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Collaboration between an antimicrobial stewardship team and the microbiology laboratory can shorten time to directed antibiotic therapy for methicillin susceptible staphylococcal bacteremia and to discontinuation of antibiotics for coagulase-negative staphylococcal contaminants
Rapid identification of Gram positive cocci in clusters (GPCC) in positive blood cultures (pBC) may limit exposure to unnecessary or inappropriate antibiotics. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 29, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Tanaya Bhowmick, Thomas J. Kirn, Frances Hetherington, Shandurai Takavarasha, Sarbjit S. Sandhu, Shveta Gandhi, Navaneeth Narayanan, Melvin P. Weinstein Source Type: research

Impact of a stewardship-focused culture follow-up initiative on the treatment of pharyngitis in the emergency department and urgent care settings
A culture follow-up program with an emphasis on symptom assessment may limit antibiotic exposure in patients with Group A Streptococcus on throat culture. A quasi-experimental study of such patients was conducted in our Emergency Department and Urgent Care centers. During the pre-stewardship initiative phase (March 2011 –June 2012), the standard of care for culture follow-up did not include symptom assessment prior to prescribing antibiotics. During the stewardship initiative phase (March 2015–June 2016), culture follow-up was completed with a focus on symptom assessment and antibiotic avoidance. (Source: Diagnostic Mi...
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 28, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Lisa E. Dumkow, Katie L. Axford, K.J. Suda, Heather M. Draper, Kasey L. Brandt Source Type: research

Comparison of two different antibody assay methods: Elecsys anti-HCVII (Roche) and Vidas anti-HCV (Biomerieux), for the detection of antibody to hepatitis C virus in Egypt
The measurement of antibodies against hepatitis C virus (HCV) is important to screen HCV infection. The aim of this study is to investigate the reliability of two commercially available anti-HCV antibody kits used in routine laboratory testing in Egypt. One thousand nine hundred and thirty one-serum samples were analyzed using two anti-HCV test systems: Cobas e 411 ® Elecsys Anti-HCVII and Vidas® Anti-HCV Biomerieux. Discrepant samples were tested using the recombinant immunoblot assay Innogenetics® INNO-LIA HCV Score. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 21, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Ahmed Mohammed Gaballah, Marwa Mohammed Esawy Source Type: research

Epidemiologic cutoff values to separate wild-type from non –wild-type Campylobacter fetus to ciprofloxacin
The aim of the present study was to propose epidemiologic cutoffs that could be used in routine practice to separate wild-type from non –wild-type Campylobacter fetus to ciprofloxacin. A total of 123 C. fetus isolates obtained from human samples were used for this purpose. Based on the determination of inhibition zone diameter, minimum inhibitory concentration, and sequencing of the quinolone resistance determining region in the g yraseA gene, for all tested isolates, the following cutoffs were proposed: ciprofloxacin–wild type if the inhibition zone diameter was ≥22 mm or the minimum inhibitory concentration was ≤...
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 18, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: L. B énéjat, E. Sifré, C. Domingues Martins, A. Ducournau, A. Buissonnière, E. Bessède, F. Mégraud, P. Lehours Source Type: research

in vitro activity of Oritavancin against biofilms of staphylococci isolated from prosthetic joint infection
We tested the in vitro activity of oritavancin against 185 staphylococci associated with prosthetic joint infection (PJI), including 37 methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), 67 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA), 59 methicillin-resistant S. epidermidis (MRSE) and 22 methicillin-susceptible S. epidermidis (MSSE) isolates. The oritavancin MIC50 for S. aureus and MSSE was 0.03 μg/mL, and for MRSE was 0.06μg/mL; MIC90 for S. aureus and S. epidermidis was 0.12μg/mL for both the methicillin-resistant and -susceptible subgroups. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 18, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Qun Yan, Melissa J. Karau, Robin Patel Source Type: research

