Seagulls and Beaches as Reservoirs for Multidrug-Resistant Escherichia coli

A variety of extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing Escherichia coli isolates, with a high rate of cefotaximase-15 resistance, were identified in seagull feces from Porto, Portugal, beaches. Beaches may therefore present a risk to public health because of the potential pathogen-spreading capacity of migratory birds.     

Evaluation of Etest® strips for detection of KPC and metallo-carbapenemases in Enterobacteriaceae

The performance of Etest KPC and MBL strips (bioMérieux) was evaluated as compared to other phenotypic tests for detecting carbapenemases of the KPC-type and metallo-β-lactamases, respectively, on 133 well-characterized enterobacterial isolates. KPC and meropenem-containing MP/MPI Etest had high sensitivity (>92 %) and specificity (>97 %).     

Social adversity predicts ADHD‐medication in school children – a national cohort study

Aims: To test the hypothesis that psychosocial adversity in the family predicts medicated ADHD in school children. Method: ADHD‐medication during 2006 was identified in the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register in national birth cohorts of 1.1 million 6–19 year olds. Logistic regression models adjusted for parental psychiatric disorders were used to test our hypothesis. Results: There was a clear gradient for ADHD medication with level of maternal education, with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.20 (2.04–2.38) for the lowest compared with the highest level. Lone parenthood and reception of social welfare also implied higher risks of ADHD‐medication with adjusted ORs of 1.45 (1.38–1.52) and 2.06 (1.92–2.21) respectively. Low maternal education predicted 33% of cases with medicated ADHD and single parenthood 14%. Conclusions: Social adversity in the family predicts a considerable proportion of ADHD‐medication in school children in Sweden.     

Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates from Tunisia producing the OXA-58-like carbapenem-hydrolyzing oxacillinase OXA-97

The basis of the beta-lactam resistance of 39 multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates recovered from hospitalized patients was studied. These isolates were collected from 2001 to 2005 at the Sahloul Hospital in Sousse, Tunisia. They belonged to two distinct clones. One clone that grouped 19 isolates produced a carbapenem-hydrolyzing oxacillinase, OXA-97, that differed from OXA-58 by a single amino acid substitution and conferred the same beta-lactam resistance profile as OXA-58. The bla(OXA-97) gene was located on plasmids that varied in size in 18 isolates and was chromosomally located in a single isolate. Cloning and sequencing identified genetic structures surrounding the bla(OXA-97) gene similar to those reported to be adjacent to the bla(OXA-58) gene. In addition, the novel ISAba8 element (which is of the IS21 family) was identified. This is the first report of the nosocomial spread of carbapenemase producers in A. baumannii isolates in Africa.