Antibiotic sensitivity of Proteus species

A study has been made of the antibiotic sensitivity pattern of 96 strains of Proteus isolated from clinical material and a further 29 strains kindly supplied by Dr. Patricia Carpenter. The results have been analysed in relation to the different species. The effect of electrolytes on the penicillin sensitivity of Proteus species has also been examined.     

Antibiotic sensitivity of strains of Brucella

The susceptibility of 31 strains of Brucella to various antibiotics was investigated by agar dilution technique. When tested with inocula ranging from 10(4) to 10(6) bacteria/ml, all strains were susceptible to tetracycline, chloramphenicol, streptomycin and gentamicin. More than 25% were resistant to the combination trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. With this combination, the maximal antibacterial effect was obtained at a trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole ratio of 1:19. In 90% of the strains, stable mutants, highly resistant to rifampicin (CMI greater than or equal to 1024 micrograms/ml) were detected. The mutation rate was about 10-7.     

Mycoplasma hominis osteitis in an immunocompetent man

Mycoplasma hominis has been associated with pelvic inflammatory illness, postpartum and neonatal infections and respiratory tract diseases. It is rarely isolated from patients with other infections. Reported here is a case of tibial osteitis that occurred in a 16-year-old immunocompetent man. Clinical and laboratory findings improved under treatment with clindamycin and fluoroquinolones.     

Antibiotic sensitivity of twoAeromonas and ninePseudomonas species

An agar dilution method was used to determine thein vitro sensitivity of differentPseudomonas andAeromonas species to sulphonamide, tetracycline, colistin, gentamicin, tobramycin, ampicillin, carbenicillin, and cephaiothin.P. aeruginosa was generally sensitive to carbenicillin, colistin, tobramycin, and gentamicin.P. putida andP. fluorescens were generally resistant toΒ-lactam antibiotics but sensitive to gentamicin and tobramycin.P. cepacia andP. maltophilia were mostly resistant to colistin, gentamicin and tobramycin. OtherPseudomonas species were usually more sensitive to the antibiotics tested. Strains ofAeromonas hydrophila were mostly resistant toΒ-lactam antibiotics but sensitive to other antibiotics, while strains ofA. shigelloides were very sensitive to all antibiotics tested.     

Antibiotic sensitivity of bacteria from urine.

Bacteria isolated from the urine of 400 hospital inpatients and 483 outpatients were identified and the in vitro sensitivity of these organisms against 12 antibacterial agents currently used in the treatment of urinary tract infections was determined. There was little difference in the distribution of organisms between the two groups. Escherichia coli was predominant, accounting for 58% of the inpatients and 66% of the outpatients. Klebsiella was present in 15% of the inpatients as against 7% in the outpatients. Proteus mirabilis 9% inpatients and 8% outpatients and Enterococcus, 7% inpatients and 5% outpatients made up most of the remainder. The different organisms showed varying sensitivity patterns to the antibiotics tested. The commonly used antibiotics with the broadest spectrum were cephalexin and cotrimoxazole.     

Antigenic determinants of the attachment protein of Mycoplasma pneumoniae shared by other pathogenic Mycoplasma species.

In previous studies with hyperimmune rabbit antisera, we found evidence of serologic cross-reactivity among Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Mycoplasma genitalium, and Mycoplasma gallisepticum. Because of certain biologic and morphologic similarities of these species, attempts were made to determine if this cross-reactivity related to the attachment protein (P1) of M. pneumoniae. Monoclonal and monospecific antibodies against P1 were used to probe proteins of the other species by immunoblotting. One of the P1 monoclonal antibodies was reactive with a smaller protein of M. genitalium; rabbit antiserum raised by immunization with P1 excised from a sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis gel was found to react with a similar-sized protein of M. gallisepticum. These preliminary findings suggest antigenic sharing among the species examined; however, limitations of the methods used are discussed.     

DNA microarray technique for detection and identification of seven flaviviruses pathogenic for man

A flavivirus microarray was developed for detection and identification of yellow fever (YF), West Nile, Japanese encephalitis (JE), and the dengue 1-4 viruses, which are causing severe human disease all over the world. The microarray was based on 500-nucleotide probe fragments from five different parts of the seven viral genomes. A low-stringent amplification method targeting the corresponding regions of the viral genomic RNA was developed and combined with hybridization to the microarray for detection and identification. For distinction of the generated virus-specific fluorescence-patterns a fitting analysis procedure was adapted. The method was verified as functional for all seven flaviviruses and the strategy for the amplification, combined with the long probes, provided a high tolerance for smaller genetic variability, most suitable for these rapidly changing RNA viruses. A potentially high detection and identification capacity was proven on diverged strains of West Nile and dengue viruses. The lower limit for detection was equivalent, or better, when compared to routinely used RT-PCR methods. The performance of the method was verified on human patient samples containing dengue viruses, or normal human serum spiked with YF or JE viruses. The results demonstrated the ability of the flavivirus microarray to screen simultaneously a sample for several viruses in parallel, in combination with a good lower limit of detection.     

