COVID-19 in health-care workers in three hospitals in the south of the Netherlands: a cross-sectional study.

Background: 10 days after the first reported case of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in the Netherlands (on Feb 27, 2020), 55 (4%) of 1497 health-care workers in nine hospitals located in the south of the Netherlands had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. We aimed to gain insight in possible sources of infection in health-care workers.

Methods: We did a cross-sectional study at three of the nine hospitals located in the south of the Netherlands.

Tonsillectomy for persistent MRSA carriage in the throat-Description of three cases.

In several countries, including the Netherlands, a search and destroy policy is part of the standard of care. Due to this policy and the restrictive use of antibiotics, the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the Netherlands - carrier state and infections - is among the lowest in the world. In the Netherlands, healthcare workers who are MRSA carriers are not allowed to perform work involving direct patient care.

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.

Livestock-associated MRSA in household members of pig farmers: transmission and dynamics of carriage, a prospective cohort study.

This prospective cohort study describes carriage of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) in household members from 49 farrowing pig farms in the Netherlands (2010-2011). Of 171 household members, 4% were persistent MRSA nasal carriers, and the MRSA prevalence on any given sampling moment was 10% (range 7-11%). Working in the stables (of which 98% was MRSA-positive, prevalence ratio (PR) = 2.

Livestock-associated MRSA carriage in patients without direct contact with livestock.

Background: Livestock-associated MRSA (MC398) has emerged and is related to an extensive reservoir in pigs and veal calves. Individuals with direct contact with these animals and their family members are known to have high MC398 carriage rates. Until now it was assumed that MC398 does not spread to individuals in the community without pig or veal calf exposure.

Lifestyle-Associated Risk Factors for Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Carriage in the Netherlands: An Exploratory Hospital-Based Case-Control Study.

Background: Community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) is rapidly increasing. Currently, it is unknown which reservoirs are involved. An exploratory hospital-based case-control study was performed in sixteen Dutch hospitals to identify risk factors for CA-MRSA carriage in patients not belonging to established risk groups.

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.

Intranasal mupirocin for reduction of Staphylococcus aureus infections in surgical patients with nasal carriage: a systematic review.

Objectives: The majority of nosocomial Staphylococcus aureus infections originate from the patients' own flora, with nasal carriage of S. aureus before surgical procedures being a risk factor for subsequent infection. The objective of this review was to assess whether intranasal mupirocin treatment of nasal S.

Increase in a Dutch hospital of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus related to animal farming.

In The Netherlands, patients exposed to pigs or veal calves were recently shown to be at high risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage. In Amphia Hospital (Breda, The Netherlands), 32% of patients in this risk group were shown to carry MRSA. This resulted in a 3-fold increase in the annual MRSA incidence.

Mycophenolic acid is a potent inhibitor of the expression of tumour necrosis factor- and tumour necrosis factor-receptor superfamily costimulatory molecules.

The tumour necrosis factor (TNF) ligands CD154, CD70 and TNF receptors CD134 and CD137 are all involved in allograft rejection. Because these molecules are not present on resting T cells, we investigated whether immunosuppressive drugs could inhibit their induction. Expression was induced in vitro on T cells by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and ionomycin or by allogeneic dendritic cells in the presence or absence of cyclosporin A (CsA), tacrolimus (TAC), rapamycin derivative (SDZ RAD), or mycophenolic acid (MPA), and determined by flow cytometry.

CD154 is expressed during treatment with calcineurin inhibitors after organ transplantation.

Background: CD154 (CD40 ligand) monoclonal antibody prevents allograft rejection in rodents and monkeys. Inasmuch as calcineurin inhibitors (CI) inhibit CD154 expression by pharmacologic agents in vitro, we investigated whether CD154 is also inhibited by CI in vivo and in vitro during allogeneic stimulation.

Methods: CD154 expression was determined by immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry in human lymph nodes and spleen sections from rhesus monkeys with or without CI treatment.