15 research outputs found
Comparative in vitro activities of trovafloxacin (CP-99,219) against 445 gram-positive isolates from patients with endocarditis and those with other bloodstream infections
The in vitro activity of trovafloxacin (CP-99,219), a new fluoroquinolone,
was compared with the in vitro activities of other commonly used
quinolones and other antimicrobial agents against 445 gram-positive
microorganisms isolated between 1986 and 1995 from patients with
endocarditis and those with other bloodstream infections. The MICs at
which 90% of the isolates are inhibited (MIC90) of trovafloxacin for
methicillin-susceptible staphylococci, viridans group streptococci, and
enterococci were 0.06, 0.25, and 0.5 mg/liter, respectively. The MIC90 of
trovafloxacin for vancomycin-resistant enterococci as well as for
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-susceptible
and ciprofloxacin-resistant S. aureus, isolated from sources other than
blood, was 1 mg/liter. For the quinolones the rank order of activity was
trovafloxacin > sparfloxacin > ciprofloxacin = ofloxacin > pefloxacin.
Depending on the species tested, trovafloxacin was 4- to 64-fold more
active than ciprofloxacin. Further experimental and in vivo studies are
warranted to evaluate the efficacy of trovafloxacin in the treatment of
bacterial endocarditis and other infections caused by gram-positive
organisms
Comparison of eight methods to detect vancomycin resistance in enterococci
A collection of genetically unrelated vancomycin-resistant enterococci
(VRE) including 50 vanA, 15 vanB, 50 vanC1, and 30 vanC2 VRE were used to
evaluate the accuracy of eight currently available susceptibility test
methods (agar dilution, disk diffusion, E-test, agar screen plate, Vitek
GPS-TA and GPS-101, and MicroScan overnight and rapid panels). vanA VRE
were detected by all methods. vanB VRE were often not detected by Vitek
GPS-TA and MicroScan rapid (sensitivities, 47 and 53%, respectively),
though the new Vitek GPS-101 was found to be a significant improvement.
E-test and the agar screen were the only two methods detecting all VRE,
including the vanC1/C2 VRE
Nonperturbative Evaluation of the Sphaleron Transition Rate
We review nonperturbative calculations of the rate of sphaleron transitions
on the lattice in -dimensional field theories and introduce a way to
perform the gauge-invariant Gibbs averages in the classical non-Abelian Higgs
theories.Comment: 4 pages, uuencoded Postscript file. Talk given at NATO Advanced
Research Workshop on Electroweak Physics and the Early Universe, Sintra,
Portugal, 23-25 March 199
Identification of DNA sequence variation in Campylobacter jejuni strains associated with the Guillain-Barre syndrome by high-throughput AFLP analysis.
BACKGROUND: Campylobacter jejuni is the predominant cause of antecedent infection in post-infectious neuropathies such as the Guillain-Barre (GBS) and Miller Fisher syndromes (MFS). GBS and MFS are probably induced by molecular mimicry between human gangliosides and bacterial lipo-oligosaccharides (LOS). This study describes a new C. jejuni-specific high-throughput AFLP (htAFLP) approach for detection and identification of DNA polymorphism, in general, and of putative GBS/MFS-markers, in particular. RESULTS: We compared 6 different isolates of the "genome strain" NCTC 11168 obtained from different laboratories. HtAFLP analysis generated approximately 3000 markers per stain, 19 of which were polymorphic. The DNA polymorphisms could not be confirmed by PCR-RFLP analysis, suggesting a baseline level of 0.6% AFLP artefacts. Comparison of NCTC 11168 with 4 GBS-associated strains revealed 23 potentially GBS-specific markers, 17 of which were identified by DNA sequencing. A collection of 27 GBS/MFS-associated and 17 enteritis control strains was analyzed with PCR-RFLP tests based on 11 of these markers. We identified 3 markers, located in the LOS biosynthesis genes cj1136, cj1138 and cj1139c
Risk factors associated with Campylobacter jejuni infections in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles
A steady increase in the incidence of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) with a
seasonal preponderance, almost exclusively related to Campylobacter
jejuni, and a rise in the incidence of laboratory-confirmed Campylobacter
enteritis have been reported from Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. We
therefore investigated possible risk factors associated with diarrhea due
to epidemic C. jejuni. Typing by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis
identified four epidemic clones which accounted for almost 60% of the
infections. One hundred six cases were included in a case-control study.
Infections with epidemic clones were more frequently observed in specific
districts in Willemstad, the capital of Curacao. One of these clones
caused infections during the rainy season only and was associated with the
presence of a deep well around the house. Two out of three GBS-related C.
jejuni isolates belonged to an epidemic clone. The observations presented
point toward water as a possible source of Campylobacter infections
The prevalence and clonal expansion of high-level gentamicin-resistant enterococci isolated from blood cultures in a Dutch university hospital
We studied the prevalence and clonality of high-level gentamicin-resistant
enterococci (HLGRE) in a Dutch university hospital. Of 238 enterococcal
strains isolated from blood cultures between 1991 and 1997, 57 were HLGRE.
Genomic analysis of these strains revealed 19 different genotypes, two of
which were encountered more frequently [type A (12/57), type B (23/57)].
The spread of these types largely explained the rise in HLGRE incidence
from 14% in 1991 to 31% in 1997. However, the contribution of unique
strains to the total HLGRE burden also increased from 4% to 16%. We
conclude that both clonal expansion and the emergence of unique HLGRE have
contributed significantly to the increasing incidence of HLGRE