Bloodstream infections caused by multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae producing the carbapenem-hydrolysing VIM-1 metallo-beta-lactamase: first Italian outbreak.

Objectives: To investigate the first Italian outbreak of bloodstream infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) Klebsiella pneumoniae producing metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL), which occurred in three wards of one large tertiary-care hospital in Genoa, Italy, from September 2004 to March 2005.

Methods: MBL production was screened by an imipenem-EDTA disc synergy test and confirmed by a conventional hydrolysis test. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined by broth microdilution or disc diffusion.

Differences in nasopharyngeal bacterial flora in children with nonsevere recurrent acute otitis media and chronic otitis media with effusion: implications for management.

Background: The interactions between nasopharyngeal flora and the individual entities covered by the broad term otitis media have not been completely elucidated. We investigated in infants and children ages 6 months to 7 years with nonsevere recurrent acute otitis media (rAOM) or with chronic otitis media with effusion (cOME): (1) the nasopharyngeal carriage rate and bacterial density of respiratory pathogens and alpha-hemolytic streptococci in comparison with healthy children; (2) the resistance pattern of respiratory pathogens; and (3) the relationship between the type of nasopharyngeal colonization and long term outcome.

Methods: Nasopharyngeal cultures were obtained from 85 children with rAOM,113 children with cOME and 55 controls.

Seasonal variations in nasopharyngeal carriage of respiratory pathogens in healthy Italian children attending day-care centres or schools.

The aim of this study was to investigate seasonal variations in the prevalence of the nasopharyngeal carriage of respiratory pathogens and identify factors affecting colonisation patterns in healthy children. The nasopharyngeal carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis during two seasons (autumn and spring) was evaluated in 1580 healthy children aged 1-7 years by means of a cohort study conducted in day-care centres and schools in eight Italian cities. A questionnaire was used to obtain the epidemiological data.