Doxycycline plus streptomycin versus ciprofloxacin plus rifampicin in spinal brucellosis [ISRCTN31053647]

Background: The optimal treatment regimen and duration of the therapy is still controversial in spinal brucellosis. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy, adverse drug reactions, complications and cost of ciprofloxacin plus rifampicin versus doxycycline plus streptomycin in the treatment of spinal brucellosis

Catheter-related bacteremia due to Kocuria rosea in a patient undergoing peripheral blood stem cell transplantation

BACKGROUND: Micrococcus species may cause intracranial abscesses, meningitis, pneumonia, and septic arthritis in immunosuppressed or immunocompetent hosts. In addition, strains identified as Micrococcus spp. have been reported recently in infections associated with indwelling intravenous lines, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis fluids, ventricular shunts and prosthetic valves. CASE PRESENTATION: We report on the first case of a catheter-related bacteremia caused by Kocuria rosea, a gram-positive microorganism belonging to the family Micrococcaceae, in a 39-year-old man undergoing peripheral blood stem cell transplantation due to relapsed Hodgkin disease. This uncommon pathogen may cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients. CONCLUSIONS: This report presents a case of Kocuria rosea catheter related bacteremia after stem cell transplantation successfully treated with vancomycin and by catheter removal

Sepsis and Meningitis due to Listeria Monocytogenes

Purpose: This study focused on the effect of immuno-compromising conditions on the clinical presentation of severe listerial infection. Patients and Methods: Nine human listeriosis cases seen from 1991-2002 were reviewed. All adult patients, from whose blood, peritoneal fluid or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) the L. monocytogenes was isolated, were included in this retrospective study. Results: Listeriosis presented as primary sepsis with positive blood cultures in 5 cases and meningitis with positive CSF cultures in 4 cases. All of these patients had at least one underlying disease, most commonly, hematologic malignancy, diabetes mellitus, amyloidosis and hepatic cirrhosis; 55.6% had received immunosuppressive or corticosteroid therapy within a week before the onset of listeriosis. The patients were adults with a mean age of 60 years. Fever, night sweats, chills and lethargy were the most common symptoms; high temperature (> 38 degrees C), tachycardia, meningeal signs and poor conditions in general were the most common findings on admission. The mortality rate was 33.3% and was strictly associated with the severity of the underlying disease. Mortality differences were significant between sepsis (20%) and meningitis (50%) patients. Conclusion: Listeriosis as an uncommon infection in our region and that immunesuppressive therapy is an important pre-disposing factor of listeriosis. Sepsis and meningitis were more common in this group of patients and had the highest case-fatality rate for food-bome illnesses

In-vitro Activity of Carbapenem/Sulbactam Combination against Acinetobacter baumannii Strains

Purpose: Carbapenems and sulbactam are often the drug of choice for the treatment of infections due to multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. The present study aimed to evaluate the in vitro synergistic activity between carbapenem and sulbactam against A. baumannii isolated from blood cultures of patients

Comparative Evaluation of E-Test and Disk Diffusion Methods for Susceptibility Testing of Nocardia Species

