Publications by authors named "Venere Cortazzo"

Background: Infant meningitis, particularly caused by , remains a life-threatening condition, especially in premature and low-weight infants. Infections of the central nervous system can be fatal, necessitating prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Acute infections caused by various pathogens, including , often present with similar clinical symptoms.

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  • A 3-year-old male on ECMO for respiratory failure developed a fungal infection from a rare pathogen that couldn't be identified by standard testing methods.
  • Despite a negative T2Candida panel, blood cultures became positive after 4 days, and traditional identification methods failed, leading to whole genome sequencing (WGS) for precise identification.
  • WGS revealed the fungus belonged to the Ustilago genus, and thanks to timely treatment adjustments, the infection was successfully eradicated, highlighting the significance of advanced molecular techniques in diagnosing rare infections.
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Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a life-threatening genetic disease characterised by chronic lung infections sustained by opportunistic pathogens such as During the chronic long-lasting lung infections, adapts to the host environment. Hypermutability, mainly due to defects in the DNA repair system, resulting in an increased spontaneous mutation rate, represents a way to boost the rapid adaptation frequently encountered in CF isolates. We selected 609 isolates from 51 patients with CF chronically colonised by to study, by full-length genome sequencing, the longitudinal evolution of the bacterium.

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(1) Background: The literature reports a low risk of serious bacterial infections (SBIs) in febrile infants presenting with bronchiolitis or respiratory syncytial virus infection, but current microbiological techniques have a higher accuracy. (2) Methods: We assessed the risk of SBIs in neonates and infants with bronchiolitis from 2021 to 2023. We also evaluated C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, and leukocyte values.

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Invasive group A streptococci infections are increasing worldwide, mainly due to the emm1 lineage M1 UK emergence. Although this variant has recently been described in adult Italian patients, its circulation in children has not yet been established. Characterizing by whole genome sequencing 6 invasive group A streptococci strains isolated between 2022 and 2023, we highlighted M1 UK lineage circulation in pediatric patients in Italy.

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  • - The study investigated Campylobacter infections in Italy from 2017 to 2021, analyzing data from 19 hospitals across 13 regions to understand the epidemiology and antibiotic resistance patterns.
  • - A total of 5,419 Campylobacter isolates were analyzed, with C. jejuni being the most prevalent species, and the majority of infections were found in males and outpatients; resistance to common antibiotics like ciprofloxacin and tetracyclines was notably high but showed a decrease over the study period.
  • - The findings indicate that while resistance to fluoroquinolones and tetracyclines is decreasing, it remains significant, whereas macrolides show consistent effectiveness against Campylobacter in Italy.
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  • Bacterial infections from multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria are a major global health issue, often leading to severe illness and death.
  • Two prior cases of VIM-2 metallo-β-lactamase producing bacteremia were recorded in France and Spain between 2004 and 2010.
  • This report highlights the first known instance of VIM-1-like bacteria isolated from a blood culture of a pediatric cancer patient at Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital in Rome, Italy.
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  • Candida auris and other Candida species are significant causes of bloodstream infections, requiring prompt antifungal treatment; however, the presence of antifungal agents can hinder the effectiveness of blood cultures used for diagnosis and monitoring.
  • A study compared different blood culture media to determine their effectiveness in identifying Candida species in the presence of high concentrations of antifungal drugs; findings showed that certain media (FAP and PAF) were better at fostering the growth of C. auris and C. glabrata even with antifungal presence.
  • The research highlights challenges in treating bloodstream infections from resistant Candida species, primarily C. auris and C. glabrata, especially when using echinocandins
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  • * More than half of the tested bacterial isolates (54.6%) showed resistance to the antibiotic colistin, but the SUL-DUR combo was mostly effective with low minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values.
  • * The research found that only a small number of the isolates (11) were resistant to SUL-DUR, which carried various resistance genes and mutations, marking it as the first study to report on the antimicrobial activity of SUL-DUR against these tough-to-treat infections
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This study aimed to assess the comparability of in vitro susceptibility testing methods to ceftazidime-avibactam (CZA) and ceftolozane-tazobactam (C/T). Meropenem-resistant and/or carbapenemase-producing clinical isolates of () and were tested by both bioMérieux ETEST and VITEK-2 AST-N397 card and compared with a Micronaut AST-system broth microdilution (BMD) method. CZA and C/T MICs were interpreted using EUCAST breakpoints.

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Bacterial pneumonia is a challenging coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) complication for intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians. Upon its implementation, the FilmArray pneumonia plus (FA-PP) panel's practicability for both the diagnosis and antimicrobial therapy management of bacterial pneumonia was assessed in ICU patients with COVID-19. Respiratory samples were collected from patients who were mechanically ventilated at the time bacterial etiology and antimicrobial resistance were determined using both standard-of-care (culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing [AST]) and FA-PP panel testing methods.

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  • The study aimed to analyze COVID-19 patients who experienced bloodstream infections (BSI) and identify factors linked to in-hospital mortality.
  • A total of 293 patients were examined, with 46 (15.7%) developing clinically relevant hospital-acquired BSIs, and a significant portion of these patients had multidrug-resistant organisms.
  • Key risk factors for death included being over 75 years old, experiencing septic shock, and having BSI onset within the first three days of hospitalization, highlighting the need for awareness and targeted interventions in these high-risk patients.
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