0000000000794608
AUTHOR
S. Distefano
Detection of bacteria and yeast species by the BACTEC 9120 automated system with the routine use of aerobic, anaerobic, and fungal media
ABSTRACT During the period 2006 and 2007, all blood cultures required by four units at high infective risk and most of those required by other units of the University Hospital of Palermo, Palermo, Italy were performed using a Bactec 9120 automated blood culture system with a complete set of Plus Aerobic/F, Plus Anaerobic/F, and Mycosis IC/F bottles. The aim of the study was to enable the authors to gain firsthand experience of the culture potentialities of the three different media, to obtain information regarding the overall and specific recovery of bacteria and yeasts from blood cultures in the hospital, and to reach a decision as to whether and when to utilize anaerobic and fungal bottle…
Identification of Candida dubliniensis among oral yeast isolates from an Italian population of human immunodeficiency virus-infected (HIV+) subjects
Candida dubliniensis, an emerging oral pathogen, phenotypically resembles Candida albicans so closely that it is easily misidentified as such. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of two phenotypic methods, growth at 45 degrees C and 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) reduction, for confirming presumptive identification of C. dubliniensis and C. albicans by colony color on CHROMagar Candida (CAC) medium. A combination of these methods was used to establish the prevalence of oral C. dubliniensis in an Italian population of 45 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected subjects. Twenty-two samples (48.9%) were positive for yeasts on CAC medium producing a total …
Characterization of Acinetobacter baumannii from intensive care units and home care patients in Palermo, Italy.
AbstractIn this study 45 isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii identified from patients in intensive care units of three different hospitals and from pressure ulcers in home care patients in Palermo, Italy, during a 3-month period in 2010, were characterized. All isolates were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics, but susceptible to colistin and tygecycline. Forty isolates were non-susceptible to carbapenems. Eighteen and two isolates, respectively, carried the blaOXA-23-like and the blaOXA-58-like genes. One strain carried the VIM-4 gene. Six major rep-PCR subtype clusters were defined, including isolates from different hospitals or home care patients. The sequence type/pulsed …
Cluster of Legionnaires’ Disease in an Italian Prison
Background: Legionella pneumophila (Lp) is the most common etiologic agent causing Legionnaires&rsquo
An Update of the Evolving Epidemic of blaKPC Carrying Klebsiella pneumoniae in Sicily, Italy, 2014: Emergence of Multiple Non-ST258 Clones
Background: In Italy, Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase producing K. pneumoniae (KPC-Kp) strains are highly endemic and KPC producing CC258 is reported as the widely predominating clone. In Palermo, Italy, previous reports have confirmed this pattern. However, recent preliminary findings suggest that an epidemiological change is likely ongoing towards a polyclonal KPC-Kp spread. Here we present the results of molecular typing of 94 carbapenem non susceptible K. pneumoniae isolates detected during 2014 in the three different hospitals in Palermo, Italy. Methods and Results: Ninety-four consecutive, non replicate carbapenem non susceptible isolates were identified in the three largest acute…
Genotyping of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 strains isolated in Northern Sicily, Italy.
During a three-year period, from April 2002 to May 2005, one hundred-forty-seven samples, taken from technical systems of water distribution at point of use, were repeatedly collected at six different sites in Northern Sicily and assayed for the presence of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 and serogroups 2 to 14. At the first samplings, the water distribution systems of all the sites were heavily contaminated, and disinfection treatments by the superheat and flush method were therefore performed. Treatments were always successful against L. pneumophila sg.1, but only in a few cases against all other serogroups. Eighty-six strains of L. pneumophila sg. 1, isolated from 26 of these samples,…