Horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance determinants contributes to dissemination of antibiotic resistance. Such transfer of resistance genes within the human gut has been documented in some in vivo studies. The present study investigated seven bla -carrying Escherichia coli isolates from three consecutive faecal samples collected from one cystic fibrosis patient in a nine-months period, by analysing whole genome sequencing data.

Impact of extensive antibiotic treatment on faecal carriage of antibiotic-resistant enterobacteria in children in a low resistance prevalence setting.

We prospectively studied the consequences of extensive antibiotic treatment on faecal carriage of antibiotic-resistant enterobacteria in a cohort of children with cystic fibrosis (CF) and a cohort of children with cancer compared to healthy children with no or low antibiotic exposure. The study was conducted in Norway in a low resistance prevalence setting. Sixty longitudinally collected faecal samples from children with CF (n = 32), 88 samples from children with cancer (n = 45) and 127 samples from healthy children (n = 70) were examined.

A novel Direct MIC-gradient Strip Method to screen for antibiotic-resistant faecal Enterobacteriaceae.

A novel method to detect resistant faecal Enterobacteriaceae was developed by applying MIC-gradient strips directly onto agar plates inoculated with faeces. The method provided the susceptibility pattern (MICs) of the dominant bacterial population directly on the plates and also detected smaller resistant subpopulations with a sensitivity of 1/10(5).

Multilocus sequence typing of serial Candida albicans isolates from children with cancer, children with cystic fibrosis and healthy controls.

Candida albicans is a fungal pathogen, but also a commensal in many individuals. Since detailed molecular studies of children carrying C. albicans are lacking, we longitudinally investigated fecal and tonsillopharyngeal samples from 10 children undergoing treatment for cancer, six children treated for cystic fibrosis (CF), and seven healthy children during the time period of 1999-2008.

Unchanged antibiotic susceptibility in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa after long-term in vitro exposure to antineoplastic drugs.

Background: Certain antineoplastic drugs inhibit bacterial growth. Whether these drugs also cause genetic changes in bacteria that lead to increased antibiotic resistance is not yet documented. Given the massive and repeated antibiotic treatment most cancer patients undergo, this question is important.

[Bacterial resistance against antibiotics].

Background: Antibiotic resistance has progressed over many decades and is increasingly problematic. This paper gives a short summary of antibiotic resistance and its biology.

Material And Methods: The authors have worked in this field for many years.

[Coagulase-negative staphylococci--biofilm and antibiotic resistance].

Background: Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) may cause serious infections in immunocompromized patients. CoNS often display multiresistance to antibiotics, and biofilm production is the central virulence factor. Our aim was to investigate these factors in CoNS that colonize children with an increased risk of CoNS infections.

Febrile neutropenia in children with cancer: a retrospective Norwegian multicentre study of clinical and microbiological outcome.

Our objective was to describe clinical and laboratory characteristics, treatment and outcome among Norwegian children with cancer suffering from chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia (FN). We retrospectively reviewed data on paediatric FN episodes in 7 Norwegian hospitals during a 2.5-y period.