Bactibilia and Antibiotic Resistance in Elective Cholecysctectomy: An Updated Ecologic Survey.

Background: The role of bactibilia as a risk factor for an unfavorable outcome during biliary disease or surgical procedures remains obscure. Our aim was to identify possible risk factors for bactibilia and their possible relations to complications after elective cholecystectomy. As secondary aims, composition and antibiotic resistance patterns were studied.

Selected culture and drug-susceptibility testing methods for drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis screening in resource-constrained settings.

Evaluation of: Adikaram CP, Perera J, Wijesundera SS. The manual Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube and the Nitrate Reductase Assay for the rapid detection of rifampicin resistance of M. tuberculosis in low resource settings.

[Mass spectrometry in the clinical microbiology laboratory].

Infectious diseases are still a cause of high mortality and morbidity rates. Current microbiological diagnostic methods are based on culture and phenotypic identification of isolated microorganisms, which can be obtained in about 24-48 h. Given that the microbiological identification is of major importance for patient management, new diagnostic methods are needed in order to detect and identify microorganisms in a timely and accurate manner.

[Current options for predicting therapeutic response in chronically infected patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 1].

Only about 50% of patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus genotype 1 achieve a successful response to standard treatment with pegylated interferon-alfa and ribavirin. Moreover, the recently approved protease inhibitors will have to be administered together with these drugs. Consequently, predicting response to standard treatment, ideally before starting it, remains an important challenge.

[The teaching of microbiology and parasitology in undergraduate medical education and its adaptation to the European Higher Education Area].

The creation of the European Higher Education Area provides a series of opportunities for far-reaching reform of medical education and changes in the way both students and teachers work. The Bologna process must be implemented before 2010 in signatory countries, which include Spain, and must allow education and academic titles to be homologated. Medical degrees must consist of 360 European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits, divided into six academic years (60 credits per academic year).

[Serologic diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections].

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a human pathogen with worldwide distribution. This microorganism is a common cause (10-30%) of community-acquired pneumonia, also called primary atypical pneumonia because of the spectrum of clinical and radiological findings. The immune response is mainly based on rapid antibody production against peptide and glycolipid antigens derived from this microorganism.