Clinical evaluation of a new rapid immunochromatographic test for detection of Bordetella pertussis antigen.

A more rapid and less complicated test to diagnose pertussis is required in clinical settings. We need to detect Bordetella pertussis, which mainly causes pertussis, as early as possible, because pertussis is more likely to become severe in infants, and people around them can easily become a source of infection due to its strong infectivity. Nevertheless, methods that can detect B.

Clinical evaluation of highly sensitive silver amplification immunochromatography systems for rapid diagnosis of influenza.

In this study, the clinical usefulness of silver amplification immunochromatography (SAI) influenza virus detection kits, which employed a photographic development technology to increase the sensitivity of the conventional immunochromatographic assay was evaluated. Influenza A and B virus strains of nasopharyngeal aspirates obtained from influenza patients were tested at different dilutions on the SAI system and conventional immunochromatographic assay kit (ESPLINE Influenza A & B-N), and detection limits were calculated for comparison. The detection ability of the SAI system was 8 times higher for Influenza A viruses and 32-64 times higher for Influenza B viruses.

[Antibiotic therapy against acute tonsillopharyngitis in children due to group A beta-hemolytic streptococci: comparison of clinical efficacy, the bactericidal effects, and effects on oral flora between cefditoren pivoxil for 5 days and amoxicillin for 10 days].

We compared the clinical efficacy, the bactericidal effects, effect on the oral microbial flora, and adverse reactions between cefditoren pivoxil (CDTR-PI) for 5 days and amoxicillin (AMPC) for 10 days in children with acute group A beta-hemolytic streptococci (GAS) tonsillopharyngitis, and simultaneously examined the emm genotype and drug susceptibility of the isolated GAS. The results showed that the clinical efficacy was 100% for CDTR-PI and 97.9% for AMPC, with no difference between the two groups, and the bacterial elimination rate was 100% in both groups.

In vitro activity of CEM-101 against Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus pyogenes with defined macrolide resistance mechanisms.

CEM-101 had MIC ranges of 0.002 to 0.016 microg/ml against macrolide-susceptible pneumococci and 0.

[A case of bacterial meningitis due to Streptococcus bovis in an infant with normal cerebrospinal fluid findings at the first CSF examination].

Streptococcus bovis very occasionally causes rarely sepsis, endocarditis, and meningitis in newborns and the elderly. We report the case of infant meningitis caused by S. bovis despite normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings at the first CSF examination.

Genotypes of macrolide-resistant pneumococci from children in southwestern Japan: raised incidence of strains that have both erm(B) and mef(A) with serotype 6B clones.

MICs of penicillin G, erythromycin, clarithromycin, clindamycin, azithromycin, and telithromycin were tested for 189 clinical isolates collected during 2002 to 2005 from children in southwestern Japan. Serotyping and polymerase chain reaction for presence of erm(B) and mef(A) were performed. All strains with erm(B) + mef(A) were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and compared to 3 global clones: Spain(23F)-1; Spain(9V)-3 and its variant -14; a South Korean strain same as Taiwan (19F)-14 clone and 5 strains with erm(B) + mef(A) from other countries.

[Dipylidium caninum infection in an infant].

Dipylidium caninum, the dog tapeworm, is a common intestinal cestode of domestic dogs and cats, but few cases have been reported of human infection by this parasite in Japan. We repot a case of D. caninum infection in a 17 month-old girl, who sometimes had symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhea, and dysphoria at night.

Structural study on highly oxidized states of a water oxidation complex [RuIII(bpy)2(H2O)]2(mu-O)4+ by ruthenium K-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy.

The oxidation-induced structural change of a water-oxidizing diruthenium complex, [(bpy)(2)(H(2)O)Ru(III)(micro-O)Ru(III)(OH(2))(bpy)(2)](4+) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine), was investigated by means of X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Ru K-edge XANES (X-ray absorption near-edge structure) spectra from the acidic solution and solid precipitates obtained by oxidation showed that the absorption edge shifts toward higher energy with a preedge feature slightly more enhanced than those of the lower oxidation states. This indicates that the higher oxidation state has a lower symmetry due to shortening of the Ru-O bonds that originated from the water ligands.

Development of light-modulated XAFS spectroscopy.

The light-modulation method was applied to XAFS spectroscopy as a useful tool for electronic and structural studies of light-excited states. The visible light for electronic excitation was modulated by an optical chopper and the concomitant change in the X-ray absorbance was extracted by a lock-in amplifier. It is essential to reduce any noise arising from several sources, especially those generated by the X-ray monochromator.

