Background: Updated 2016 consensus guidelines recommend treatment for 14 days with concomitant therapy (proton-pump inhibitor (PPI)-amoxicillin-metronidazole-clarithromycin (PAMC) or bismuth-based quadruple therapy (PPI-bismuth-metronidazole-tetracycline, PBMT)) as first line, PBMT or PPI-amoxicillin-levofloxacin (PAL) as second or third line, and PPI-amoxicillin-rifabutin (PAR) as fourth line for 10 days.
Objectives: This was a retrospective cohort study to describe and compare the efficacy of anti- treatment regimens over the periods 2007-2015 and 2016-2021 as well as antibiotic resistance.
Methods: A modified intention-to-treat (mITT) analysis was used to analyze the success rate of therapies.
Introduction: Healthcare workers (HCWs) from an interprovincial Canadian cohort gave serial blood samples to identify factors associated with anti-receptor binding domain (anti-RBD) IgG response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Methods: Members of the HCW cohort donated blood samples four months after their first SARS-CoV-2 immunization and again at 7, 10 and 13 months. Date and type of immunizations and dates of SARS-CoV-2 infection were collected at each of four contacts, together with information on immunologically-compromising conditions and current therapies.
The Two Weeks in the World research project has resulted in a dataset of 3087 clinically relevant bacterial genomes with pertaining metadata, collected from 59 diagnostic units in 35 countries around the world during 2020. A relational database is available with metadata and summary data from selected bioinformatic analysis, such as species prediction and identification of acquired resistance genes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Point-of-care SARS-CoV-2 antigen tests have great potential to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. In the performance of a rapid, antigen-based SARS-CoV-2 test (RAT), our study had 3 main objectives: to determine the accuracy of nasal swabs, the accuracy of using nasopharyngeal swabs for nasal collection (nasalNP), and the effectiveness of using residual extraction buffer for real-time reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) confirmation of positive RAT (rPan).
Methods: Symptomatic adults recently diagnosed with COVID-19 in the community were recruited into the study.
Background: With rapid approval of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, the ability of clinical laboratories to detect vaccine-induced antibodies with available high-throughput commercial assays is unknown. We aimed to determine if commercial serology assays can detect vaccine-induced antibodies (VIAs) and understand the vaccination response.
Methods: This cohort study recruited healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities (receiving the BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 products, respectively) who underwent serum collection pre-vaccination (BNT162b2 group), 2-weeks post vaccination (both groups), and pre-2nd dose (both groups).
Background: COVID-19 seroprevalence studies use serum/plasma samples to detect SARS-CoV-2 IgG. Data supporting alternate specimen types and freeze-thaw antibody stability is lacking. The stability of IgG and other immunoglobulins in multiple blood sample types stored in differing conditions and multiple freeze-thaw cycles (FTCs) was evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ID NOW is FDA approved for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in symptomatic individuals within the first 7 days of symptom onset for COVID-19 if tested within 1 h of specimen collection. Clinical data on the performance of the ID NOW are limited, with many studies varying in their study design and/or having small sample size. In this study we aimed to determine the clinical performance of the ID NOW compared to conventional RT-PCR testing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSARS-CoV-2 antigen tests used at the point-of-care, such as the Abbott Panbio, have great potential to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The Panbio is Health Canada approved for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in symptomatic individuals within the first 7 days of COVID-19 symptom onset(s). Symptomatic adults recently diagnosed with COVID-19 in the community were recruited into the study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrichomonas vaginalis prevalence (2.8%) in female sexually transmitted infection clinic attendees was within the prevalence of chlamydia (5.8%) and gonorrhea (1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To determine the prevalence and correlates of (MG) infection among men and women, determine the prevalence of gene mutations conferring resistance and compare test performance of female specimen types.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on specimens collected for gonorrhoea (NG, ) and chlamydia (CT, ) among male and female Alberta STI clinic attendees using the transcription-mediated amplification-research use only test. Positive specimens were sequenced for 23SrRNA, and genes.
The ability to isolate and identify causative agents of urinary tract infections relies primarily on the quality of the urine sample that is submitted to the microbiology. The most important factors are the method of collection, the maintenance of viability of the potential pathogens during transport, and standardization of the culturing of the urine sample. This report is a composite of several investigations comparing collection and transport on urine culture paddles, with a preservative urine sponge (Uriswab), and a comparison of Uriswab with the BD preservative transport tube as methods of preservation of urinary pathogens.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLimited data are available that verify the performance of commercial susceptibility methods for Streptococcus pneumoniae following the 2008 Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute revision of the β-lactam breakpoints. We compared the performance of Etest, M.I.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The safety and efficacy of Ciprodex® has been demonstrated for treatment of chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM). However, symptoms fail to resolve in 9-15% of patients. The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAt our hospital, health care workers use commercially available wipes to reduce bacterial counts on plastic surfaces. The workers use the wipes in a cursory fashion--swiping objects once for one to two seconds. We sought to measure the ability of wipes to reduce bacterial counts when swiped across plastic surfaces using various routines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe new anaerobe and Corynebacterium (ANC) identification card for Vitek 2 was compared with a 16S rRNA gene sequencing (16S) reference method for accuracy in the identification of corynebacteria and anaerobic species. Testing was performed on a Vitek 2 XL system with modified software at three clinical trial laboratories. Reproducibility was determined with nine ATCC quality control strains that were tested 20 times over a minimum of 10 days at all three sites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLight yellow-pigmented (strain PQ1) and yellow-pigmented (strain PQ2), gram-positive, non-spore-forming, nonmotile bacteria consisting of pairs or chains of cocci were isolated from the bile of a patient with cholecystitis (PQ1) and the peritoneal dialysate of another patient with peritonitis (PQ2). Morphologically and biochemically, the organisms phenotypically belonged to the genus Eterococcus. Whole-cell protein (WCP) analysis and sequence analysis of a segment of the 16S rRNA gene suggested that they are new species within the genus Enterococcus.
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