RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Admission of a patient in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the recovery process may be stressful for family members. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the families' psychological symptoms and their evolution over the 1st week of patients' ICU stay. Additional objectives were the estimation of the families' need for support and the estimation of satisfaction regarding the information provided by ICU physicians. METHODS: A total of 108 individuals were participated in the study. Participants were interviewed with the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and filled the Beck Depression Scale II on days 1 and 7 of patients' ICU admission. They also filled a self-reported questionnaire which was created by the investigators, involving decision-making procedures; the satisfaction of the families of the patients' care; and the support of the families by medical and nursing staff. RESULTS: Anxiety levels were not significantly different among 2-time points, whereas rates of depressive symptoms raised significantly from 38% (day 1) to 58.3% (day 7). In cases of anxiety changes, age, education, closeness of relationship, and APACHE II score were the factors been associated. Changes in depressive symptoms were not associated with any of those factors. Over a week, there were significant differences in relatives' views on participating in the decision-making procedure, and on expressing their opinion and concerns regarding the treatment process. Their attitudes about receiving support by the ICU personnel and even by mental health specialists, such as psychologists also changed. CONCLUSIONS: Over the 1st week of ICU admission, depressive symptoms in patients' relatives were gradually evolving, while anxiety symptoms fluctuated and they were affected by the severity of the patients' condition. Attitudes toward treatment procedures and the perceived need for support also changed. These findings should be taken into account by the ICU personnel.
RESUMEN
PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes in an unselected collection of bloodstream isolates recovered over an 18-month period in a laboratory affiliated to a university hospital in Athens, Greece, and to assess their impact on the in vitro activity of ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin. METHODS: Eight PMQR genes were screened by PCR and sequencing. All PMQR-positive isolates were submitted to isoelectric focusing for ß-lactamase detection, conjugation or transformation, time-kill assays, mutant prevention concentrationand inoculum effect evaluation. PCR and sequencing of gyrA and parC were performed for detection of chromosomal mutations. RESULTS: Among 96 Gram-negative isolates, 7 (7.3â%) carried one or more PMQR genes. qnrS1 was the most prevalent (5.2â%), followed by aac(6')-Ib-cr (4.2â%) and their combination (2â%). Cloning was successful for three isolates. The presence of a single PMQR determinant without any target modification was not associated with quinolone resistance with one exception, Stenotrophomonasmaltophilia carrying qnrS1, which was resistant to norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin, but in this isolate, additional mechanisms of quinolone resistance cannot be excluded. All PMQR-positive isolates showed a significant inoculum effect. The mutant prevention concentrations of ciprofloxacin against the quinolone-susceptible clinical isolates ranged from 0.38 to 32 mg l-1 and those of levofloxacin from 1 to 32 mg l-1. CONCLUSIONS: PMQRs compromised the bactericidal activity of ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin when expressed in Enterobactercloacae, S. maltophilia or Klebsiellapneumoniae and when more than one co-existed. PMQR determinants represent an unrecognized threat, capable to compromise the in vitro activity of quinolones if expressed in a favourable genetic environment and to favour selection of resistant mutants by widening the mutant selection window of these agents.
