Acinetobacter baumannii producing OXA-23 detected in the Czech Republic.

Background: Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen posing an increased risk to hospitalized persons, causing nosocomial pneumonias, urinary tract infections and postoperative infections.

Methods: Between 1 December 2011 and 30 September 2012, strains of Acinetobacter spp. were isolated from clinical samples obtained from hospitalized patients.

Preparation, characterization and antimicrobial efficiency of Ag/PDDA-diatomite nanocomposite.

Nanocomposites consisting of diatomaceous earth particles and silver nanoparticles (silver NPs) with high antimicrobial activity were prepared and characterized. For the purpose of nanocomposite preparation, silver NPs with an average size of 28nm prepared by modified Tollens process were used. Nanocomposites were prepared using poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride (PDDA) as an interlayer substance between diatomite and silver NPs which enables to change diatomite original negative surface charge to positive one.

The CRZ1/SP1-like gene links survival under limited aeration, cell integrity and biofilm formation in the pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans.

Aims: Limited aeration has been demonstrated to cause slowdown in proliferation and delayed budding, resulting eventually in a unique unbudded G2-arrest in the obligate aerobic pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans. Also, the ability to adapt to decreased oxygen levels during pathogenesis has been identified as a virulence factor in C. neoformans.

Carriage of ESBL- and AmpC-positive Enterobacteriaceae in the gastrointestinal tract of community subjects and hospitalized patients in the Czech Republic.

Aim: The study aimed at analyzing ESBL- and AmpC-positive Enterobacteriaceae in the gastrointestinal tracts of university hospital inpatients and persons from the Olomouc Region community, and comparing the results with data from 2007.

Methods: Bacteria were isolated from rectal swabs inoculated onto the ChromID(TM) ESBL selective medium (bioMérieux). Production of ESBL-type beta-lactamases was confirmed by the modified double-disk synergy test and AmpC enzyme production was detected by the AmpC disk test.

Hospital-acquired pneumonia in ICU patients.

Background: This prospective study aimed at assessing the effect of initial antibiotic therapy on the mortality of patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) by analyzing bacterial pathogens and their resistance to antimicrobial agents.

Methods: Included were patients hospitalized in the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc and University Hospital Olomouc in 2009 who developed HAP. Bacterial pathogens and their resistance to antibiotics were identified using standard microbiological methods.

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.

[Prevalence of ESBL-positive enterobacteriaceae in large moravian hospitals (Czech Republic)].

Background: bacterial infections have become an important issue in current medicine. Recently, their frequency and severity have significantly increased as a result of the rising number of resistant bacteria. One of important mechanisms of resistance is production of broad-spectrum beta-lactamases, namely the ESBL type.