Evaluation of a new chromogenic medium, chromID Vibrio, for the isolation and presumptive identification of Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio parahaemolyticus from human clinical specimens.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the chromID Vibrio medium for the detection of Vibrio cholerae and V. parahaemolyticus in stool and swab specimens in comparison with thiosulfate citrate bile salts sucrose (TCBS) medium. A total of 96 samples including 30 fresh stool, 32 stool, and 34 swab specimens originating from routine laboratories were tested.

Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare contamination of mammalian cell cultures.

Mycobacterium avium contamination has been described as a putative contaminant of nonphagocytic mammalian cells. Screening of numerous cultured nonphagocytic mammalian cell lines revealed the presence of intracellular bacteria that were identified as M. avium-intracellulare.

Analysis of the specificity of Panton-Valentine leucocidin and gamma-hemolysin F component binding.

In this study, the binding of F components of the staphylococcal bicomponent leukotoxins Panton-Valentine leucocidin (LukF-PV) and gamma-hemolysin (HlgB) on polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs), monocytes, and lymphocytes was determined using labeled mutants and flow cytometry. Leukotoxin activity was evaluated by measuring Ca(2+) entry or pore formation using spectrofluorometry or flow cytometry. Although HlgB had no affinity for cells in the absence of an S component, LukF-PV had high affinity for PMNs (dissociation constant [K(d)], 6.

[Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a dermatology outpatient clinic].

Background: Community-acquired cutaneous infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are a growing concern. These bacteria may produce Panton-Valentine leucocidin potentially leading to necrotizing pneumonia. We studied the prevalence of MRSA and Panton-Valentine leucocidin in dermatology clinic outpatients in order to adapt therapy where possible.

[Bacterial cultures and empirical antimicrobial therapy for community-acquired secondary peritonitis].

Surgeons and anesthetists are frequently confronted with community-acquired secondary peritonitis. We summarize literature results and consensus conferences concerning the types of bacteriologic sampling and cultures and the empiric choice of an antibiotic regimen based on the probable pathogens encountered in community-acquired secondary peritonitis. These studies leave some doubt as to the necessity for routine blood cultures and the need for anaerobic cultures of peritoneal fluid.

[Invasive Streptococcus agalactiae infections in non-pregnant adults].

Objectives: Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B streptococcus) is a major cause of invasive diseases in non-pregnant adults, particularly in the elderly and those with underlying conditions. We describe these conditions and clinical characteristics of patients followed in our teaching hospital.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed clinical records of 64 patients with S.

Enhanced culture of Borrelia garinii and Borrelia afzelii strains on a solid BSK-based medium in anaerobic conditions.

The growth of 29 human strains from the three main pathogenic species of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato on a solid BSK-based medium was compared in two culture atmospheres: 3% CO(2) air and anaerobiosis. All strains grew under anaerobic conditions, whereas only 13 strains were able to grow in aerobiosis with 3% CO(2) (P<0.001).

Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis DNA using MagNA Pure DNA extraction and Cobas Amplicor CT/NG amplification.

The automated MagNA Pure DNA extraction method for Chlamydia trachomatis was compared with the manual Cobas Amplicor protocol using 100 microL of input sample volume from 964 specimens. Agreement between protocols was 96.1%.

Comparison of microbiological results of needle puncture vs. superficial swab in infected diabetic foot ulcer with osteomyelitis.

Aim: To study prospectively two methods for the bacteriological diagnosis of osteomyelitis related to diabetic foot ulcer: needle puncture performed across normal skin surrounding the foot ulcer and superficial swabbing of the ulcer.

Patients And Methods: Diabetic patients with a foot ulcer complicated by bone or joint infection, as detected by X-ray imaging, were included in the study. Ulcer swabbing and needle puncture were performed in each patient.

Diagnosis of cat scratch disease with detection of Bartonella henselae by PCR: a study of patients with lymph node enlargement.

Cat scratch disease (CSD) is mostly due to Bartonella henselae after inoculation of the organism through a skin injury. Since the causative bacteria cannot be easily cultured from human lymph node samples, the diagnosis usually relies on epidemiological, clinical, histological, and serological criteria (classical criteria). A study was performed to determine the diagnostic value of PCR analysis for the detection of B.

Peripartum bacteremias due to Leptotrichia amnionii and Sneathia sanguinegens, rare causes of fever during and after delivery.

We report three cases of delivery and postpartum bacteremia due to unusual anaerobic bacteria in healthy young women. Leptotrichia amnionii bacteremia occurred during delivery in two mothers and was associated with fetal distress during labor. Conversely, Sneathia sanguinegens bacteremia occurred postpartum, 2 days after delivery, without consequence for the neonate.

[Knowledge and prevention of tick-bite borreliosis: survey of the population in Alsace, an endemic area].

