Active surveillance for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria in the intensive care unit.

A short-term program of performing serial active screening cultures (ASC) in the intensive care unit was instituted to establish a method for the detection of antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) and the local rates of colonisation. Of all submitted ASC, 25.9% (30/116 collected swabs) isolated an antibiotic-resistant GNB.

Surveillance snapshot of Clostridium difficile infection in hospitals across Queensland detects binary toxin producing ribotype UK 244.

In North America and Europe, the binary toxin positive Clostridium difficile strains of the ribotypes 027 and 078 have been associated with death, toxic megacolon and other adverse outcomes. Following an increase in C. difficile infections (CDIs) in Queensland, a prevalence study involving 175 hospitals was undertaken in early 2012, identifying 168 cases of CDI over a 2 month period.

Melioidosis as a consequence of sporting activity.

In the tropical city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, dry season soil sampling cultured Burkholderia pseudomallei from 7 (70%) of 10 sports fields. However, during the 23 years of the Darwin Prospective Melioidosis Study, only 5 (0.6%) of 785 melioidosis cases have been attributed to infection from sports fields.

Comparison of TaqMan PCR assays for detection of the melioidosis agent Burkholderia pseudomallei in clinical specimens.

Melioidosis is an emerging infectious disease caused by the soil bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. In diagnostic and forensic settings, molecular detection assays need not only high sensitivity with low limits of detection but also high specificity. In a direct comparison of published and newly developed TaqMan PCR assays, we found the TTS1-orf2 assay to be superior in detecting B.

High-resolution melting genotyping of Enterococcus faecium based on multilocus sequence typing derived single nucleotide polymorphisms.

We have developed a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) nucleated high-resolution melting (HRM) technique to genotype Enterococcus faecium. Eight SNPs were derived from the E. faecium multilocus sequence typing (MLST) database and amplified fragments containing these SNPs were interrogated by HRM.

Towards a rapid molecular diagnostic for melioidosis: Comparison of DNA extraction methods from clinical specimens.

Optimising DNA extraction from clinical samples for Burkholderia pseudomallei Type III secretion system real-time PCR in suspected melioidosis patients confirmed that urine and sputum are useful diagnostic samples. Direct testing on blood remains problematic; testing DNA extracted from plasma was superior to DNA from whole blood or buffy coat.

Acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis in the Northern Territory of Australia: a review of 16 years data and comparison with the literature.

Data relating to acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN) from the notifiable diseases surveillance system in the Northern Territory of Australia was extracted and analyzed. Isolates of Streptococcus pyogenes from confirmed cases were emm sequence typed. From 1991 to July 2008, there were 415 confirmed cases and 23 probable cases of APSGN notified.

Diversity of emm sequence types in group A beta-haemolytic streptococci in two remote Northern Territory Indigenous communities: implications for vaccine development.

There is a high burden of disease due to group A streptococcus (GAS) in remote Northern Territory (NT) Indigenous communities. A proposed 26-valent GAS M-type vaccine covers 80-90% of pharyngeal and invasive isolates in the US. We examined the diversity and distribution of emm types in two remote Indigenous communities in the NT Top End over a 17-year period and compared them to the proposed vaccine types.