Antibiotic sensitivity of theBacteroides fragilis group in Europe

Rates of resistance to 12 antibiotics were determined for 1,289 isolates of theBacteroides fragilis group submitted in 1988–1989 by 22 laboratories in 15 European countries. There was no resistance to metronidazole (breakpoint 8 mg/l) and only one isolate was resistant to chloramphenicol (breakpoint 8 mg/l). Resistance was uncommon for imipenem (0.3 % at > 4 mg/l), amoxicillin/clavulanate (1 % at > 8 mg/l), cefoxitin (3 % at > 32 mg/l), mezlocillin (6 % at > 64 mg/l) and clindamycin (9 % at > 4 mg/l). Resistance was the rule for ampicillin (93 % at > 4 mg/l), ciprofloxacin (56 % at > 4 mg/l) and tetracycline (64 % at > 4 mg/l).Bacteroides fragilis, the commonest species, was generally the most sensitive: resistance of this organism was uncommon for cefotetan (4 % at > 32 mg/l) and ceftazidime (12 % at > 32 mg/l) to which the other species were more often resistant. There were small but significant differences between laboratories and countries for many of the antibiotics. Regionally the most striking differences were for clindamycin where resistance inBacteroides fragilis was most common in the South and for tetracycline where resistance inBacteroides fragilis, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron andBacteroides uniformis was least common in the North.Prof. J.F. Acar, Paris, France; Dr. F. Baquero, Madrid, Spain; Dr. A. Bremmelgaard, Frederiksberg, Denmark; Prof. J.A. Garcia-Rodriguez, Salamanca, Spain; Prof. U. Höffler, Düsseldorf, Germany; Prof. T. Hofstad, Bergen, Norway; Dr. H. Jousimies-Somer, Helsinki, Finland; Prof. N.J. Legakis, Athens, Greece; Prof. D.M. MacLaren, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Dr. P. Maes, Oostende, Belgium; Dr. G.J. Meijer-Severs, Groningen, Netherlands; Dr. H. Mittermayer, Linz, Austria; Prof. C.-E. Nord, Stockholm, Sweden; Prof. G. Panichi, Rome, Italy; Prof. I. Phillips, London, UK; Prof. G. Privitera, Milan, Italy; Dr. A. Sedallian, Annecy, France; Prof. S. Tabaqchali, London, UK; Prof. A. Torres Pereira, Lisbon, Portugal; Prof. U. Ullmann, Kiel, Germany; Prof. J. Wüst, Zurich, Switzerland; Prof. E. Yourassowsky, Brussels, Belgium.     

Antibiotic sensitivity of enterobacteria in intensive care units

Antibiotic therapy of intensive care patients is usually undocumented. The treatment is chosen according to epidemiologic and susceptibility data from microbiological laboratories. The aim of our study is to determine antibiotic susceptibility of enterobacteria isolated from intensive care patients during a five-month multicenter study in 18 French hospitals. Numerous (n = 1,113) strains were studied: 447 enterobacteria isolated from urine (n = 229), blood cultures (n = 106), respiratory tract specimens (n = 72), peritoneal fluids (n = 22), pus (n = 15) and catheters (n = 2). MICs of group 2 and group 3 enterobacteria were determined using the dilution agar method and were interpreted according to the CASFM (Comité de l'antibiogramme de la société fran?aise de microbiology) recommendations. Group 1 enterobacteria were most frequently isolated (67%). Only one Escherichia coli strain produced ESBL (0.3%). Among group 2 enterobacteria, one Citrobacter koseri strain produced ESBL. We did not isolate Klebsiella pneumoniae ESBL. Isolation of group 3 enterobacteria was frequent (24%). Thirty-five percent of group 3 enterobacteria were resistant to cefotaxime, 26% to ceftazidime and 16% to cefepime and cefpirome. Fourteen strains of this group produced ESBL: 13 Enterobacter aerogenes and one E. amnigenus.