Outbreak of bloodstream infections because of Serratia marcescens in a pediatric department.

Background: Serratia marcescens can cause health care-associated infections. We herewith report the investigation and control of an outbreak of S marcescens bloodstream infections (BSI) in a general pediatric department.

Methods: From April to May 2009, temporally related cases of S marcescens BSI occurred in a 40-bed general pediatric department of a tertiary care hospital.

A 5-year epidemiological study of nosocomial bloodstream infections in a neurosurgery department.

The characteristics of nosocomial bloodstream infections (BSIs) in a neurosurgical department were studied over a 5-year period. The rate of nosocomial BSI was 3.0%.

Colistin administration to pediatric and neonatal patients.

Emergence of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative nosocomial pathogens has led to resurgence of colistin use. Safety and efficacy data regarding colistin use in pediatric patients are sparse, while optimal dosage has not been defined. We present a case series of neonates and children without cystic fibrosis treated with various doses of colistin intravenously.

Daptomycin use in a neonate: serum level monitoring and outcome.

We present a case of successfully treated persistent bacteremia due to Gram-positive bacteria with daptomycin in a preterm neonate. Daptomycin was given at higher doses (6 mg/kg/dose) and shorter intervals (every 12 hours) than those recommended for adults with no adverse events. Peak and trough serum concentrations of daptomycin were 27.

Differential correlation between rates of antimicrobial drug consumption and prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in a tertiary care hospital in Greece.

Objective: To investigate whether there is a correlation between the rates of antimicrobial drug consumption in hospital departments and the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among clinically important bacteria recovered in the hospital.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Tertiary care hospital in Greece.

Outbreak caused by a multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae clone carrying blaVIM-12 in a university hospital.

From November 2006 to April 2007, nine nonrepetitive isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae with reduced susceptibility or resistance to carbapenems were recovered from clinical specimens from separate patients hospitalized in a tertiary care hospital. The imipenem-EDTA synergy test was positive for all isolates. PCR, sequencing, and transferability experiments revealed the novel bla(VIM-12) metallo-beta-lactamase gene, which was plasmid mediated and located in a class 1 integron.

Candida tropicalis in a neonatal intensive care unit: epidemiologic and molecular analysis of an outbreak of infection with an uncommon neonatal pathogen.

From June to July 1998, two episodes of Candida tropicalis fungemia occurred in the Aristotle University neonatal intensive care unit (ICU). To investigate this uncommon event, a prospective study of fungal colonization and infection was conducted. From December 1998 to December 1999, surveillance cultures of the oral cavities and perinea of the 593 of the 781 neonates admitted to the neonatal ICU who were expected to stay for >7 days were performed.

Brain abscesses resulting from Bacillus cereus and an Aspergillus-like mold.

An 11-year-old boy with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma of the thigh experienced three instances of catheter-related bacteremia resulting from After two episodes of seizures, two low-density lesions in the right parietal lobe and the left corpus callosum with enhanced pericavitary opacity were detected. The catheter was removed. A brain biopsy sample grew and revealed dichotomously branched septate hyphae compatible with The patient was treated with ceftriaxone and liposomal amphotericin B for 12 and 52 weeks, respectively, until biopsy-confirmed resolution of the infections.