We herein report a case of bacterial meningitis and bacteremia in a 3-month-old boy caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 35B multidrug resistance. Intravenous ampicillin was administered on admission. However, when pneumococcal meningitis was suspected, the antibiotic treatment was changed to ceftriaxone (CTRX) and vancomycin (VCM).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This study determined whether the GENECUBE rapid nucleic acid amplification test could directly detect nuc and mecA genes in clinical blood culture samples of Staphylococcus and various other pathogens.
Methods: Between September 2020 and December 2021, 537 blood culture samples from 192 patients with suspected bacteremia were tested using conventional assays (MicroScan WalkAway96 or VITEK 2 systems) and GENECUBE nuc and mecA assays. Isolates from samples with discrepant results between the conventional and GENECUBE assays were further evaluated using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, disk diffusion testing using cefoxitin, broth microdilution testing using oxacillin, and sequencing for mecA.
Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) caused by MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is associated with a high mortality rate. This study aimed to elucidate the characteristics of patients with MRSA-IE in Japan and identify the factors associated with prognosis.
Methods: This retrospective study included patients with a confirmed diagnosis of IE caused by MRSA, between January 2015 and April 2019.
We report a case of prolonged shedding of the infective SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant BA.1.1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe tested the accuracy of quenching probe-polymerase chain reaction (QP-PCR) for detecting Clostridioides difficile toxin B gene (tcdB) in stools from inpatients with suspected C. difficile infection and compared the results with other nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs). Toxigenic culture results were used as reference for comparison.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) first broke out in Wuhan in December 2019, and has since caused a global pandemic. The efficacy of several drugs has been evaluated, and it is now evident that tocilizumab has a beneficial effect, especially combined with corticosteroids, in patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the optimal timing of tocilizumab administration has not yet been established.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Some institutions reuse cuff syringes and do not periodically sterilize cuff pressure gauges. Pathogenic bacterial contamination of such equipment may increase the probability of pathogen transmission to patients during anesthetic procedures. Therefore, microbial contamination on cuff syringes, cuff pressure gauges, and their surroundings was assessed in the operating rooms of a university-affiliated tertiary care hospital in Japan.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 28-year-old woman with anorexia nervosa (AN) and Candida brain abscesses was transferred to our hospital for intensive treatment. On admission, she had a low-grade fever but no clinical neurological abnormalities were observed, even though she had a high-grade fever in the previous hospital. These clinical findings did not suggest a serious disorder in the brain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To evaluate the cytotoxicity of various hand disinfectants and ozonated water to human keratinocytes using a cultured epidermal model.
Design: Using a test protocol from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, investigators applied hand disinfectants containing either 83% ethanol, 0.2% benzalkonium chloride, 0.
In this study, we evaluated extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria with the newly developed primer and probe sets to detect bla, bla, and bla using BD MAX, a fully automated multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay system. In 36 isolates confirmed by whole-genome sequencing to have bla, bla, or bla, the developed primer and probe sets accurately detected each gene without being influenced by the presence of other β-lactamase genes. In nine control strains that do not harbor either bla, bla, or bla no cross-reaction was observed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Human parechovirus type 3 (HPeV-3) is known to cause cold-like symptoms, diarrhea, or severe infections such as sepsis in infants and children. In adults, HPeV-3 infection is rarely diagnosed because the symptoms are generally mild and self-limiting; however, this infection has been linked to epidemic myalgia, regardless of the presence of underlying diseases, immunosuppression, or sex.
Case Presentation: We describe an adult case of severe systemic myalgia and orchiodynia after infection with HPeV-3, which was transmitted from the child of the patient.
Background: Kirschsteiniothelia is a saprophytic fungus that is abundantly present in the environment. To date, there have been no reports of human infection caused by this fungus. We report a case of Kirschsteiniothelia infection superimposed on a pre-existing non-infectious bursitis of the ankle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe herein report a case of disseminated Mycobacterium avium infection that involved both optic nerves, the conjunctiva, the right lower lung, and multiple skin lesions, including a thoracic nodule. The patient was a 65-year-old man without any significant medical history. The pathogen was detected in the patient's eye discharge, sputum, bronchial lavage fluid, and thoracic nodule.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOrosomucoid (ORM, composed of two isoforms, ORM1 and ORM2) has been described as an inducer of M2 macrophages, which are cells that decrease host antibacterial innate immunities. However, it is unknown which phenotypes of M2 macrophages are induced by ORM. In this study, healthy donor monocytes stimulated with ORM (ORM-monocytes) were characterized phenotypically and biologically.
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