Antimicrobial activity of ceftolozane-tazobactam tested against Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa collected from patients with bloodstream infections isolated in United States hospitals (2013 –2015) as part of the program to assess Ceftolozane-Tazobactam susceptibility (PACTS) surveillance program
This study evaluated the in vitro activity of ceftolozane-tazobactam and comparators against 2647 Enterobacteriaceae and 355 Pseudomonas aeruginosa non-duplicate isolates collected from hospitalized patients with bloodstream infections in US hospitals from 2013 to 2015.Ceftolozane-tazobactam (95.5% susceptible), amikacin (99.2% susceptible), and meropenem (98.4% susceptible) were the most active against Enterobacteriaceae. For Enterobacteriaceae, 1.4% (n=37) were carbapenem-resistant (CRE) and 10.2% (n=271) exhibited an ESBL non-CRE phenotype. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 18, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Dee Shortridge, Michael A Pfaller, Mariana Castanheira, Robert K. Flamm Source Type: research

Epidemiological cut-off values to separate wildtype from non-wildtype Campylobacter fetus to ciprofloxacin
The aim of the present study was to propose epidemiological cut-offs that could be used in routine practice to separate wildtype from non-wildtype Campylobacter fetus to ciprofloxacin. A total of 123 Campylobacter fetus isolates obtained from human samples were used for this purpose. Based on the determination of inhibition zone diameter, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and sequencing of the quinolone resistance determining region in the gyraseA gene, for all tested isolates, the following cut-offs were proposed: ciprofloxacin-wildtype if inhibition zone diameter ≥22mm or MIC ≤0.5 mg/L. (Source: Diagnostic Micro...
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 18, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: L B énéjat, E Sifré, C Domingues Martins, A Ducournau, A Buissonnière, E Bessède, F Mégraud, P Lehours Source Type: research

Detection of colistin-resistant gram-negative rods by using the Superpolymyxin medium
The commercial SuperPolymyxin medium (ELITechGroup, Puteaux, France), currently licensed in Europe, is aimed to screen for either intrinsic or acquired colistin resistance in Gram negatives. It was tested for screening colistin-resistant Gram negative rods from bacterial cultures of 145 colistin-resistant and 86 colistin-susceptible Gram negative rods isolates. It exhibited a sensitivity and specificity of 95.2% (138/145) and 95.3% (82/86), respectively. The sensitivity for the detection of the 25 isolates carrying plasmid-mediated colistin resistance genes (mcr-1, mcr-2, mcr-3, and mcr-4) from bacterial cultures was of 10...
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 17, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Aur élie Jayol, Laurent Poirel, Catherine André, Véronique Dubois, Patrice Nordmann Source Type: research

Evaluation of the Rapid Polymyxin NP test and its industrial version for the detection of polymyxin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae
The commercial Rapid Polymyxin NP test was evaluated to detect colistin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. A total of 223 enterobacterial isolates corresponding to 136 resistant (including 38 MCR-like producers), 19 heteroresistant, and 78 colistin-susceptible isolates was tested. The test was performed according to manufacturer ’s instruction and the color of the wells were read after two and three hours of incubation. The results were compared to those of the home-made Rapid Polymyxin NP test, and manual BMD according to EUCAST guidelines was used as the reference method to determine performance of the test. (Source: Diagno...
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 17, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Aur élie Jayol, Nicolas Kieffer, Laurent Poirel, François Guérin, Deniz Güneser, Vincent Cattoir, Patrice Nordmann Tags: Note Source Type: research

Evaluation of the rapid Polymyxin NP test for detection of colistin susceptibility in Enterobacteriaceae isolated from Thai patients
In this study, we evaluated the performance of the test using a larger number of Enterobacteriaceae, and a larger proportion of isolates with a colistin MIC close to the breakpoint. Out of 339 isolates, the Rapid Polymyxin NP test detected colistin resistance in 13 isolates of E. coli, 213 isolates of K. pneumoniae, 9 isolates of E. aerogenes and 10 isolates of the other Enterobacteriaceae species. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 17, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Sakda Yainoy, Monchanok Hiranphan, Thanawat Phuadraksa, Warawan Eiamphungporn, Surapee Tiengrim, Visanu Thamlikitkul Source Type: research

