Dredging of Vila do Conde harbor, Portugal - Contamination of sediments

In Portugal, the dredging of small harbors represents the main exploitation cost for these infrastructures. These costs can significantly increase depending upon the degree of sediment contamination, as their disposal can concern an important amount of the overall costs. Therefore, a methodology for zoning the contamination areas was developed and it is summarized. This methodology was applied to the dredged material of an ancient wharf, used since the Middle Age, at Vila do Conde harbor, North of Portugal. Considering the resultant contamination zoning, for different years, an evolution analysis of the contaminated areas before and after dredging operations was carried out. This approach intended to evaluate if the contaminated areas are similar after dredging operations in order to identify the possible contamination sources and, subsequently, to eliminate them. Thus, an important part of the dredging cost may well be reduced, since the elimination, or reduction, of contamination sources in a harbor can increase the environmental beneficial use of the dredged sediments.publishersversionpublishe

The occurrence and dissemination of methicillin and vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus in samples from patients and health professionals of a university hospital in Recife, State of Pernambuco, Brazil

Introduction Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains have been responsible for many nosocomial outbreaks. Within hospitals, colonized employees often act as reservoirs for the spread of this organism. This study collected clinical samples of 91 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), hemodialysis/nephrology service and surgical clinic, and biological samples from the nasal cavities of 120 professionals working in those environments, of a University Hospital in Recife, in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil. The main objective of this study was to determine the occurrence and dissemination of methicillin- and vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus spp. Methods The isolates obtained were tested for susceptibility to oxacillin and vancomycin and detection of the mecA gene. In addition, the isolates were evaluated for the presence of clones by ribotyping-polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results MRSA occurrence, as detected by the presence of the mecA gene, was more prevalent among nursing technicians; 48.1% (13/27) and 40.7% (11/27) of the isolates were from health professionals of the surgical clinic. In patients, the most frequent occurrence of mecA-positive isolates was among the samples from catheter tips (33.3%; 3/9), obtained mostly from the hemodialysis/nephrology service. Eight vancomycin-resistant strains were found among the MRSA isolates through vancomycin screening. Based on the amplification patterns, 17 ribotypes were identified, with some distributed between patients and professionals. Conclusions Despite the great diversity of clones, which makes it difficult to trace the source of the infection, knowledge of the molecular and phenotypic profiles of Staphylococcus samples can contribute towards guiding therapeutic approaches in the treatment and control of nosocomial infections