WOS: 000291333900008PubMed ID: 21644070Variations in antimicrobial susceptibility among different Nocardia species limit the options for therapy. It is very difficult to perform antimicrobial susceptibility testing of these bacteria due to their slow growth rate and problems in inoculum preparation. The aim of this study was to compare E-test and disk diffusion methods for the determination of antimicrobial susceptibilities of Nocardia isolates. Since E-test is considered as 90% consistent with the gold standard microdilution method recommended by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), it was chosen for comparison with disk diffusion and in order to determine the use of disk diffusion in routine practice. A total of 21 Nocardia strains isolated from clinical specimens (12 lung, 7 brain and 2 skin/soft tissue samples) were included in the study. Six of the isolates were identified as N.asteroides, six were N.farcinica, five were N.cyriacigeorgica and four were Nocardia spp. by conventional methods. Susceptibilities of strains to ampicillin, ampicillin-sulbactam, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ceftazidime, sefepime, imipenem, gentamicin, erythromycin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, piperacillin-tazobactam, tigecycline, and linezolid were investigated by using E-test and/or disk diffusion methods. The results were interpreted according to the CLSI breakpoints for Staphylococcus spp. All of the strains were found to be resistant to ceftazidime, piperacillin-tazobactam and ampicillin, however susceptible to levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole tigecycline, and linezolid. The concordance between the methods in terms of susceptibility testing were 100% for ampicillin, ceftazidime, imipenem, gentamicin and linezolid; 85.7% for erythromycin, 76.2% for sefepime, 73.7% for moxifloxacin, 71.4% for piperacillin-tazobactam, 70% for ampicillin-sulbactam and 46.2% for amoxicillin-clavulanic acid. In conclusion, the therapy must be planned according to the results of antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Disk diffusion is not a reliable method due to the high rates of very major errors. E-test would be an alternative method being practical and easily evaluated, especially in routine laboratories in which the reference method could not be performed

Comparative Evaluation of E-Test and Disk Diffusion Methods for Susceptibility Testing of Nocardia Species

Variations in antimicrobial susceptibility among different Nocardia species limit the options for therapy. It is very difficult to perform antimicrobial susceptibility testing of these bacteria due to their slow growth rate and problems in inoculum preparation. The aim of this study was to compare E-test and disk diffusion methods for the determination of antimicrobial susceptibilities of Nocardia isolates. Since E-test is considered as 90% consistent with the gold standard microdilution method recommended by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), it was chosen for comparison with disk diffusion and in order to determine the use of disk diffusion in routine practice. A total of 21 Nocardia strains isolated from clinical specimens (12 lung, 7 brain and 2 skin/soft tissue samples) were included in the study. Six of the isolates were identified as N.asteroides, six were N.farcinica, five were N.cyriacigeorgica and four were Nocardia spp. by conventional methods. Susceptibilities of strains to ampicillin, ampicillin-sulbactam, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ceftazidime, sefepime, imipenem, gentamicin, erythromycin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, piperacillin-tazobactam, tigecycline, and linezolid were investigated by using E-test and/or disk diffusion methods. The results were interpreted according to the CLSI breakpoints for Staphylococcus spp. All of the strains were found to be resistant to ceftazidime, piperacillin-tazobactam and ampicillin, however susceptible to levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole tigecycline, and linezolid. The concordance between the methods in terms of susceptibility testing were 100% for ampicillin, ceftazidime, imipenem, gentamicin and linezolid; 85.7% for erythromycin, 76.2% for sefepime, 73.7% for moxifloxacin, 71.4% for piperacillin-tazobactam, 70% for ampicillin-sulbactam and 46.2% for amoxicillin-clavulanic acid. In conclusion, the therapy must be planned according to the results of antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Disk diffusion is not a reliable method due to the high rates of very major errors. E-test would be an alternative method being practical and easily evaluated, especially in routine laboratories in which the reference method could not be performed

Ten-year surveillance of invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates in central Turkey prior to the introduction of a conjugate vaccine

Introduction: The aim of this study was to characterize the serotypes and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates in central Turkey

Molecular Epidemiology and Antibacterial Susceptibility of Streptococci Isolated from Healthy Children Attending Day Care Units

Objective: The aims of the study were to investigate antibacterial susceptibility and resistance mechanisms of streptococci isolated from healthy children attending day care units and to evaluate clonal relatedness of the strains

Factors influencing survival in patients with multi-drug-resistant Acinetobacter bacteraemia

Objectives: The incidence of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter strains is increasing and therapeutic options are limited. However, controversy exists regarding the mortality attributable to antimicrobial resistance. The aim of this study was to analyse the clinical features and outcomes of patients with MDR Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-Acinetobacter baumannii complex (Acb complex) bacteraemia and determine the factors influencing survival by using 14-day mortality as the main outcome measure