Genomic virulence markers are associated with severe outcomes in patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa bloodstream infection.

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) bloodstream infection (BSI) is a common healthcare-associated complication linked to antimicrobial resistance and high mortality. Ongoing clinical trials are exploring novel anti-virulence agents, yet studies on how bacterial virulence affects PA infection outcomes is conflicting and data from real-world clinical populations is limited.

Methods: We studied a multicentre cohort of 773 adult patients with PA BSI consecutively collected during 7-years from sites in Europe and Australia.

Outcomes of octogenarians and nonagenarians with Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia: a multicenter retrospective study.

Background: P. aeruginosa bacteremia is a common and severe infection carrying high mortality in older adults. We aimed to evaluate outcomes of P.

Candidaemia in Central Slovenia: A 12-year retrospective survey.

Background: Candida bloodstream infections (BSI) became an important invasive disease in the late 20th century, in particular among immunocompromised patients. Although considerable progress has been made in the management of patients with invasive mycoses, Candida BSI are still widespread among hospitalised patients and are associated with relatively high mortality.

Objectives: We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate patient characteristics, incidence, species distribution and antifungal susceptibility of BSI isolates of Candida spp.

Evaluation of resazurin-based rapid test to detect colistin resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii isolates.

Acinetobacter baumannii primarily causes colonization, yet it can be an opportunistic pathogen associated with hospital-acquired infections. Many countries report rapid spread of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAb) which limits treatment options, with colistin frequently being the last line treatment option. The aim of our study was to evaluate a recently developed rapid method, namely the Rapid ResaPolymyxin test, for detection of colistin resistance (ColR) in Acinetobacter baumannii.

High prevalence of division II (cfiA positive) isolates among blood stream Bacteroides fragilis in Slovenia as determined by MALDI-TOF MS.

Bacteroides fragilis can be classified into division I (cfiA negative) and division II (cfiA positive) isolates. Division II isolates have a silent chromosomal carbapenemase gene (cfiA) that can become overexpressed by an insertion of a mobile genetic element and thus develop a phenotypic resistance to carbapenems. Aims of our study were (i) to determine the prevalence of B.

Sample preparation method influences direct identification of anaerobic bacteria from positive blood culture bottles using MALDI-TOF MS.

Rapid detection and identification of anaerobic bacteria from blood is important to adjust antimicrobial therapy by including antibiotics with activity against anaerobic bacteria. Limited data is available about direct identification of anaerobes from positive blood culture bottles using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS). In this study, we evaluated the performance of two sample preparation protocols for direct identification of anaerobes from positive blood culture bottles, the MALDI Sepsityper kit (Sepsityper) and the in-house saponin (saponin) method.

Impact of cephalosporin restriction on incidence of infections with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in an endemic setting.

Decreasing cephalosporin use was described as an effective intervention in decreasing the incidence of infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae harbouring extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBLKP). Due to sustained increased levels of infections caused by ESBLKP, a multifaceted antibiotic stewardship intervention aimed to decrease cephalosporin use was carried out at a large medical unit of a teaching hospital. All cephalosporins except the first-generation were restricted and could only be prescribed after authorization by an infectious disease physician.

Should we consider faecal colonisation with extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in empirical therapy of community-onset sepsis?

In patients colonised with extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E), the preference for carbapenems (CRBs) over non-CRB antibiotics for empirical therapy of sepsis is questionable from an ecologic perspective. Moreover, how well colonisation predicts an ESBL-E aetiology of infection has been poorly investigated. The purpose of this retrospective observational study was to determine the positive predictive value (PPV) of ESBL-E faecal colonisation for ESBL-E sepsis aetiology and the impact of empirical therapy on treatment outcome.

Evaluation of the routine antimicrobial susceptibility testing results of clinically significant anaerobic bacteria in a Slovenian tertiary-care hospital in 2015.

The aim of our study was to determined antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of 2673 clinically significant anaerobic bacteria belonging to the major genera, isolated in 2015 in a large tertiary-care hospital in Slovenia. The species identification was performed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined immediately at the isolation of the strains against: penicillin, co-amoxiclav, imipenem, clindamycin and metronidazole, using gradient diffusion methodology and EUCAST breakpoints.

Performance of two blood culture systems to detect anaerobic bacteria. Is there any difference?

