Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus capitis with Reduced Vancomycin Susceptibility Causes Late-Onset Sepsis in Intensive Care Neonates

isolated from the blood of NICU infants and compared these data to adult patients. element, and constantly showed either vancomycin resistance (37.5%) or heteroresistance (62.5%). Conversely, the isolates that were collected outside of the NICU were genetically diverse and displayed much lower rates of vancomycin resistance and heteroresistance (7.7% and 23.1%, respectively). strains has spread into several French NICUs. These isolates exhibit reduced susceptibility to vancomycin, which is the most widely used antimicrobial agent in the NICU setting

Long-term and large-scale multispecies dataset tracking population changes of common European breeding birds

Around fifteen thousand fieldworkers annually count breeding birds using standardized protocols in 28 European countries. The observations are collected by using country-specific and standardized protocols, validated, summarized and finally used for the production of continent-wide annual and long-term indices of population size changes of 170 species. Here, we present the database and provide a detailed summary of the methodology used for fieldwork and calculation of the relative population size change estimates. We also provide a brief overview of how the data are used in research, conservation and policy. We believe this unique database, based on decades of bird monitoring alongside the comprehensive summary of its methodology, will facilitate and encourage further use of the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme results.publishedVersio

A retrospective comparison of the antimicrobial resistance profiles of methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible <i>Staphylococcus capitis</i> bloodstream isolates from patients in neonatal intensive care units, 2004–2009.

a<p>The differences between the groups were tested for statistical significance using a two-tailed Fisher's exact test. <i>P</i> values were corrected for multiple testing using the Holm-Bonferroni method.</p>b<p>NC, not calculable.</p

Flow diagram of case selection.

<p>(N)ICU, (neonatal) intensive care unit; CoNS, coagulase-negative staphylococci; BC, blood culture. ^aIn NICU infants, a single CoNS-positive blood culture was interpreted as possible bacteremia and included in the analysis. The CoNS-positive results that were excluded were explicitly recorded as a contaminant in the microbiology record. ^bIn adult patients, a single CoNS-positive blood culture was interpreted as a contaminant and excluded from the analysis. ^cRecords were excluded when antimicrobial susceptibility results were not available.</p

A species distribution comparison of <i>Staphylococcus</i> spp. isolates from the positive blood cultures of patients in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and adult ICUs, 2004–2009.

a<p>The differences between the groups were tested for statistical significance using a two-tailed Fisher's exact test. <i>P</i> values were corrected for multiple testing using the Holm-Bonferroni method.</p

A retrospective comparison of the antimicrobial resistance profiles of <i>Staphylococcus capitis</i> bloodstream isolates from patients in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and adult ICUs, 2004–2009.

a<p>The differences between the groups were tested for statistical significance using a two-tailed Fisher's exact test. <i>P</i> values were corrected for multiple testing using the Holm-Bonferroni method.</p

<i>Staphylococcus capitis</i> isolates from distant neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are clonal.

<p>Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was applied to 53 bloodstream isolates of <i>S. capitis</i> that were collected from NICU infants and adult patients from cities spanning the French territory. The PFGE dendrogram was generated using the GelCompar software version 4.1. The isolates were assigned to pulsotypes using >80% similarity (vertical dashed line). Staphylococcal chromosomal cassette <i>mec</i> (SCC<i>mec</i>) typing was applied to 23 methicillin-resistant isolates representative of each pulsotype and geographic origin. All methicillin-resistant isolates from the different NICUs belonged to the same pulsotype and shared a type V-related SCC<i>mec</i> element, whereas methicillin-susceptible and/or non-NICU isolates were genetically diverse. <i>ccr</i>, chromosomal cassette recombinase; unkn., unknown (a combination of the <i>mec</i> complex and <i>ccr</i> genes has not been assigned to an SCC<i>mec</i> type so far).</p

Population responses of bird populations to climate change on two continents vary with species’ ecological traits but not with direction of change in climate suitability

Climate change is a major global threat to biodiversity with widespread impacts on ecological communities. Evidence for beneficial impacts on populations is perceived to be stronger and more plentiful than that for negative impacts, but few studies have investigated this apparent disparity, or how ecological factors affect population responses to climatic change. We examined the strength of the relationship between species-specific regional population changes and climate suitability trends (CST), using 30-year datasets of population change for 525 breeding bird species in Europe and the USA. These data indicate a consistent positive relationship between population trend and CST across the two continents. Importantly, we found no evidence that this positive relationship differs between species expected to be negatively and positively impacted across the entire taxonomic group, suggesting that climate change is causing equally strong, quantifiable population increases and declines. Species’ responses to changing climatic suitability varied with ecological traits, however, particularly breeding habitat preference and body mass. Species associated with inland wetlands responded most strongly and consistently to recent climatic change. In Europe, smaller species also appeared to respond more strongly, while the relationship with body mass was less clear-cut for North American birds. Overall, our results identify the role of certain traits in modulating responses to climate change and emphasise the importance of long-term data on abundance for detecting large-scale species’ responses to environmental changes

Farmland practices are driving bird population decline across Europe

International audienceDeclines in European bird populations are reported for decades but the direct effect of major anthropogenic pressures on such declines remains unquantified. Causal relationships between pressures and bird population responses are difficult to identify as pressures interact at different spatial scales and responses vary among species. Here, we uncover direct relationships between population time-series of 170 common bird species, monitored at more than 20,000 sites in 28 European countries, over 37 y, and four widespread anthropogenic pressures: agricultural intensification, change in forest cover, urbanisation and temperature change over the last decades. We quantify the influence of each pressure on population time-series and its importance relative to other pressures, and we identify traits of most affected species. We find that agricultural intensification, in particular pesticides and fertiliser use, is the main pressure for most bird population declines, especially for invertebrate feeders. Responses to changes in forest cover, urbanisation and temperature are more species-specific. Specifically, forest cover is associated with a positive effect and growing urbanisation with a negative effect on population dynamics, while temperature change has an effect on the dynamics of a large number of bird populations, the magnitude and direction of which depend on species' thermal preferences. Our results not only confirm the pervasive and strong effects of anthropogenic pressures on common breeding birds, but quantify the relative strength of these effects stressing the urgent need for transformative changes in the way of inhabiting the world in European countries, if bird populations shall have a chance of recovering

Relationship between serotypes, disease characteristics and 30-day mortality in adults with invasive pneumococcal disease

International audienc