Technical note: Discard the specimen collection swab directly at point of care to improve extensive automated processing in clinical microbiology laboratories.

We compared, in terms of microorganisms recovery, the discard of specimen collection swab, after swirling into its medium, directly at point of care, with its placing into the medium and vortexing on arrival in the laboratory. Our results show that these two procedures are overlapped in terms of bacterial recovery.

Direct molecular detection of pathogens in blood as specific rule-in diagnostic biomarker in patients with presumed sepsis: our experience on a heterogeneous cohort of patients with signs of infective systemic inflammatory response syndrome.

The practical value of blood cultures in the diagnosis of sepsis is impaired by a delay in the turnaround time to result and by the fact that blood culture positive can be found for only about 30% of these patients. Conventional laboratory signs of sepsis and acute phase protein biomarkers are sensitive and easy to use, but often also very nonspecific. Molecular diagnostic reflects currently the most promising avenue to decrease time to result and to influence decision making for antibiotic therapy in the septic host.

When should adenoviral non-gonococcal urethritis be suspected? Two case reports.

The impact of Adenovirus as agent of non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) is still poorly documented in the literature. We describe two cases showing that adenoviral infection should be reasonably hypothesized in men with dysuria and scant urethral discharge in addition to meatus inflammation and/or edema (meatitis) or conjunctivitis. Case 1: a 55-year-old man came to our observation in July 2012 referring a 5-day-history of intense dysuria and scant mucoid urethral discharge.

Molecular diagnosis of Staphylococcus aureus prosthetic aortic graft infection: a case report.

Introduction: Aortic graft infection is a widely debated topic in the literature, it represents about 1% of post-surgical complications and is associated with a high complication and mortality rate. In most cases, such infections are treated empirically because patients are already under antibiotic coverage so as not to allow isolation of the pathogen. The literature in this regard is very attentive to new molecular diagnostic possibilities, and especially the operating of such complications in a precise diagnostic algorithm and management of the patient.

Molecular identification of bloodstream pathogens in patients presenting to the emergency department with suspected sepsis.

The rapid detection of pathogens in blood is critical for a favorable outcome of patients with suspected sepsis. Although blood culture (BC) is considered the criterion standard for diagnosis of bloodstream infection, it often takes several days to detect the causative organism. In this study, we compared BC with a commercially available multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to detect bacteria and fungi in blood samples from 144 patients admitted to the emergency department with suspected sepsis.

Direct antifungal susceptibility testing of positive Candida blood cultures by sensititre YeastOne.

Invasive candidiasis is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Differences in the virulence and susceptibility of the various Candida spp. to antifungal drugs make the identification and rapid MIC determination very important for clinical management.