Comprehensive observational study evaluating the enduring effectiveness of 4CMenB, the meningococcal B vaccine against gonococcal infections in the Northern Territory and South Australia, Australia: study protocol.

Introduction: The effectiveness of antibiotics for treating gonococcal infections is compromised due to escalating antibiotic resistance; and the development of an effective gonococcal vaccine has been challenging. Emerging evidence suggests that the licensed meningococcal B (MenB) vaccine, 4CMenB is effective against gonococcal infections due to cross-reacting antibodies and 95% genetic homology between the two bacteria, and that cause the diseases. This project aims to undertake epidemiological and genomic surveillance to evaluate the long-term protection of the 4CMenB vaccine against gonococcal infections in the Northern Territory (NT) and South Australia (SA), and to determine the potential benefit of a booster vaccine doses to provide longer-term protection against gonococcal infections.

Nocardia species distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility within Australia.

Background: Nocardia is a ubiquitous saprophyte capable of causing human disease. Disease is primarily respiratory or cutaneous, usually acquired via inhalation or inoculation. Under the influence of environmental and host factors, Nocardia incidence and species distribution demonstrate geographical variation.

Thrombo-inflammatory response in hospitalised patients with COVID-19: a single institution experience.

Background: Severe COVID-19 causes acute inflammation, which is complicated by venous thromboembolism events (VTE). However, it is unclear if VTE risk has evolved over time since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Aims: To determine markers of thrombo-inflammation and rates of symptomatic VTE in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 in a metropolitan hospital in Sydney, Australia.

Success of ceftazidime-avibactam and aztreonam in combination for a refractory biliary infection with recurrent bacteraemia due to IMP-4 carbapenemase-producing subsp. .

Background: Infections due to metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL)-producing organisms are becoming a significant problem, and antibiotic treatment options are limited. Aztreonam inhibits MBLs, and its use in combination with ceftazidime-avibactam (CAZ-AVI-AZT) to inhibit other beta-lactamases shows promise.

Methods: A 45-year-old woman suffered from recurrent and sustained MBL (IMP-4)+ complex bacteraemia from an undrainable biliary source, and had failed nine alternative antibiotic regimens over a 5-month period.

Antimicrobial resistance in the next 30 years, humankind, bugs and drugs: a visionary approach.

Purpose: To describe the current standards of care and major recent advances with regard to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and to give a prospective overview for the next 30 years in this field.

Methods: Review of medical literature and expert opinion were used in the development of this review.

Results: There is undoubtedly a large clinical and public health burden associated with AMR in ICU, but it is challenging to quantify the associated excess morbidity and mortality.

Immunotherapy-induced sarcoidosis in patients with melanoma treated with PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors: Case series and immunophenotypic analysis.

Aim: Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disease. This condition has a documented association with the diagnosis of melanoma and can be induced in melanoma patients receiving anti-neoplastic therapy. We evaluated a case series of melanoma patients who developed immunotherapy-induced sarcoidosis.

Changing epidemiology of candidaemia in Australia.

Objectives: Knowledge of contemporary epidemiology of candidaemia is essential. We aimed to identify changes since 2004 in incidence, species epidemiology and antifungal susceptibilities of Candida spp. causing candidaemia in Australia.

Antifungal susceptibilities of non-Aspergillus filamentous fungi causing invasive infection in Australia: support for current antifungal guideline recommendations.

Antifungal susceptibilities of non-Aspergillus filamentous fungal pathogens cannot always be inferred from their identification. Here we determined, using the Sensititre(®) YeastOne(®) YO10 panel, the in vitro activities of nine antifungal agents against 52 clinical isolates of emergent non-Aspergillus moulds representing 17 fungal groups in Australia. Isolates comprised Mucorales (n = 14), Scedosporium/Lomentospora spp.

CAMERA2 - combination antibiotic therapy for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia is a serious infection resulting in 20-50 % 90-day mortality. The limitations of vancomycin, the current standard therapy for MRSA, make treatment difficult. The only other approved drug for treatment of MRSA bacteraemia, daptomycin, has not been shown to be superior to vancomycin.

Descriptive epidemiology of infectious gastrointestinal illnesses in Sydney, Australia, 2007-2010.

