In view of the increasing incidence of non-typhoid salmonellosis, the effect of early treatment with ciprofloxacin on the permanent elimination of salmonella was evaluated. In a prospective study, 14 patients with non-typhoid salmonellosis were treated with 2 x 500 mg/d ciprofloxacin for 10 days within 5 days of onset of symptoms. Relapse occurred in 4/14 (29%) patients 2-3 weeks after termination of therapy. Using sero- and ribotyping, relapse was confirmed and reinfection ruled out in 4/4 patients. Furthermore, ribotyping suggested double infection in one patient. Development of resistance to ciprofloxacin was not observed. We conclude that the use of antimicrobial chemotherapy to treat non-institutional salmonellosis in immunocompetent patients cannot generally be recommended but must be considered carefully in each case. Indications for ciprofloxacin therapy in the treatment of non-typhoid salmonellosis are discussed.
A non-lipophilic, coryneform bacterium isolated from a patient's wound caused by a dog bite was characterized by phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and molecular genetic methods. Chemotaxonomic features suggested assignment of the unknown bacterium to the genus Corynebacterium. The isolate exhibited the following unusual features, which made it possible to phenotypically differentiate it from all other medically relevant corynebacteria: the Gram stain showed some very filamentous rods (>15 μm in length); some cells exhibited branching; colonies were domed and adherent to agar; the micro-organism was positive for pyrazinamidase, β-glucosidase, α-glucosidase and trypsin but negative for β-galactosidase. 16S rRNA gene sequencing and partial rpoB gene sequencing showed that the closest phylogenetic relative, Corynebacterium freiburgense, exhibited more than 1.9 % and 17.9 % divergence with the unknown bacterium, respectively. Based on both phenotypic and molecular genetic data, it is proposed that the isolate should be classified as a novel species, Corynebacterium canis sp. nov., with the type strain 1170(T) (=CCUG 58627(T) =DSM 45402(T)).
Two similar strains of a coryneform bacterium were isolated from human clinical material. Both strains were resistant to vancomycin but susceptible to teicoplanin. Detailed biochemical, chemotaxonomical, and molecular genetic investigations revealed that both isolates were members of a hitherto undescribed species of the genus Aureobacterium. The name Aureobacterium resistens sp. nov. is proposed for the new bacterium and the type strain is CCUG 38312.
Modern taxonomy has delineated Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus, S. gallolyticus subsp. pasteurianus, Streptococcus infantarius subsp. coli, and S. infantarius subsp. infantarius within the heterogenous group of previously designated clinical Streptococcus bovis bacteria. In the present study, 58 consecutive blood culture isolates initially designated S. bovis were further characterized by applying phenotypic and molecular genetic methods, and possible disease associations were investigated by studying the patients' records. Published phenotypic characteristics of S. gallolyticus and S. infantarius were not unequivocal and did not allow an unambiguous phenotypic differentiation of the 58 clinical isolates. However, full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences clearly assigned the strains to S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus (n = 29), S. gallolyticus subsp. pasteurianus (n = 12), and S. infantarius subsp. coli (n = 17). Only 28% of the patients with available records presented with endocarditis and 7% presented with colon carcinoma, whereas 37% of the patients had altered liver parenchyma and 28% had gall bladder disease as underlying diseases. Detailed antimicrobial susceptibility data on both S. gallolyticus subspecies and S. infantarius subsp. coli are given for the first time. As a result of the extensive characterization of the largest number of S. gallolyticus and S. infantarius human clinical isolates published so far, emended species descriptions are given. It is recommended that both clinical microbiologists and infectious disease specialists avoid the designation S. bovis for true S. gallolyticus and S. infantarius strains in the future in order to get a clearer picture of the possible disease associations of these species.
Diverse problems with the hygienically correct reprocessing of endoscopes and resulting transmissions of pathogens over the last decades are well documented. As a consequence, the worldwide first evidence-based compulsory guidelines for all endoscopy units in clinics and practices were implemented in Germany in 2002. The presented study reports for the first time ever on a detailed outcome evaluation of these guidelines. Data of all routine and all required 1st and 2nd re-examinations of endoscopes from all units (clinics and practices) performing endoscopy in the district of Nord-Württemberg, Germany, between 2003 and 2007 were analysed. A significant (p < 0.0001) overall decrease of insufficiently sterilised endoscopes was found during the observation period. The proportion of required re-examinations in clinics was below 10 % already in 2003 and remained within single figure percentages over the following years. In doctors' practices, however, in 2003 nearly every second routine examination of endoscopes required a re-examination and a significant (p < 0.0001) decrease of these figures was only found from 2004 onwards. A significant trend (p < 0.01) of re-processing techniques away from manual techniques towards fully automated procedures could be documented. No significant changes with respect to the localisation or the spectrum of the detected pathogens during control examinations were found. The presented outcome evaluation demonstrates that the implementation of stringent compulsory guidelines in Germany (and the conditional refund from the public health system for screening procedures linked to them) resulted in a substantial and significant improvement of hygiene in the re-processing of flexible endoscopes.
Over a five-year period, four strains of a yellowish-pigmented coryneform bacterium were received for identification by the Culture Collection of the University of Géteborg. All strains had been isolated from normally sterile human body fluids. Initial biochemical characterization revealed that all four isolates were very similar, with weak pyrazinamidase and urease activities, as well as slow fermentative acid production from glucose as the most significant phenotypic features which differentiated the strains from all other presently defined corynebacteria. Chemotaxonomic investigations demonstrated that the strains belonged to the genus Corynebacterium. SDS-PAGE of whole-cell proteins suggested that all four strains were representatives of the same species. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis unambiguously demonstrated that the four strains were genealogically related and represent a new subline within the genus Corynebacterium for which the designation Corynebacterium falsenii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Corynebacterium falsenii is CCUG 33651.
In the present study, 50 strains of yellow-pigmented gram-positive rods that had been isolated from human clinical specimens and collected over a 5-year period were further characterized by phenotypic and molecular genetic methods. All 50 strains belonged to the genus Microbacterium, and together they represented 18 different species. Microbacterium oxydans (n = 11), M. paraoxydans (n = 9), and M. foliorum (n = 7) represented more than half of the strains included in the present study. The isolation of strains belonging to M. hydrocarbonoxydans (n = 2), M. esteraromaticum (n = 1), M. oleivorans (n = 1), M. phyllosphaerae (n = 1), and M. thalassium (n = 1) from humans is reported for the first time. Microbacterium sp. strain VKM Ac-1389 (n = 1) and the previously uncultured Microbacterium sp. clone YJQ-29 (n = 1) probably represent new species. Comprehensive antimicrobial susceptibility data are given for the 50 Microbacterium isolates. This study is, so far, the largest on Microbacterium spp. encountered in human clinical specimens and outlines the heterogeneity of clinical Microbacterium strains.
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