Vancomycin resistant Enterococcus spp (VRE) : follow up during 9 years in a tertiary teaching hospital in southern Brazil

Introduction: Infection with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp (VRE) has been a worldwide problem since mid 1980’s and, in Brazil, since 1996. This study was conducted to evaluate the experience with VRE in our institution. Methods: A prospective cohort study from 2000 to 2009 was conducted at Hospital São Lucas da PUCRS. All hospitalized patients with VRE positive culture were included and followed from their diagnosis until they were negative for VRE or their discharge. Only the first admission for each VRE positive patient was included. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed to determine how VRE had spread. Results: A total of 315 cases of VRE were identified, 224 of which were isolated from rectal swabs. Vancomycin-resistant/ampicilin susceptible Enterococcus faecalis were identified in 312 isolates. PFGE was performed in 47 VRE isolates that presented an indistinguishable migratory profile. The median length of hospital stay and length of stay before VRE isolation were 46 days and 21 days, respectively; 52% of the patients were aged 60 and above. The annual distribution of the new VRE cases showed a clear decrease from 2000 to 2009. Discussion: This study shows a substantial VRE colonization (71%) with a homogenous pattern that emphasizes its transversal spread. Predominance of E. faecalis differs from the literature which largely describes a higher prevalence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium. The follow up of VRE during 9 years in our institution highlighted the importance of continuous surveillance to prevent outbreaks in our hospital

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Vancomycin resistant Enterococcus spp (VRE) : follow up during 9 years in a tertiary teaching hospital in southern Brazil

Introduction: Infection with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp (VRE) has been a worldwide problem since mid 1980’s and, in Brazil, since 1996. This study was conducted to evaluate the experience with VRE in our institution. Methods: A prospective cohort study from 2000 to 2009 was conducted at Hospital São Lucas da PUCRS. All hospitalized patients with VRE positive culture were included and followed from their diagnosis until they were negative for VRE or their discharge. Only the first admission for each VRE positive patient was included. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed to determine how VRE had spread. Results: A total of 315 cases of VRE were identified, 224 of which were isolated from rectal swabs. Vancomycin-resistant/ampicilin susceptible Enterococcus faecalis were identified in 312 isolates. PFGE was performed in 47 VRE isolates that presented an indistinguishable migratory profile. The median length of hospital stay and length of stay before VRE isolation were 46 days and 21 days, respectively; 52% of the patients were aged 60 and above. The annual distribution of the new VRE cases showed a clear decrease from 2000 to 2009. Discussion: This study shows a substantial VRE colonization (71%) with a homogenous pattern that emphasizes its transversal spread. Predominance of E. faecalis differs from the literature which largely describes a higher prevalence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium. The follow up of VRE during 9 years in our institution highlighted the importance of continuous surveillance to prevent outbreaks in our hospital

Outbreak of Carbapenem-Resistant Providencia stuartii in an Intensive Care Unit

Outbreaks by carbapenem-resistant Providencia stuartii (CRPS) are rarely described. Clinical characteristics of patients with CRPS in an intensive care unit and resistance mechanisms were investigated. Carbapenemase production and/or outer membrane alterations were not detected; only CTX-M-2 and AmpC hyperproduction were noted. the outbreak was ultimately controlled in a 3-month period. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2012; 33(6):627-630Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Ministry of Science and Technology, BrazilHosp Clin Porto Alegre, Infect Dis Serv, BR-90035903 Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Div Infect Dis, Lab ALERTA, São Paulo, BrazilPontificia Univ Catolica Rio Grande do Sul, Hosp Sao Lucas, Infect Control Serv, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Div Infect Dis, Lab ALERTA, São Paulo, BrazilMinistry of Science and Technology, Brazil: 301829/2008-0Ministry of Science and Technology, Brazil: 307816//2009-5Web of Scienc