Tick-borne lymphadenopathy (TIBOLA) acquired in Southwestern Germany.

Background: Tick-borne lymphadenopathy (TIBOLA) was first described in 1997 in a patient in France. The causative agent, Rickettsia slovaca, is transmitted by Dermacentor ticks.

Case Presentation: In southwestern Germany we encountered a patient with a tick bite at the dorsal scalp that resulted in an eschar and nuchal lymphadenopathy.

Dynamics of adaptive microevolution of hypermutable Pseudomonas aeruginosa during chronic pulmonary infection in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Background: In patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), the emergence of hypermutable Pseudomonas aeruginosa drives the selection of P. aeruginosa variants that are efficiently adapted to the inflamed lungs of these patients.

Objective: To provide a detailed survey of adaptive changes in the physiology of P.

Molecular evidence of nosocomial Pneumocystis jirovecii transmission among 16 patients after kidney transplantation.

In recent years, clusters of Pneumocystis jirovecii (formerly Pneumocystis carinii) pneumonia (PCP) among immunocompromised individuals have been reported. Mostly, the source of infections was suspected to be within the clinical settings when transplant recipients and PCP patients shared hospital facilities. We report on a cluster of 16 renal transplant recipients positive for P.

A German external quality survey of diagnostic microbiology of respiratory tract infections in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Background: The goal of this pilot study was to design an external quality assessment (EQA) scheme for German cystic fibrosis (CF) clinical microbiology laboratories. Therefore, a multicentre study of 18 German CF laboratories was performed to evaluate their proficiency in analyzing CF respiratory secretions.

Methods: Simulated clinical specimens containing a set of four frequent CF pathogens, namely two Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains differing in morphotype (mucoid versus non-mucoid) and resistotype, one Staphylococcus aureus strain and one Burkholderia multivorans strain, were distributed to each laboratory.

Stage-specific adaptation of hypermutable Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates during chronic pulmonary infection in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) strains with defective DNA mismatch repair genes generate numerous bacterial variants because of high mutation rates. In cystic fibrosis (CF), such mutator strains may lead to the rapid selection of survivors that are specifically adapted to the hostile environment of the inflamed CF lung.

Methods: Genotypes and phenotypes of 111 PA variants descending from 3 distinct mutator strains obtained from 3 patients with CF were systematically characterized.

Clonal analysis of Inquilinus limosus isolates from six cystic fibrosis patients and specific serum antibody response.

Inquilinus limosus is a novel Gram-negative bacterium of the subdivision alpha-Proteobacteria recently found in the airways of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Here, the authors report on the clinical courses of six CF patients colonized with I. limosus.

Nosocomial urosepsis caused by Enterobacter kobei with aberrant phenotype.

Enterobacter kobei is the species of the Enterobacter cloacae complex, which is phenotypically most closely related to the species E. cloacae. This is the first report of infection caused by a new biotype of E.

Pitfalls of polymyxin antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from cystic fibrosis patients.

Objectives And Methods: With their potent activity against Gram-negative bacteria, the polymyxins are important alternative antibiotics for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. A retrospective evaluation of polymyxin activity against 6001 Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 150 Achromobacter xylosoxidans and 506 Stenotrophomonas maltophilia CF isolates was initiated. In addition, we looked at how polymyxin susceptibility testing was affected by the testing method (agar dilution versus microdilution), the agent (polymyxin E versus polymyxin B), incubation time (24 h versus 48 h) and by different interpretative criteria (German DIN, French FSM, British BSAC).