Carbapenemase-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in Romania: A Six-Month Survey.

This study presents the first characterization of carbapenem-non-susceptible Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates by means of a structured six-month survey performed in Romania as part of an Europe-wide investigation. Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates from different anatomical sites were tested for antibiotic susceptibility by phenotypic methods and confirmed by PCR for the presence of four carbapenemase genes. Genome macrorestriction fingerprinting with XbaI was used to analyze the relatedness of carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates collected from eight hospitals.

Molecular characterization of bacteremic Escherichia coli isolates in Romania.

The increasing prevalence of invasive infections caused by antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli strains in Romanian patients, already mentioned in the European reports, requires better knowledge of their specific traits. Thus, a set of 38 E. coli blood isolates, collected between 2010 and 2012 at one of the local hospitals participating into the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network, was investigated retrospectively with respect to the phylogenetic origin, extraintestinal virulence-associated markers (i.

MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS STRAINS ISOLATED FROM INFECTIVE ENDOCARDITIS.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is an infection of the heart endothelium and valves and is frequently a consequence of a sanguine flow turbulence and injury of endocardium. Recent studies revealed an increase of Staphylococcus aureus strains involved in IE, but no evident correlations between the genetic background of this bacterium and IE involvement of certain strains have been found yet. In this study we analyzed the virulence profile, including adhesins, exotoxins, superantigens and biofilm determinants, along with agr type detection, for S.

Escherichia coli ST131 causing invasive infections in Romanian patients--a threat we can no longer ignore.

Escherichia coli sequence type ST131 is a major pandemic clonal group of drug-resistant extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) involved in community-onset and healthcare-associated infections. Thus far, its presence in our area has been paid little attention.

Genetic diversity and antimicrobial resistance in Streptococcus agalactiae strains recovered from female carriers in the Bucharest area.

For the first time, we used multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to understand how Romanian group B streptococcus (GBS) strains fit into the global GBS population structure. Colonising isolates recovered from adult human females were tested for antibiotic resistance, were molecularly serotyped based on the capsular polysaccharide synthesis (cps) gene cluster and further characterised using a set of molecular markers (surface protein genes, pilus-encoded islands and mobile genetic elements inserted in the scpB-lmb intergenic region). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was used to complement the MLST clonal distribution pattern of selected strains.