The complex (BCC) is a group of Gram-negative bacteria that cause opportunistic infections, most notably in people with cystic fibrosis (CF), and have been associated with outbreaks caused by contaminated medical products. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is often used to guide treatment for BCC infections, perhaps most importantly in people with CF who are being considered for lung transplant. However, recent studies have highlighted problems with AST methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA total of 1,925 isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility at the Mayo Clinic Microbiology laboratory (Rochester, Minnesota) from January 2012 to March 2023, with (35.6%) and (24.4%) identified as the predominant species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The clinical utility of rapid multiplex respiratory specimen PCR panels for pneumonia for patients with suspected pneumonia is undefined. We aimed to compare the effect of the BioFire FilmArray pneumonia panel (bioMérieux, Salt Lake City, UT, USA) with standard of care testing on antibiotic use in a real-world hospital setting.
Methods: We conducted a single-centre, open-label, pragmatic, randomised controlled trial at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Unlabelled: Wound infections, exacerbated by the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens, necessitate innovative antimicrobial approaches. Polymicrobial infections, often involving and methicillin-resistant (MRSA), present challenges due to biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance. Hypochlorous acid (HOCl), a potent antimicrobial agent, holds promise as an alternative therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImmunotherapies can lead to an immune compromised state that can allow for opportunistic pathogens such as to flourish. The vast majority of infections occur in immunocompromised hosts. Here we describe disseminated infection in a patient with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with immunotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWound infections, exacerbated by the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens, necessitate innovative antimicrobial approaches. Polymicrobial infections, often involving and methicillin-resistant (MRSA), present formidable challenges due to biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance. Hypochlorous acid (HOCl), a potent antimicrobial agent produced naturally by the immune system, holds promise as an alternative therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHIV is associated with NK cell dysfunction and expansion of adaptive-like NK cells that persist despite antiretroviral therapy (ART). We investigated the timing of NK cell perturbations during acute HIV infection and the impact of early ART initiation. PBMCs and plasma were obtained from people with HIV (PWH; all men who have sex with men; median age, 26.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurrent approaches to the treatment of schizophrenia have mainly focused on the protein-coding part of the genome; in this context, the roles of microRNAs have received less attention. In the present study, we analyze the microRNAome in the blood and postmortem brains of schizophrenia patients, showing that the expression of miR-99b-5p is downregulated in both the prefrontal cortex and blood of patients. Lowering the amount of miR-99b-5p in mice leads to both schizophrenia-like phenotypes and inflammatory processes that are linked to synaptic pruning in microglia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: is known to cause human disease, particularly in elderly and immunocompromised hosts. There are limited published data for antimicrobial susceptibility patterns with this organism, and no interpretive criteria are available. We reviewed antimicrobial susceptibilities of isolates tested at a tertiary care center and reference laboratory over an 11-year period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimicrob Agents Chemother
February 2024
The growing threat of antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens necessitates the development of alternative antimicrobial approaches. This is particularly true for chronic wound infections, which commonly harbor biofilm-dwelling bacteria. A novel electrochemical bandage (e-bandage) delivering low-levels of hypochlorous acid (HOCl) was evaluated against murine wound biofilms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimicrobial resistance in has reached alarming levels and is compromising traditional empiric treatment of . Antimicrobial susceptibility testing is routinely performed for infectious diseases when there is a risk of resistance and is now recommended to guide therapy for . This mini-review overviews the current diagnostics for with a focus on tests that enable susceptibility-guided treatment, including molecular tests performed directly on stool and endoscopically collected specimens.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA novel electrochemical bandage (e-bandage) delivering low-level hypochlorous acid (HOCl) was evaluated against murine wound biofilms. 5 mm skin wounds were created on the dorsum of Swiss-Webster mice and infected with 10 colony forming units (CFU) of . Biofilms were formed over two days, after which e-bandages were placed on the wound beds and covered with Tegaderm™.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRapid detection of carbapenemase (KPC) in the species is desirable. The MALDI Biotyper MBT Subtyping Module (Bruker Daltonics) uses an algorithm that detects a peak at ~11,109 m/z corresponding to a protein encoded by the gene to detect KPC simultaneously with organism identification by a matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-ToF MS). Here, the subtyping module was evaluated using 795 clinical isolates, with whole genome sequences used to assess for and .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Daptomycin doses 8-12 mg/kg are recommended for susceptible dose-dependent Enterococcus species. However, data remain limited on safety outcomes of such dosing, compared to standard 4-6 mg/kg dosing.
Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, patients were stratified into daptomycin standard-dose (≤ 6.
Productively infected cells are generally thought to arise from HIV infection of activated CD4+ T cells, and these infected activated cells are thought to be a recurring source of latently infected cells when a portion of the population transitions to a resting state. We discovered and report here that productively and latently infected cells can instead originate from direct infection of resting CD4+ T cell populations in lymphoid tissues in Fiebig I, the earliest stage of detectable HIV infection. We found that direct infection of resting CD4+ T cells was correlated with the availability of susceptible target cells in lymphoid tissues largely restricted to resting CD4+ T cells in which expression of pTEFb enabled productive infection, and we documented persistence of HIV-producing resting T cells during antiretroviral therapy (ART).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiofilms formed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria in wound beds present unique challenges in terms of treating wound infections. In this work, the activity of a novel electrochemical bandage (e-bandage) composed of carbon fabric and controlled by a wearable potentiostat, designed to continuously deliver low amounts of hydrogen peroxide (HO) was evaluated against methicillin-resistant (MRSA), multidrug-resistant (MDR-PA) and mixed-species (MRSA and MDR-PA) wound infections. Wounds created on Swiss Webster mice were infected with the above-named bacteria and biofilms allowed to establish on wound beds for 3 days.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEmerging infectious diseases are of great importance to public health and clinical practice. This review aims to characterize the clinical and histopathologic features of emerging infectious diseases with cutaneous manifestations in order to increase awareness of these entities among dermatologists, pathologists, and dermatopathologists.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransgender women (TGW) are disproportionally affected by HIV infection, with a global estimated prevalence of 19.9%, often attributed to behavioral risk factors, with less known about biological factors. We evaluated potential biological risk factors for HIV acquisition in TGW at the sites of viral entry by assessing immune parameters of the neovaginal surface and gut mucosa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenotypic testing for / is heavily relied upon for rapid optimization of antimicrobial therapy in infections due to Staphylococcus aureus. Little is known regarding optimal reporting and/or therapy for patients demonstrating lack of genotypic evidence of or but phenotypic oxacillin resistance. We report a case of a 77-year-old patient with S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe RV144 phase III vaccine trial demonstrated that ALVAC-HIV and AIDSVAX B/E administration over 6 months resulted in 31% efficacy in preventing HIV acquisition, while administration of AIDSVAX B/E alone in both VAX003 and VAX004 studies failed to show efficacy. In this study, we aimed to understand the impact of ALVAC-HIV on the development of cellular, humoral, and functional immune responses compared to the administration of AIDSVAX B/E alone. ALVAC-HIV in combination with 3 doses of AIDSVAX B/E significantly increased CD4+ HIV-specific T cell responses, polyfunctionality, and proliferation compared with 3 doses of AIDSVAX B/E alone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFis a fastidious Gram-positive, partially acid-fast, anaerobic, catalase positive bacterium that has been reported to be a rare cause of abdominal, breast, spinal, and liver abscesses. Here, three vascular graft infections (VGIs) and cardiac infections are reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is a critical function of the clinical microbiology laboratory and is essential for optimizing care of patients with infectious diseases, monitoring antimicrobial resistance (AMR) trends, and informing public health initiatives. Several methods are available for performing AST including broth microdilution, agar dilution, and disk diffusion. Technological advances such as the development of commercial automated susceptibility testing platforms and the advent of rapid diagnostic tests have improved the rapidity, robustness, and clinical application of AST.
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