Bacteriophage therapy reduces in a porcine and human burn wound infection model.

Burn wounds are a major burden, with high mortality rates due to infections. is a major causative agent of burn wound infections, which can be difficult to treat because of antibiotic resistance and biofilm formation. An alternative to antibiotics is the use of bacteriophages, viruses that infect and kill bacteria.

Less Is More: When to Repeat Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing.

This study investigated the frequency of change of the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern when the same isolate was found in the same patient in various situations. We used laboratory data collected over a period of 8 years (January 2014 to December 2021) at the clinical microbiology laboratory of a tertiary hospital for Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus.

The Dutch Working Party on Antibiotic Policy (SWAB) guideline for the approach to suspected antibiotic allergy.

Objectives: Prudent handling of reported antibiotic allergies is an important aspect of antibiotic stewardship. The Dutch Working Party on Antibiotic Policy (SWAB) constituted a multidisciplinary expert committee to provide evidence-based recommendations for bedside decision-making in antibiotic therapy in patients that report an antibiotic allergy.

Methods: The guideline committee generated 12 key questions, most of which were population, intervention, comparison, and outcome questions relevant to both children and adults with suspected antibiotic allergies.

Limiting spread of VIM-positive Pseudomonas aeruginosa from colonized sink drains in a tertiary care hospital: A before-and-after study.

Background: In healthcare environments, sinks are being increasingly recognized as reservoirs for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. In our hospital, carbapenemase-producing, Verona Integron-encoded Metallo-beta-lactamase (VIM)-positive Pseudomonas aeruginosa (VIM-PA) was detected at low endemicity in patients, and environmental culturing revealed that sink drains were primary reservoirs. Therefore, an intervention was initiated in several wards to install sink drain plugs as physical barriers against splashing to prevent transmission of VIM-PA from drain reservoirs to the surrounding sink environment.

Microcalorimetry: A Novel Application to Measure In Vitro Phage Susceptibility of in Human Serum.

Infections involving antibiotic resistant () represent a major challenge to successful treatment. Further, although bacteriophages (phages) could be an alternative to antibiotics, there exists a lack of correlation in phage susceptibility results between conventional in vitro and in vivo assays. This discrepancy may hinder the potential implementation of bacteriophage therapy.

Warm Weather and Surgical Site Infections: A Meta-analysis.

Unlabelled: Seasonal variability, in terms of warm weather, has been demonstrated to be a significant risk factor for surgical site infections (SSIs). However, this remains an underexposed risk factor for SSIs, and many clinicians are not aware of this. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis has been conducted to investigate and quantify this matter.

in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients: A Scoping Review.

Several reports have been published on findings in COVID-19 patients leading to a proposition of new disease entity COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis. This scoping review is designed at clarifying the concepts on how the findings of spp. in COVID-19 patients were interpreted.

Frequency of Positive Tests in COVID-19 Patients in Comparison to Other Patients with Pulmonary Infections Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.

The aim of this study was to describe the frequency of positive tests in COVID-19 patients and investigate the association between COVID-19 and a positive test result. We compared the proportion of positive tests in COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for >24 h with two control groups: patients with community-acquired pneumonia with (i) a PCR-confirmed influenza infection (considered a positive control since the link between influenza and invasive aspergillosis has been established) and (ii) pneumonia (in whom positive tests are mostly considered as colonization). During the study period, 92 COVID-19 patients (mean [standard deviation] age, 62 [14] years; 76.

An outbreak of ST307 extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing in a rehabilitation center: An unusual source and route of transmission.

Objective: Nosocomial outbreaks due to multidrug-resistant microorganisms in rehabilitation centers have rarely been reported. We report an outbreak of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (ESBL-K. pneumoniae) on a single ward in a rehabilitation center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Independent root-cause analysis of contributing factors, including dismantling of 2 duodenoscopes, to investigate an outbreak of multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Background And Aims: Worldwide, an increasing number of duodenoscope-associated outbreaks are reported. The high prevalence rate of contaminated duodenoscopes puts patients undergoing ERCP at risk of exogenous transmission of microorganisms. The contributing factors of the duodenoscope design to contamination are not well understood.

Triple diagnostics for early detection of ambivalent necrotizing fasciitis.

Background: Necrotizing fasciitis is an uncommon, rapidly progressive and potential lethal condition. Over the last decade time to surgery decreased and outcome improved, most likely due to increased awareness and more timely referral. Early recognition is key to improve mortality and morbidity.

Long-term Mortality After Rapid Screening and Decolonization of Staphylococcus Aureus Carriers: Observational Follow-up Study of a Randomized, Placebo-controlled Trial.

Objective: To identify patients who benefit most from Staphylococcus aureus screening and decolonization treatment upon admission.

Background: S. aureus carriers are at increased risk of developing surgical-site infections with S.

Reduced costs for Staphylococcus aureus carriers treated prophylactically with mupirocin and chlorhexidine in cardiothoracic and orthopaedic surgery.

Background: A multi centre double-blind randomised-controlled trial (M-RCT), carried out in the Netherlands in 2005-2007, showed that hospitalised patients with S. aureus nasal carriage who were treated prophylactically with mupirocin nasal ointment and chlorhexidine gluconate medicated soap (MUP-CHX), had a significantly lower risk of health-care associated S. aureus infections than patients receiving placebo (3.

Rapid detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in screening samples by relative quantification between the mecA gene and the SA442 gene.

Rapid detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is important to identify patients colonized with this pathogen and implement infection control precautions. We aimed to improve the combined use of the mecA gene polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the SA442 PCR to detect MRSA in clinical screening samples. In a true MRSA the mecA copy number will be equal to the SA442 copy number, whereas in samples with a methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) combined with a methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (MRCNS) the copy numbers will usually differ.

Distinctive patterns in the human antibody response to Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia in carriers and non-carriers.

Staphylococcus aureus is both a prominent cause of nosocomial infections with significant morbidity and mortality and a commensal with nasal carriage in around 30% of the population. The rapid spread of multi-resistant strains necessitates novel therapeutic strategies, a challenging task because the species S. aureus and the host response against it are highly variable.

Preventing surgical-site infections in nasal carriers of Staphylococcus aureus.

Background: Nasal carriers of Staphylococcus aureus are at increased risk for health care-associated infections with this organism. Decolonization of nasal and extranasal sites on hospital admission may reduce this risk.

Methods: In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial, we assessed whether rapid identification of S.

Platelet count, previous infection and FCGR2B genotype predict development of chronic disease in newly diagnosed idiopathic thrombocytopenia in childhood: results of a prospective study.

About 25-30% of children with acute idiopathic thrombocytopenia (ITP) develop chronic disease. It is not well known which patient characteristics influence the course of the ITP. A prospective study in 60 children with newly diagnosed ITP was performed.