[Comparing standard microbiological methods for identification of Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA with the automated BD MAXTM StaphSR system].

Objectives: Staphylococcus aureus is part of the human microbiota, but at the same time, it is capable of causing a wide range of diseases. Due to the ever-increasing resistance to antimicrobial agents and the existence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains, there is a real possibility of carrying even this resistant bacterium, which can subsequently cause a severe infection.

[Occurrence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains at the University Hospital Olomouc].

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at the University Hospital Olomouc (UHO) over a 10-year period (2013-2022).

Material And Methods: Data was obtained from the ENVIS LIMS laboratory information system (DS Soft, Czech Republic, Olomouc) of the Department of Microbiology, UHO, for the period 1/1/2013-31/12/2022. Standard microbiological procedures using the MALDI-TOF MS system (Biotyper Microflex, Bruker Daltonics) were applied for the identification.

Analysis of Bacterial Pathogens Causing Complicating HAP in Patients with Secondary Peritonitis.

Background: Diffuse peritonitis is an acute abdominal condition characterized by high mortality. The main treatment modality is surgery, requiring a subsequent prolonged hospital stay. These patients are, among other things, at risk of developing hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), which considerably worsens their treatment outcomes.

Prevalence of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci and Antimicrobial Residues in Wastewater and Surface Water.

Due to the extensive use of antimicrobial agents in human and veterinary medicine, residues of various antimicrobials get into wastewater and, subsequently, surface water. On the one hand, a combination of processes in wastewater treatment plants aims to eliminate chemical and biological pollutants; on the other hand, this environment may create conditions suitable for the horizontal transfer of resistance genes and potential selection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Wastewater and surface water samples (Morava River) were analyzed to determine the concentrations of 10 antibiotics and identify those exceeding so-called predicted no-effect environmental concentrations (PNECs).

and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci in COVID-19 Patients with Severe Pneumonia.

Broad-spectrum antibiotics administered to patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia pose a risk of infection caused by . This risk is reduced mainly by strict hygiene measures and early de-escalation of antibiotic therapy. Recently, oral vancomycin prophylaxis (OVP) has also been discussed.

[Enterococcal infections and their treatment options].

Aim: The study aimed to characterize enterococcal infections at the University Hospital Olomouc and to define antibiotic treatment options.

Material And Methods: The data was obtained from the ENVIS LIMS laboratory information system. Between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2019, clinically relevant enterococci in the hospital and their resistance to antibiotics were retrospectively evaluated.

Implementation of Antibiotic Stewardship in a University Hospital Setting.

The article describes activities of an antibiotic center at a university hospital in the Czech Republic and presents the results of antibiotic stewardship program implementation over a period of 10 years. It provides data on the development of resistance of , , and to selected antibiotic agents as well as consumption data for various antibiotic classes. The genetic basis of resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics and its clonal spread were also assessed.

Analysis of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci in Hemato-Oncological Patients.

Enterococci are important bacterial pathogens, and their significance is even greater in the case of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). The study analyzed the presence of VRE in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of hemato-oncological patients. Active screening using selective agars yielded VRE for phenotypic and genotypic analyses.

Quinolone-resistant Escherichia coli in Poultry Farming.

Increasing bacterial resistance to quinolone antibiotics is apparent in both humans and animals. For humans, a potential source of resistant bacteria may be animals or their products entering the human food chain, for example poultry. Between July 2013 and September 2014, samples were collected and analyzed in the Moravian regions of the Czech Republic to isolate the bacterium Escherichia coli.

Occurrence of bacteria producing broad-spectrum beta-lactamases and qnr genes in hospital and urban wastewater samples.

The aims were to investigate the level of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in hospital and urban wastewater and to determine the similarity of isolates obtained from wastewater and hospitalized patients. Wastewater samples were collected in September 2013 and 2014. After identification using MALDI-TOF MS, beta-lactamase production was determined by relevant phenotypic tests.

Individualized Prophylaxis in Patients with Esophageal Replacement Because of Cancer.

Background: Presented are the findings from an analysis of respiratory inflammatory complications in patients undergoing esophageal replacement because of cancer. Respiratory complications are manifested most frequently within five post-operative days, thus, they are likely to be caused by potentially pathogenic micro-organisms originating from the primary or secondary microflora.

Methods: Sputum samples were collected 1-2 wks pre-operatively.

[Bacterial efflux pumps - their role in antibiotic resistance and potential inhibitors].

