Staphylococcus Aureus Infections (staphylococcus + aureu_infections)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Mupirocin ointment for preventing Staphylococcus aureus infections in nasal carriers

JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE, Issue 2 2009
Miranda Van Rijen
[source]


Oral ciprofloxacin plus colistin: prophylaxis against bacterial infection in neutropenic patients.

BRITISH JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY, Issue 1 2001
A strategy for the prevention of emergence of antimicrobial resistance
Following a 2-year study, the combination of oral ciprofloxacin and colistin has been used continuously for 10 years without the emergence of resistance. During a 2-year period (1987,1989), we compared ciprofloxacin + colistin (CIP + COL) with neomycin + colistin (NEO + COL) in a randomized trial , combinations chosen because of the potential for prophylaxis of Gram-negative infection by ciprofloxacin, with colistin given to reduce the risk of emergence of resistance. Sixty-four patients with similar demographics in each arm were evaluable for efficacy analysis. Patients on CIP + COL had a significantly lower proportion of neutropenic days with fever (P < 0·001) and neutropenic days on intravenous antibiotics (P < 0·001) than patients on NEO + COL. A total of 54 (15 bacteriologically documented) pyrexial episodes occurred in patients on CIP + COL and 77 (41 bacteriologically documented) in patients on NEO + COL. Only two Gram-negative bacterial infections occurred in the CIP + COL arm compared with 16 in the NEO + COL arm. No Staphylococcus aureus infections occurred in the CIP + COL group compared with 10 in the other patients. Two CIP-resistant Gram-negative bacilli were isolated from patients on CIP + COL compared with 13 NEO-resistant Gram-negative bacilli from patients on NEO + COL. Following a subsequent decade of unchanged use of this prophylactic strategy in neutropenic patients, a 2-year follow-up study between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 1999 showed 66 significant infections during 350,400 neutropenic episodes. Eight of the 111 (7·2%) isolates were with ciprofloxacin-resistant organisms, involving 2% of the neutropenic episodes, indicating that the strategy of combining colistin with ciprofloxacin has been effective in the prevention of Gram-negative sepsis in neutropenic patients without the emergence of significant resistance despite widespread concurrent hospital and community use of the quinolones. [source]


Clinical impact of antibiotic-resistant Gram-positive pathogens

CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTION, Issue 3 2009
H. M. Lode
Abstract The European Union's attention to the problem of antibacterial resistance will soon reach a 10-year mark, but the rates of resistance in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria are still increasing. This review focuses on the clinical impact of resistant Gram-positive bacteria on patients. Multiple drug resistance in pneumococcal infections will lead to more treatment failures and higher mortality, which so far have been seen with penicillins and pathogens with high-level resistance. Several studies have demonstrated higher mortality, prolonged length of hospital stay and higher costs associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections, in comparison with methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus infections. Similarly, vancomycin-resistant enterococci bloodstream infections have a negative impact with respect to mortality, length of hospital stay and costs, in comparison with infections due to vancomycin-susceptible enterococci. Several distinctive prophylactic and therapeutic approaches have to be undertaken to successfully prevent the clinical consequences of antibiotic resistance in Gram-positive bacteria. This review addresses the impact of antibiotic-resistant Gram-positive pathogens on clinical outcomes. [source]


Community-associated Staphylococcus aureus infections and nasal carriage among children: molecular microbial data and clinical characteristics

CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTION, Issue 11 2008
G. Sdougkos
Abstract An increasing number of infections caused by community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) carrying the Panton,Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes was recently identified in Greece. In the present study, 170 patients with S. aureus infections and 123 uninfected children (<15 years old) who had been tested for nasal carriage were evaluated during a 2-year period. The MecA, PVL and superantigen family genes, and MRSA clones, were investigated by molecular methods. Sites of infection and laboratory findings for patients were recorded. The results were compared and statistically analysed. Among 123 uninfected children 73 (59%) carried S. aureus, including four MRSA strains. Of these, three MRSA and three methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) strains were PVL-positive (p <0.0001). Ninety-six patients (96/170) exhibited skin and soft-tissue infections (SSTIs), and 74 exhibited invasive infections. The incidence of staphylococcal infections increased during July to September each year. In total, 110 S. aureus isolates were PVL-positive (81 from SSTIs and 29 from invasive infections, p <0.0001). Ninety-nine out of 106 MRSA (93%) isolates from 170 patients carried the PVL genes (p <0.0001); 97 belonged to the clonal complex CC80. Leukocyte and polymorphonuclear cell counts were higher among children with MRSA infections (p <0.005). MSSA predominated among patients with invasive infections (43/74), and carried mainly genes of the superantigen family. Children <5 years of age showed a higher risk of MRSA infection. The present study demonstrates that infections due to PVL-positive CA-MRSA spread easily among children, and SSTIs can lead to invasive infections. Nasal colonization may be an additional factor contributing to the emergence of CA-MRSA. [source]