Molecular Epidemiology of Clinical Cryptococcus neoformans Isolates in Seoul, Korea.

Cryptococcal infection is primarily caused by two species, Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii. Between the two species, C.

Comparison of modified multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat fingerprinting with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis for typing clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus.

Background: Multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat fingerprinting (MLVF) is based on multiplex PCR, utilizing variable number tandem repeat. Our goal was to compare the performance of MLVF in distinguishing clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates with that of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), which has traditionally been the gold standard.

Methods: Sixty-three clinically significant S.

A case of brain abscess caused by Propionibacterium acnes 13 months after neurosurgery and confirmed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

Propionibacterium acnes is a gram-positive anaerobic bacillus and a normal inhabitant of the skin. Although it is often considered a contaminant of blood cultures, it can occasionally cause serious infections, including postoperative central nervous system infections. Here, we report the case of a 70-yr-old man who developed a large cerebral abscess caused by P.

A case of Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus infective endocarditis with colon cancer: identification by 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing.

Although the association between Streptococcus bovis endocarditis and colon carcinoma is well known, very few cases of S. bovis infection associated with underlying malignancies have been reported in Korea. The S.

The incidence and clinical implication of sputum with positive acid-fast bacilli smear but negative in mycobacterial culture in a tertiary referral hospital in South Korea.

Although it is not rare to find sputum that is positive acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear but subsequent culture fails to isolate mycobacteria in clinical practice, the incidence and clinical implication of those sputa from new patients has not been clearly elucidated. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and clinical implication of sputum with positive AFB smear but negative in mycobacterial culture. All sputa that were positive AFB smear requested during diagnostic work up for new patients visiting Seoul National University Hospital from 1 January 2005 through 31 December 2006 were included.

Differentiation of mycobacteria in sputa by duplex polymerase chain reaction for mycobacterial hsp65 gene.

Early differentiation of mycobacteria in sputa is crucial. This study was set to evaluate the usefulness of a newly developed duplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for hsp65 gene-based method in differentiating mycobacteria in sputum with a positive acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear before culturing. One hundred forty-seven sputa with positive AFB smear were included for the analysis.