Efflux pumps capable of actively draining antibiotic agents from bacterial cells may be considered one of potential mechanisms of the development of antimicrobial resistance. The most important group of efflux pumps capable of removing several types of antibiotics include RND (resistance - nodulation - division) pumps. These are three proteins that cross the bacterial cell wall, allowing direct expulsion of the agent out from the bacterial cell.

Application of Molecular Diagnostics in Primary Detection of ESBL Directly from Clinical Specimens.

The infections caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing organisms are associated with increased mortality. The real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, which enables detection of ESBLs directly from patients' clinical material, was developed. This study focused on blaCTX-M and blaSHV determination in endotracheal aspirates.

The CRZ1/SP1-like gene links survival under limited aeration, cell integrity and biofilm formation in the pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans.

Aims: Limited aeration has been demonstrated to cause slowdown in proliferation and delayed budding, resulting eventually in a unique unbudded G2-arrest in the obligate aerobic pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans. Also, the ability to adapt to decreased oxygen levels during pathogenesis has been identified as a virulence factor in C. neoformans.

Infected prosthetic dialysis arteriovenous grafts: a single dialysis center study.

Background: The prosthetic arteriovenous grafts (AVG) being used increasingly to create hemodialysis access are prone to infections that pose potentially life-threatening infectious and bleeding complications, as well as loss of dialysis access. In this study, we identified the bacteriologic agents of infected AVGs by site swab, blood culture, and prosthesis cultures, and to evaluate the role of microbiological findings in the management of the infection.

Methods: We focused on 51 patients with 53 AVGs operated on in our clinic from January 2006 to December 2009.

Carriage of ESBL- and AmpC-positive Enterobacteriaceae in the gastrointestinal tract of community subjects and hospitalized patients in the Czech Republic.

Aim: The study aimed at analyzing ESBL- and AmpC-positive Enterobacteriaceae in the gastrointestinal tracts of university hospital inpatients and persons from the Olomouc Region community, and comparing the results with data from 2007.

Methods: Bacteria were isolated from rectal swabs inoculated onto the ChromID(TM) ESBL selective medium (bioMérieux). Production of ESBL-type beta-lactamases was confirmed by the modified double-disk synergy test and AmpC enzyme production was detected by the AmpC disk test.

Using newly developed multiplex polymerase chain reaction and melting curve analysis for detection and discrimination of β-lactamases in Escherichia coli isolates from intensive care patients.

A total of 78 bacterial strains with known β-lactamases were used to optimize a rapid detection system consisting of multiplex polymerase chain reaction and melting curve analysis to amplify and identify blaTEM, blaSHV, and blaCTX-M genes in a single reaction. Additionally, to evaluate the applicability of this method, 32 clinical isolates of Escherichia coli displaying an extended-spectrum β-lactamase phenotype from patients hospitalized at intensive care units were tested. Results were analyzed by the Rotor-Gene operating software and Rotor-Gene ScreenClust HRM Software.

Antibiotic utilization and Pseudomonas aeruginosa resistance in intensive care units.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most frequent and dangerous pathogens involved in the etiology of severe nosocomial infections. A retrospective observational study was conducted at all intensive care units of the University Hospital in Olomouc, Czech Republic (155 ICU beds). Complete antibiotic utilization data of the ICUs in the period of 1999 to 2008 were processed according to ATC/DDD system and expressed in defined daily doses per 100 bed-days (DBD).

Phenotypic detection of broad-spectrum beta-lactamases in microbiological practice.

Background: Enterobacteriaceae producing ESBL and AmpC enzymes can be associated with failure of antibiotic therapy and related morbidity and mortality. Their routine detection in microbiology laboratories is still a problem. The aim of this study was to compare the sensitivity of selected phenotypic methods.

Analysis of ESBL- and AmpC-positive Enterobacteriaceae at the Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Olomouc.

Bacterial infections are an important issue in current clinical medicine. The severity of infectious diseases has increased dramatically in recent years, which is also due to increasing numbers of resistant bacteria, including strains producing broad-spectrum beta-lactamases. The study aimed at determining the prevalence of ESBL- and AmpC-positive Enterobacteriaceae at the Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Olomouc.

[Prevalence of ESBL-positive enterobacteriaceae in large moravian hospitals (Czech Republic)].

Background: bacterial infections have become an important issue in current medicine. Recently, their frequency and severity have significantly increased as a result of the rising number of resistant bacteria. One of important mechanisms of resistance is production of broad-spectrum beta-lactamases, namely the ESBL type.