Nasal colonization with Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus among hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza
Nasopharyngeal swabs from 148 adult patients with influenza were analyzed by PCR for S. aureus and or S. pneumoniae. We found patients colonized with S. pneumoniae were younger, had lower oxygen saturations and were more likely to require admission to critical care. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 15, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Aaron Campigotto, Andrew E. Simor, Allison McGeer, Alexander Kiss, Samira Mubareka Source Type: research

Impact of high MIC of fluconazole on outcomes of Candida glabrata bloodstream infection: a retrospective multicenter cohort study
To evaluate the impacts of fluconazole minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) according to primary antifungal agents on Candida glabrata bloodstream infection (BSI), a multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted in Korea, concerning the time period from January 2010 to February 2016. A total of 197 adult patients with C. glabrata BSI were included in the study, and neutropenia (P = 0.026), APACHE II score (P = 0.004), and fluconazole resistance (HR 3.960, 95% CI 1.395-11.246, P = 0.010) were associated with 30-day mortality in multivariate analysis. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 12, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Jae-Hoon Ko, Kyong Ran Peck, Dong Sik Jung, Ji Yeon Lee, Hyun Ah Kim, Seong Yeol Ryu, Sook-In Jung, Eun-Jeong Joo, Shinhye Cheon, Yeon-Sook Kim, Shin-Woo Kim, Sun Young Cho, Young Eun Ha, Cheol-In Kang, Doo Ryeon Chung, Nam Yong Lee, Jae-Hoon Song Source Type: research

Ceftolozane/tazobactam sensitivity patterns in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates recovered from sputum of cystic fibrosis patients
Ceftolozane/tazobactam is a combination intravenous antibiotic with potentially important activity against drug resistant Gram negative organisms. Ceftolozane/tazobactam's in vitro activity was evaluated in 30 samples collected from 23 adult cystic fibrosis patients with extended and pan-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PSAR) in 2015. Testing results demonstrated that 30% of the isolates were susceptible,13% were intermediate, and 57% were resistant. This suggests that ceftolozane/tazobactam may be a useful antibiotic in carefully selected, multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas isolates. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 12, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: James D. Finklea, Rita Hollaway, Karen Lowe, Francesca Lee, Jade Le, Raksha Jain Tags: Note Source Type: research

Genetic and biochemical characterization of GES-16, a new GES-type β-lactamase with carbapenemase activity in Serratia marcescens
We evaluated the genetic environment of blaGES-16 found in two carbapenem-resistant Serratia marcescens clinical isolates recovered from patients hospitalized at a tertiary hospital located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We also compared the kinetics constants for GES-16 and GES-5 against several β-lactams. Both S. marcescens isolates showed identical PFGE pattern and carried the carbapenemase-encoding gene blaGES-16, and the extended-spectrum β-lactamase encoding gene blaOXA-10. The blaGES-16 was inserted at the first position of a defective class 1 integron, composed by a fragmented inte grase gene that lacked its attI1 re...
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 12, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Ana Paula Streling, Paula P. Barbosa, Marcelo F. Marcondes, Adriana G. Nicoletti, Renata C. Pic ão, C. Elisa, Elizabeth A. Marques, Vitor Oliveira, Ana C. Gales Source Type: research

In vitro antimicrobial activity of imipenem plus amikacin or polymyxin B against carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates
The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of imipenem plus amikacin or polymyxin B against six carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa by time-kill assay. Synergism was observed in two isolates for combinations with amikacin. For combinations with polymyxin B, synergism and antagonism also occurred in two isolates. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - May 12, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Camila M. Wilhelm, Luciana de S. Nunes, Andreza F. Martins, Afonso L. Barth Tags: Note Source Type: research