Introduction: European borreliosis, known to the general public as 'Lyme disease' in analogy with the American form, which it differs from in many points, is endemic in the area of Alsace and is a public health problem. The level of knowledge and prevention of the population with regard to the disease has never been assessed in France.

Material And Methods: A survey was conducted in all the national health examination centers in Alsace using a self-applied questionnaire.

Bartonella chomelii sp. nov., isolated from French domestic cattle (Bos taurus).

Two strains of bacteria isolated from the blood of French domestic cows were found to be similar to Bartonella species on the basis of phenotypic characteristics. Genotypic analysis based on sequence comparison of the 16S rRNA and citrate synthase (gltA) genes and on DNA-DNA hybridization showed that the two isolates represent a distinct and new species of Bartonella. Moreover, the phylogenetic analysis inferred from comparison of 16S rRNA and gltA sequences demonstrated that the new Bartonella species is related to other ruminant-derived Bartonella species.

Identification of Bartonella strains isolated from wild and domestic ruminants by a single-step PCR analysis of the 16S-23S intergenic spacer region.

Of the 20 species or subspecies of Bartonella currently known, 7 cause various diseases in humans with many being zoonotic. However, some Bartonella species appear only to cause asymptomatic bacteraemia in their hosts. In ruminants, three Bartonella species (B.

Isolation of sulfate-reducing bacteria from human thoracoabdominal pus.

To evaluate the prevalence of sulfate-reducing bacteria in septic processes, we searched for these bacteria by culture in 100 consecutive abdominal and pleural pus specimens. Twelve isolates were obtained from abdominal samples and were identified by a multiplex PCR as Desulfovibrio piger (formerly Desulfomonas pigra) (seven strains), Desulfovibrio fairfieldensis (four strains), and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (one strain).

Dialister pneumosintes associated with human brain abscesses.

In this report, we review two cases of brain infection due to Dialister pneumosintes in previously healthy patients. The bacterium was isolated from the first patient by blood culture and directly from a brain abscess in the second patient. In both cases, the infection was suspected to be of nasopharyngeal or dental origin.

Bartonella bovis Bermond et al. sp. nov. and Bartonella capreoli sp. nov., isolated from European ruminants.

Two novel species of Bartonella isolated from European ruminants are described. Bartonella capreoli sp. nov.

Association between Staphylococcus aureus strains carrying gene for Panton-Valentine leukocidin and highly lethal necrotising pneumonia in young immunocompetent patients.

Background: Between 1986 and 1998, eight cases of community-acquired pneumonia due to Staphylococcus aureus strains carrying the gene for the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) were recorded in France, six of which were fatal. We aimed to assess the clinical features of these eight cases, and those of other cases identified prospectively, and to compare them with the characteristics of patients with pneumonia caused by PVL-negative strains.

Methods: We compared eight retrospective and eight prospective cases of PVL-positive S aureus pneumonia with 36 cases of PVL-negative S aureus pneumonia.

Kinetics of Bartonella birtlesii infection in experimentally infected mice and pathogenic effect on reproductive functions.

The kinetics of infection and the pathogenic effects on the reproductive function of laboratory mice infected with Bartonella birtlesii recovered from an Apodemus species are described. B. birtlesii infection, as determined by bacteremia, occurred in BALB/c mice inoculated intravenously.

Bartonella schoenbuchii sp. nov., isolated from the blood of wild roe deer.

The genus Bartonella comprises two human-specific pathogens and a growing number of zoonotic or animal-specific species. Domesticated as well as wild mammals can serve as reservoir hosts for the zoonotic agents and transmission to humans may occur by blood sucking arthropods or by direct blood to blood contact. Humans may come into intimate contact with free-ranging mammals during hunting, especially during evisceration with bare hands, when accidental blood to blood contact frequently occurs.

Disease expression of Lyme borreliosis in northeastern France.

Since very little is known about the clinical expression of Lyme borreliosis in Western Europe, a 3-year prospective study was conducted that included all patients seen for suspected Lyme borreliosis at the Strasbourg University Hospital in northeastern France. The diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis was made on the basis of the presence of erythema migrans or on the basis of another suggestive clinical manifestation and laboratory confirmation. A total of 132 patients, 70 women and 62 men, mean age 54 years, had Lyme borreliosis according to these criteria.

Phage conversion of Panton-Valentine leukocidin in Staphylococcus aureus: molecular analysis of a PVL-converting phage, phiSLT.

Staphylococcal Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) is an important virulence factor, which causes leukocytolysis and tissue necrosis. Our previous report on the existence of the PVL genes (lukS-PV and lukF-PV) on the genome of prophage phiPVL in the Staphylococcus aureus strain V8 suggested the horizontal transmission of PVL genes by temperate bacteriophage among S. aureus (Kaneko, et al.