Microbiological monitoring of medical devices after cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation.

The use of reusable semi-critical devices has been extended in current medical practice for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. However, reuse of these instruments carries the risk of cross-transmission of microorganisms from one patient to another. The process of cleaning and disinfecting these devices is complex, long, expensive and very error-prone.

Antimicrobial chemotherapy for Legionnaires disease: levofloxacin versus macrolides.

Background: The community outbreak of legionnaires disease that occurred in Murcia, Spain, in July 2001--to our knowledge, the largest such outbreak ever reported--afforded an unusual opportunity to compare the clinical response of patients with Legionella pneumonia treated with levofloxacin with that of patients treated with macrolides and to determine the role of rifampicin combined with levofloxacin in treating severe legionellosis.

Methods: An observational, prospective, nonrandomized study was conducted involving 292 patients seen at our hospital (Hospital "J. M.