Objective: There is a lack of information about the prevalence of gastrointestinal illnesses in Australia. Current disease surveillance systems capture only a few pathogens. The aim of this study is to describe the epidemiology of infectious gastrointestinal illnesses in Sydney, Australia.

Combination of Vancomycin and β-Lactam Therapy for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia: A Pilot Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: In vitro laboratory and animal studies demonstrate a synergistic role for the combination of vancomycin and antistaphylococcal β-lactams for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia. Prospective clinical data are lacking.

Methods: In this open-label, multicenter, clinical trial, adults with MRSA bacteremia received vancomycin 1.

Parvovirus infection: an immunohistochemical study using fetal and placental tissue.

Parvovirus B19 infection causes 5% to 15% of cases of nonimmune hydrops fetalis. The aim of our study was to evaluate the use of immunohistochemistry in diagnosing parvovirus infection in fetal and placental tissue during routine fetal and perinatal autopsies. Histology slides of 20 cases of confirmed parvovirus infection were reviewed, and immunohistochemistry was applied to selected blocks of fetal and placental tissue.

Epidemiology and geographical distribution of enteric protozoan infections in sydney, australia.

Background: Enteric protozoa are associated with diarrhoeal illnesses in humans; however there are no recent studies on their epidemiology and geographical distribution in Australia. This study describes the epidemiology of enteric protozoa in the state of New South Wales and incorporates spatial analysis to describe their distribution.

Design And Methods: Laboratory and clinical records from four public hospitals in Sydney for 910 patients, who tested positive for enteric protozoa over the period January 2007 - December 2010, were identified, examined and analysed.

Gastrointestinal pathogen distribution in symptomatic children in Sydney, Australia.

There is limited information on the causes of paediatric diarrhoea in Sydney. This cross-sectional study used clinical and microbiological data to describe the clinical features and pathogens associated with gastrointestinal illnesses for children presenting to two major public hospitals in Sydney with diarrhoea, for the period January 2007-December 2010. Of 825 children who tested positive for an enteric pathogen, 430 medical records were reviewed.

Impact of ethnicity and socio-economic status on Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia incidence and mortality: a heavy burden in Indigenous Australians.

Background: Investigations of the impact of ethnicity and socio-economic status on incidence and outcomes of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia are limited.

Methods: We prospectively identified all S. aureus bacteraemia episodes in the Australian New Zealand Cooperative on Outcomes in Staphylococcal Sepsis cohort study between 2007 and 2010.

Predictors of mortality in Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia.

Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) is an important infection with an incidence rate ranging from 20 to 50 cases/100,000 population per year. Between 10% and 30% of these patients will die from SAB. Comparatively, this accounts for a greater number of deaths than for AIDS, tuberculosis, and viral hepatitis combined.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry identification of yeasts is contingent on robust reference spectra.

Background: Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for yeast identification is limited by the requirement for protein extraction and for robust reference spectra across yeast species in databases. We evaluated its ability to identify a range of yeasts in comparison with phenotypic methods.

Methods: MALDI-TOF MS was performed on 30 reference and 167 clinical isolates followed by prospective examination of 67 clinical strains in parallel with biochemical testing (total n = 264).

Performance of various testing methodologies for detection of heteroresistant vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus in bloodstream isolates.

The best screening method for detecting heteroresistant vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (hVISA) remains unclear. Using population analysis profiling utilizing the area under the concentration-time curve (PAP-AUC) as the gold standard, we screened 458 consecutive methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) bloodstream isolates to determine the most accurate and cost-effective testing strategy to detect the presence of heteroresistance.

Leishmaniasis, an emerging imported infection: report of 20 cases from Australia.

Leishmaniasis is a protozoan infection rarely reported in Australia. However, with the advent of increased international tourism and migration of refugees from endemic regions, leishmaniasis has emerged as an increasingly imported infection. We report 20 cases (17 cutaneous, 2 visceral, and 1 post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis).

Invasive amebiasis in men who have sex with men, Australia.

Entamoeba histolytica is a pathogenic ameba that has recently been recognized as an emerging pathogen in men who have sex with men (MSM) in Asia-Pacific countries where it is not endemic, i.e., Japan, Taiwan, and Republic of Korea.