Reevaluating practice changes: return to standard precautions after an outbreak of multidrug-resistant Klebsiella oxytoca.

Change in medical practice is usually made to solve immediate problems. The continued use of these changes should then be reevaluated. Following an outbreak of K.

Characterization of early activation events in cord blood B cells after stimulation with T cell-independent activators.

Human neonates are immunologically immature, particularly in their humoral antibody responses to T cell-independent antigens, as exemplified by their increased susceptibility to infections with polysaccharide-encapsulated bacteria. To clarify the mechanism(s) underlying the unresponsiveness of neonates to polysaccharide antigens, we used an in vitro model with neonatal cord blood cells that has been shown to mimic surface Ig-dependent signaling in the adult by T cell-independent antigens. We studied the ability of cord blood human B cells to become activated after ligation of their surface Ig by unconjugated anti-Ig, dextran-conjugated anti-Ig, and Staphylococcus aureus Cowan A1, and compared their response with that of adult B cells.

Staphylococcus epidermidis sepsis in the intensive care nursery: a characterization of risk associations in infants < 1,000 g.

We undertook to determine Staphylococcus epidermidis colonization patterns and risks of sepsis in a cohort of 82 consecutive intensive care nursery admissions (birth weight 1,285 +/- 57 g), with 24 infants weighing < 1,000 g at birth. Colonization was determined by skin and stool cultures collected at three time points. Multiple neonatal variables were classified into three intervals preceding the time of sample collection including the occurrence of S.

Incidence of Candida parapsilosis colonization in an intensive care nursery population and its association with invasive fungal disease.

We have studied 82 consecutive intensive care nursery admissions to determine rates of colonization and incidence of fungal sepsis. Cultures were obtained from stool, gastric aspirate and skin at three different times. Infants studied ranged in gestational age from 23 to 38 weeks (mean +/- SEM 29 +/- 0.