Diversity of ampicillin-resistance genes in Haemophilus influenzae in Japan and the United States.

Clinical isolates of Haemophilus influenzae from Japan (n = 296) and the United States (n = 100) were tested by the microdilution method for susceptibility in vitro to 10 beta-lactam antibiotics and molecular mechanisms of beta-lactam resistance. For all isolates, PCR was used to identify six elements, including beta-lactamase-producing ampicillin (AMP)-resistance (BLPAR) and beta-lactamase-nonproducing AMP-resistance (BLNAR) genes as follows: (1) TEM-1 type beta-lactamase gene, (2) ROB-1 type beta-lactamase gene, (3) part of normal ftsI gene encoding PBP3, which is involved in septal peptidoglycan synthesis, (4) a portion of the ftsI gene possessing some amino acid substitutions commonly detected in BLNAR strains, (5) p6 gene encoding P6 membrane proteins specific to H. influenzae, and (6) serotype b capsule gene.

Incidence, epidemiology, and characteristics of quinolone-nonsusceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae in Croatia.

Among 585 Streptococcus pneumoniae strains isolated in 22 Croatian hospitals 21 strains (3.6%) were quinolone nonsusceptible. MICs of all quinolones were high for seven strains tested with the same serotype (23F) and mutations in gyrA, parC, and parE.

Activity of cefditoren against respiratory pathogens.

The activity of cefditoren and six other cephalosporins was tested against 250 pneumococci, including strains resistant to macrolides and quinolones. Cefditoren gave the lowest MICs, with MIC(50) and MIC(90) values of < or =0.016/0.

Resistance to macrolides in clinical isolates of Streptococcus pyogenes due to ribosomal mutations.

Objective: Two clinical strains of Streptococcus pyogenes, 237 and 544, one isolated in Slovakia and the other in Croatia, that were resistant to azithromycin (MIC 8 and 2 mg/L, respectively) but susceptible to erythromycin (MIC 0.5 and 0.12 mg/L, respectively) did not contain any gene known to confer macrolide resistance by ribosomal modification (erm gene) or efflux [mef(A) and msr(A) genes].

Effects of amino acid alterations in penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) 1a, 2b, and 2x on PBP affinities of penicillin, ampicillin, amoxicillin, cefditoren, cefuroxime, cefprozil, and cefaclor in 18 clinical isolates of penicillin-susceptible, -intermediate, and -resistant pneumococci.

Amino acid alterations in or flanking conserved motifs making up the active binding sites of penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) 1a, 2b, and 2x of pneumococci were correlated with changes in affinities of penicillin, ampicillin, amoxicillin, cefditoren, cefuroxime, cefprozil, and cefaclor for these PBPs. Four penicillin-susceptible (PSSP), eight penicillin-intermediate (PISP), and six penicillin-resistant (PRSP) pneumococci were studied by DNA sequencing of the penicillin-binding sites of the pbp1a, -2x, and -2b genes of strains and by determining 50% inhibitory concentrations of the seven agents for PBP1a, -2x, and -2b. Two PSSP strains had alterations in PBP2x (L(546)-->V) (one strain) or PBP2b (T(445)-->A) (one strain).

Susceptibility to telithromycin in 1,011 Streptococcus pyogenes isolates from 10 central and Eastern European countries.

Among 1,011 recently isolated Streptococcus pyogenes isolates from 10 Central and Eastern European centers, the MICs at which 50% of isolates are inhibited (MIC(50)s) and the MIC(90)s were as follows: for telithromycin, 0.03 and 0.06 microg/ml, respectively; for erythromycin, azithromycin, and clarithromycin, 0.

Susceptibilities to telithromycin and six other agents and prevalence of macrolide resistance due to L4 ribosomal protein mutation among 992 Pneumococci from 10 central and Eastern European countries.

The macrolide and levofloxacin susceptibilities of 992 isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae from clinical specimens collected in 1999 and 2000 were determined in 10 centers in Central and Eastern European countries. The prevalences of penicillin G-intermediate (MICs, 0.125 to 1 microg/ml) and penicillin-resistant (MICs, < or =2 microg/ml) Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates were 14.

Antipneumococcal activity of BMS 284756 compared to those of six other agents.

Antipneumococcal activity of BMS 284756 was compared to those of six agents by MIC and time-kill methodologies. BMS 284756 had the lowest MICs compared to those of ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and moxifloxacin against quinolone-susceptible (< or =0.016 to 0.