Bronchial colonization and complications after lung cancer surgery.

Purpose: Infectious complications occur following pulmonary resections preceded or not by induction chemoradiotherapy. We aimed to investigate whether bacterial colonization of the bronchial tree at the time of surgery was associated with postoperative complications.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective analysis of all patients who underwent open anatomical pulmonary resections for malignancies at a single center was performed.

Galactomannan detection for invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients.

Background: Invasive aspergillosis is the most common life-threatening opportunistic invasive mycosis in immunocompromised patients. A test for invasive aspergillosis should neither be too invasive nor too great a burden for the already weakened patient. The serum galactomannan enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) seems to have the potential to meet both requirements.

Prosthetic joint-associated infections treated with DAIR (debridement, antibiotics, irrigation, and retention): analysis of risk factors and local antibiotic carriers in 91 patients.

Background And Purpose: For prosthetic joint-associated infection (PJI), a regimen of debridement, antibiotics, irrigation, and retention of the prosthesis (DAIR) is generally accepted for acute infections. Various risk factors associated with treatment success have been described. The use of local antibiotic carriers (beads and sponges) is relatively unknown.

Aspergillosis due to voriconazole highly resistant Aspergillus fumigatus and recovery of genetically related resistant isolates from domiciles.

Background: Azole resistance is an emerging problem in Aspergillus fumigatus and complicates the management of patients with Aspergillus-related diseases. Selection of azole resistance may occur through exposure to azole fungicides in the environment. In the Netherlands a surveillance network was used to investigate the epidemiology of resistance selection in A.

Old and new biomarkers for predicting high and low risk microbial infection in critically ill patients with new onset fever: a case for procalcitonin.

Objectives: Fever suggests the presence of microbial infection in critically ill patients. The aim was to compare the role of old and new biomarkers in predicting absence or presence of microbial infection, its invasiveness and severity in critically ill patients with new onset fever.

Methods: We prospectively studied 101 patients in the intensive care unit with new onset fever (>38.

Clinical implications of azole resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus, The Netherlands, 2007-2009.

The prevalence and spread of azole resistance in clinical Aspergillus fumigatus isolates in the Netherlands are currently unknown. Therefore, we performed a prospective nationwide multicenter surveillance study to determine the effects of resistance on patient management strategies and public health. From June 2007 through January 2009, all clinical Aspergillus spp.

Characterization of DIM-1, an integron-encoded metallo-beta-lactamase from a Pseudomonas stutzeri clinical isolate in the Netherlands.

A carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas stutzeri strain isolated from a Dutch patient was analyzed in detail. This isolate produced a metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) whose gene, with 43.5% GC content, was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli.

Enrichment broth improved detection of extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase-producing bacteria in throat and rectal surveillance cultures of samples from patients in intensive care units.

We evaluated the use of a trypticase soy broth (TSB) for improving detection of extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase-producing (ESBL(+)) bacteria. Preenrichment of throat and rectal swabs in TSB prior to inoculation on solid medium doubled the number of ESBL(+) bacteria detected in samples obtained from patients in our intensive care unit.

Galactomannan detection for invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromized patients.

Background: Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is the most common life-threatening opportunistic invasive mycosis in immunocompromized patients. A test for IA needs to be not too invasive and not too big a burden for the already weakened patient. The serum galactomannan ELISA seems to have potential for both requirements.

Extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase production in a Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi strain from the Philippines.

A Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi strain was cultured from blood and fecal samples from a 54-year-old man with fever and diarrhea. He had returned from travel to the Philippines a few days earlier. Phenotypic and genotypic analysis confirmed the production of the SHV-12 extended-spectrum beta-lactamase.

Characteristics of clinical Helicobacter pylori strains from Ecuador.

In Ecuador, Helicobacter pylori infections are highly prevalent. A total of 42 H. pylori clinical isolates from 86 patients attending the outpatient clinic of the gastroenterology department of the university hospital of Guayaquil in Ecuador were characterized.

Superior antimicrobial activity of trisodium citrate over heparin for catheter locking.

Background: Haemodialysis catheters used for vascular access are frequently complicated by infection and catheter-related thrombosis. Improvement of interdialytic locking solutions could reduce these problems. Trisodium citrate (TSC) has been advocated in recent years because it might have antimicrobial qualities.

Nosocomial spread of a Staphylococcus capitis strain with heteroresistance to vancomycin in a neonatal intensive care unit.

A premature infant in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) developed a bloodstream infection caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) sensitive to vancomycin. The infection persisted for 3 weeks, despite therapy with vancomycin and replacement of all intravenous catheters. The neonate died due to necrotizing enterocolitis which developed during the ongoing sepsis.