Bloom-Forming Cyanobacteria Support Copepod Reproduction and Development in the Baltic Sea

Peer reviewe

Antibiotic Prescriptions and Prophylaxis in Italian Children. Is It Time to Change? Data from the ARPEC Project.

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobials are the most commonly prescribed drugs. Many studies have evaluated antibiotic prescriptions in the paediatric outpatient but few studies describing the real antibiotic consumption in Italian children's hospitals have been published. Point-prevalence survey (PPS) has been shown to be a simple, feasible and reliable standardized method for antimicrobials surveillance in children and neonates admitted to the hospital. In this paper, we presented data from a PPS on antimicrobial prescriptions carried out in 7 large Italian paediatric institutions. METHODS: A 1-day PPS on antibiotic use in hospitalized neonates and children was performed in Italy between October and December 2012 as part of the Antibiotic Resistance and Prescribing in European Children project (ARPEC). Seven institutions in seven Italian cities were involved. The survey included all admitted patients less than 18 years of age present in the ward at 8:00 am on the day of the survey, who had at least one on-going antibiotic prescription. For all patients data about age, weight, underlying disease, antimicrobial agent, dose and indication for treatment were collected. RESULTS: The PPS was performed in 61 wards within 7 Italian institutions. A total of 899 patients were eligible and 349 (38.9%) had an on-going prescription for one or more antibiotics, with variable rates among the hospitals (25.7% - 53.8%). We describe antibiotic prescriptions separately in neonates ( = 30 days to <18 years old). In the neonatal cohort, 62.8% received antibiotics for prophylaxis and only 37.2% on those on antibiotics were treated for infection. Penicillins and aminoglycosides were the most prescribed antibiotic classes. In the paediatric cohort, 64.4% of patients were receiving antibiotics for treatment of infections and 35.5% for prophylaxis. Third generation cephalosporins and penicillin plus inhibitors were the top two antibiotic classes. The main reason for prescribing antibiotic therapy in children was lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI), followed by febrile neutropenia/fever in oncologic patients, while, in neonates, sepsis was the most common indication for treatment. Focusing on prescriptions for LRTI, 43.3% of patients were treated with 3rd generation cephalosporins, followed by macrolides (26.9%), quinolones (16.4%) and carbapenems (14.9%) and 50.1% of LRTI cases were receiving more than one antibiotic. For neutropenic fever/fever in oncologic patients, the preferred antibiotics were penicillins with inhibitors (47.8%), followed by carbapenems (34.8%), aminoglycosides (26.1%) and glycopeptides (26.1%). Overall, the 60.9% of patients were treated with a combination therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides insight on the Italian situation in terms of antibiotic prescriptions in hospitalized neonates and children. An over-use of third generation cephalosporins both for prophylaxis and treatment was the most worrisome finding. A misuse and abuse of carbapenems and quinolones was also noted. Antibiotic stewardship programs should immediately identify feasible targets to monitor and modify the prescription patterns in children's hospital, also considering the continuous and alarming emergence of MDR bacteria

Östersjöns blågrönalger : Viktiga kvävekällor

Blågrönalger, eller cyanobakterier som de egentligenheter, har en unik förmåga att omvandla luftens kvävgastill mer användbar form. Genom denna process tillför dekväve i form av näring, både till sig själva och till restenav ekosystemet. Denna förmåga är förstås otroligt viktig,men ställer också till problem i våra redan övergöddavatten. Därför försöker man nu genom intensiva studierta reda på mer om hur blågrönalger fungerar och hurmycket kväve som tillförs av dessa organismer

Responses of Phyto- and Zooplankton Communities to <i>Prymnesium polylepis</i> (Prymnesiales) Bloom in the Baltic Sea

<div><p>A large bloom of <i>Prymnesium polylepis</i> occurred in the Baltic Sea during the winter 2007 – spring 2008. Based on numerous reports of strong allelopathic effects on phytoplankton exerted by <i>P. polylepis</i> and its toxicity to grazers, we hypothesized that during this period negative correlations will be observed between <i>P. polylepis</i> and (1) main phytoplankton groups contributing to the spring bloom (i.e., diatoms and dinoflagellates), and (2) zooplankton growth and abundance. To test these hypotheses, we analyzed inter-annual variability in phytoplankton and zooplankton dynamics as well as growth indices (RNA∶DNA ratio) in dominant zooplankton in relation to the <i>Prymnesium</i> abundance and biomass. Contrary to the hypothesized relationships, no measurable negative responses to <i>P. polylepis</i> were observed for either the total phytoplankton stocks or the zooplankton community. The only negative response, possibly associated with <i>P. polylepis</i> occurrence, was significantly lower abundance of dinoflagellates both during and after the bloom in 2008. Moreover, contrary to the expected negative effects, there were significantly higher total phytoplankton abundance as well as significantly higher winter abundance and winter-spring RNA∶DNA ratio in dominant zooplankton species in 2008, indicating that <i>P. polylepis</i> bloom coincided with favourable feeding conditions for zooplankton. Thus, primary consumers, and consequently also zooplanktivores (e.g., larval fish and mysids), may benefit from haptophyte blooms, particularly in winter, when phytoplankton is scarce.</p></div

PCA correlation biplot of the two dominant components defined by abiotic (monthly NAO, SST, and salinity [Sal]) and biotic (total phytoplankton biomass [TPhyto], biomass of <i>Prymnesiales</i> [P.spp.], phytoplankton biomass excluding <i>Prymnesiales</i> [otherPhyto], biomass of <i>P. polylepis</i> [Pp], and contribution of <i>P. polylepis</i> to total phytoplankton biomass [% Pp]) environmental variables in winter-spring (panels A and C) and summer-autumn (panels B and D) in 2007 and 2008.

<p>Panels A and B: Zooplankton biomass (total zooplankton [TZoo], copepods [Copepoda], cladocerans [Cladocera], rotifers [Rotifera], <i>Acartia</i> spp. [Acartia], and <i>Eurytemora affinis</i> [Eurytemora]) are projected as supplementary variables; data from all sampling stations are used for the analysis. Panels C and D: RNA∶DNA ratios in <i>Acartia</i> spp. [R/D Acartia] and <i>Keratella quadrata</i> [R/D Keratella] are projected as supplementary variables; data are for stns B1, BY31, and H4.</p

Study area and sampling stations in the central (stn BY15; bottom depth 249 m) and southern basins (stn BY5 and BY2; bottom depth 91 and 48 m, respectively) of the Baltic Sea proper, and in its northern part (stn H4, B1 and BY31; bottom depth 30, 40 and 459 m, respectively).

<p>The northern stations represent an inshore-offshore gradient and differ in salinity, available nutrients, phytoplankton development, and production. Station H4 is located in the middle of the Himmerfjärden Bay moderately eutrophied by discharges from a municipal sewage treatment plant. Station B1 is an open coastal station, outside the area influenced by the sewage treatment plant discharge <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0112985#pone.0112985-Savage1" target="_blank">[21]</a>, while stn BY31 (Landsort Deep) is the deepest offshore monitoring station in the Baltic Sea.</p

Dynamics of total phytoplankton (TPhyto) and <i>Prymnesium polylepis</i> (biovolume, left axis), total zooplankton (TZoo) and copepods (biomass; right axis) during 2007 and 2008 at the monitoring stations in the Baltic proper.

<p>Note that in September 2007, TZoo value at stn BY15 is outside the axis limits.</p