Prevalence of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci and Antimicrobial Residues in Wastewater and Surface Water.

Due to the extensive use of antimicrobial agents in human and veterinary medicine, residues of various antimicrobials get into wastewater and, subsequently, surface water. On the one hand, a combination of processes in wastewater treatment plants aims to eliminate chemical and biological pollutants; on the other hand, this environment may create conditions suitable for the horizontal transfer of resistance genes and potential selection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Wastewater and surface water samples (Morava River) were analyzed to determine the concentrations of 10 antibiotics and identify those exceeding so-called predicted no-effect environmental concentrations (PNECs).

Clonal Diversity of spp. and spp. Strains Isolated from Patients with Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most severe complications affecting mechanically ventilated patients. The condition is caused by microaspiration of potentially pathogenic bacteria from the upper respiratory tract into the lower respiratory tract or by bacterial pathogens from exogenous sources such as healthcare personnel, devices, aids, fluids and air. The aim of our prospective, observational study was to confirm the hypothesis that in the etiology of VAP, an important role is played by etiological agents from the upper airway bacterial microflora.

Analysis of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci in Hemato-Oncological Patients.

Enterococci are important bacterial pathogens, and their significance is even greater in the case of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). The study analyzed the presence of VRE in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of hemato-oncological patients. Active screening using selective agars yielded VRE for phenotypic and genotypic analyses.

[HPV in etiology of orofaryngeal cancer according to sexual activity].

Objective: The objective of this study is to confirm or exclude the presence of the HPV in oral cavity according to sexual activity.

Design: Prospective not blinded study.

Setting: Clinic of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Clinic of Obsterics and Gynecology, Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty Palacky University and University Hospital Olomouc.

[Prevalence and characteristics of thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. in the human food chain].

Objectives: To monitor the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in poultry in slaughterhouses, poultry and pork liver at retail, and cows milk in Moravia. To determine the resistance of animal isolates to selected antibiotics; and to compare it with an antibiogram of human strains.

Infected prosthetic dialysis arteriovenous grafts: a single dialysis center study.

Background: The prosthetic arteriovenous grafts (AVG) being used increasingly to create hemodialysis access are prone to infections that pose potentially life-threatening infectious and bleeding complications, as well as loss of dialysis access. In this study, we identified the bacteriologic agents of infected AVGs by site swab, blood culture, and prosthesis cultures, and to evaluate the role of microbiological findings in the management of the infection.

Methods: We focused on 51 patients with 53 AVGs operated on in our clinic from January 2006 to December 2009.

Analysis of ESBL- and AmpC-positive Enterobacteriaceae at the Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Olomouc.

Bacterial infections are an important issue in current clinical medicine. The severity of infectious diseases has increased dramatically in recent years, which is also due to increasing numbers of resistant bacteria, including strains producing broad-spectrum beta-lactamases. The study aimed at determining the prevalence of ESBL- and AmpC-positive Enterobacteriaceae at the Department of Neonatology, University Hospital Olomouc.

Human papillomavirus in the etiology of head and neck carcinomas.

Background: For more than 20 years, infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) has been of a matter of interest not only to gynecologists but also to maxillofacial surgeons and othorhinolaryngologists. HPV is generally known to be involved in cervical cancer. Recently, there are many clinical studies pointed out the potentially dangerous connection between HPV infection and head and neck carcinomas (HNC).

Prevalence and spread of pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae strains in patients with hematological malignancies.

The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae strains in patients with acute leukemias, to assess their clinical significance, and to define the sources and ways of their spread using genetic analysis. Thirty-four patients were investigated during the observed period. Twenty-one strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 35 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae were isolated from patient samples.

[Occurrence of AmpC-positive Klebsiella pneumoniae strains in patients with haematological malignancies].

Background: Currently, important bacterial beta-lactamases of increasing clinical significance include AmpC enzymes. The aim was to assess their occurrence in Klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated from patients with haematological malignancies in a prospective study.

Material And Methods: Over a 2-month period, strains of the species were isolated from clinical material obtained from patients hospitalized at the Department of Haemato-Oncology of the University Hospital Olomouc.

Prevalence of genes encoding extracellular virulence factors among meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates from the University Hospital, Olomouc, Czech Republic.

A rather fast and complicated progression of an infection caused by some strains of Staphylococcus aureus could be associated with the expression and co-action of virulence factor complexes in these strains. This study screened the antibiotic susceptibility and prevalence of virulence markers in isolates of meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) obtained from patients hospitalized at the University Hospital in Olomouc, Czech Republic.

Evaluation of the possible proteomic application of trypsin from Streptomyces griseus.

Trypsin (EC 3.4.21.

Thermostable trypsin conjugates for high-throughput proteomics: synthesis and performance evaluation.

Conjugating bovine trypsin with oligosaccharides maltotriose, raffinose and stachyose increased its thermostability and suppressed autolysis, without affecting its cleavage specificity. These conjugates accelerated the digestion of protein substrates both in solution and in gel, compared to commonly used unmodified and methylated trypsins.