We studied the performance characteristics of two blood culture (BC) bottles/systems, (i) BacT/ALERT-FN Plus/3D (bioMérieux, Marcy l'Étoile, France) and (ii) BACTEC-Lytic/9000 (Becton Dickinson, Sparks, USA) for detection of growth and time-to-positivity (TTP) against a balanced and diverse collection of anaerobic bacterial strains (n = 48) that included reference strains (n = 19) and clinical isolates (n = 29) of 32 species (15 Gram-negative and 17 Gram-positive). Standard suspension of bacteria was inoculated to each bottle in duplicates and incubated in the corresponding system. Overall, 62.

Clinical MRSA isolates from skin and soft tissue infections show increased in vitro production of phenol soluble modulins.

Background: Phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) are amphipathic, pro-inflammatory proteins secreted by most Staphylococcus aureus isolates. This study tested the hypothesis that in vitro PSM production levels are associated with specific clinical phenotypes.

Methods: 177 methicillin-resistant S.

Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in humans, Europe.

To estimate the proportion of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates from humans that were sequence type (ST) 398, we surveyed 24 laboratories in 17 countries in Europe in 2007. Livestock-associated MRSA ST398 accounted for only a small proportion of MRSA isolates from humans; most were from the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Austria.

Synthesis and antibacterial activity of 5-ylidenethiazolidin-4-ones and 5-benzylidene-4,6-pyrimidinediones.

5-benzylidenethiazolidin-4-ones and 5-benzylidenepyrimidine-4,6-diones (compounds 1-9), carrying 2,3,4-trifluoro or 3,4,5-trimethoxy groups on the benzylidene moiety, and rhodanine derivatives 10 and 11 were synthesized and assayed in vitro for their antimicrobial activity against four standard bacterial strains (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853). Compounds 1-3 and 9 that were active against S. aureus, were also tested against methicillin-resistant S.

Benzoxazine series of histidine kinase inhibitors as potential antimicrobial agents with activity against enterococci.

Background: Antibacterial activity of three members of a benzoxazine series of histidine kinase inhibitors ( 4a , 4b and 6 ) was studied on standard strains, and with 4b also on clinical isolates of enterococci.

Methods: Susceptibility to each compound was tested using a broth macrodilution method with a range of dilutions from 0.016 to 128 microg/ml on four standard strains (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212) and in the case of 4b also on 52 clinical isolates of enterococci (7 vancomycin-susceptible E.

One-year experience with modified BD GeneOhm MRSA assay for detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from pooled nasal, skin, and throat samples.

We report our 1-year experience with modified GeneOhm MRSA assay (formerly IDI-MRSA) for pooled surveillance specimens in low methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevalence clinical setting. We have successfully modified the GeneOhm MRSA assay protocol during the specimen preparation step by adding an extra washing step followed by pooling of up to 3 samples per patient (nose, skin, with or without throat) at the lysis step. The sensitivity of the modified assay compared with conventional cultivation was 94.

Infective endocarditis due to Abiotrophia defectiva: a report of two cases.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Endocarditis due to Abiotrophia sp. is rare and often associated with negative blood cultures. The rates of treatment failure, infection relapse and mortality are higher than in endocarditis caused by other viridans streptococci.

Prevention of nosocomial lower respiratory tract infections in patients after intracranial artery aneurysm surgery with a short course of antimicrobials.

Nosocomial infections at a department of neurosurgery were followed prospectively. In 1999, a high incidence of nosocomial lower respiratory tract infections (NLRTI) was observed in patients after intracranial artery aneurysm surgery (ICAAS). From February to December 2000, a short course of ciprofloxacin and co-trimoxazole was given prophylactically to all patients with ICAAS.

Use of semi-quantitative and quantitative culture methods and typing for studying the epidemiology of central venous catheter-related infections in neonates on parenteral nutrition.

To study the epidemiology - especially the impact of contaminated stopcocks - on central venous catheter (CVC) infection and catheter-related sepsis (CRS), semi-quantitative (SQ) and quantitative (Q) culture methods and typing of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) were employed in 49 neonates with clinical signs of sepsis while receiving parenteral nutrition in the paediatric intensive care unit. The patients were divided into two groups according to stopcock contamination: group A consisted of 18 patients (36%) with contaminated stopcocks and group B consisted of 31 patients (64%) with sterile stopcocks. Five specimens were obtained from each patient, in addition to that from the stopcock: a swab taken from the skin surrounding the catheter puncture site; the CVC tip; the intradermal segment (IDC); and samples of parenteral fluid and blood.