The clinical significance of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae rectal colonization in critically ill patients: from colonization to bloodstream infection.

Purpose: To highlight the clinical significance of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) rectal colonization by examining the risk factors for CRKP rectal colonization and subsequent bloodstream infection (BSI) in critically ill patients.

Methodology: Prospective study of CRKP rectal colonization in an intensive care unit (ICU) during a 39-month period. CRKP strains isolated from both the blood cultures and corresponding rectal specimens (n=96) of patients were screened by PCR for the presence of antibiotic resistance-associated genes.

Genetic diversity of mycobacterium tuberculosis in northern Greece.

The aim of the present study was to describe the genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tuberculosis) strains circulating in the region of Northern Greece. A total of thirty-seven M.

16S rRNA deep sequencing for the characterization of healthy human pharyngeal microbiome.

Background: The recent advent of high-throughput sequencing methods enabled the study of the composition of the upper respiratory tract (URT) microbial ecosystem and its relationship with health and disease in immense detail. The aim of the present study was the characterization of the human pharyngeal microbiome of healthy individuals in Greece.

Materials And Methods: We obtained ten pharyngeal specimens from healthy volunteers, Greek resident, with Greek nationality, who were eligible to the selection criteria.

Comparative evaluation of minocycline susceptibility testing methods in carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.

In this study, the performance of two commonly used routine antimicrobial susceptibility testing methods, the automated VITEK(®)2 system and Etest (bioMérieux, Marcy-l'Étoile, France), was compared with the standard broth microdilution (BMD) method on 87 multidrug- and carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates. Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) 2015 breakpoints (susceptible, ≤4 mg/L; intermediate, 8 mg/L; and resistant, ≥16 mg/L) were used. Minocycline showed excellent activity, with 94.

Influenza vaccine effectiveness in preventing hospitalizations with laboratory-confirmed influenza in Greece during the 2014-2015 season: A test-negative study.

The 2014-2015 influenza season was marked by circulation of antigenically drifted A/H3N2 strains, raising the possibility of low seasonal influenza Vaccine Effectiveness (VE). We assessed VE against hospitalization with laboratory-confirmed influenza for the 2014-2015 season, using routine surveillance data. Non-sentinel swab samples from Greek hospital inpatients were tested for influenza by RT-PCR in three laboratories, covering the entire country.