Coagulase-negative staphylococci are associated to the mild inflammatory pattern of healthcare-associated meningitis: a retrospective study.

The epidemiology of healthcare-associated meningitis (HAM) is dominated by commensal bacteria from the skin, as coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS). We hypothesized that the pauci-symptomatic and mild inflammatory patterns of HAM are related to the low pathogenic state of CoNS. Our aim was to describe clinical and biological features of CoNS HAM, compared to other HAM. All consecutive patients with HAM admitted in our hospital were retrospectively included from 2007 to 2014. HAM due to CoNS were compared to HAM caused by other bacteria (controls) for clinical and laboratory patterns. Seventy-one cases of HAM were included, comprising 18 CoNS and 53 controls. Patients were not different in terms of baseline characteristics. CoNS HAM occurred later after the last surgery than controls (17 vs. 12 days, p = 0.029) and had higher Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score (14 vs. 13, p = 0.038). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis revealed a lower pleocytosis (25 vs. 1340/mm3, p < 0.001), a higher glucose level (3.75 vs. 0.8 mmol/L, p < 0.001), and a lower protein level (744 vs. 1751 mg/L, p < 0.001) in the CoNS group than in the control group, respectively. HAM due to CoNS was significantly less symptomatic and less inflammatory than HAM due to other bacteria.

First Report of Phakopsora pachyrhizi, the Causal Agent of Asian Soybean Rust, on Florida Beggarweed in the United States.

Phakopsora pachyrhizi Syd. & P. Syd., which causes Asian soybean rust (SBR), was observed on Florida beggarweed, Desmodium tortuosum (Sw) DC., in Attapulgus, GA during late October and early November 2005. Tan to brown lesions (<1.0 mm in diameter) consistent with symptoms of SBR (2) were observed on older leaves of several plants collected near an SBR-infected soybean trial. Dissection (40 to 60×) and compound microscopy (×200 to 400) revealed conical pustules and ellipsoid, echinulate urediniospores (average size 15 × 20 µm) on the abaxial leaf surface. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (primers Ppm1 and Ppa2) (1) was conducted on four samples to confirm identification of P. pachyrhizi or P. meibomiae. Three were positive for P. pachyrhizi, and one was negative for both species. Using morphology and real-time PCR, SBR was confirmed as P. pachyrhizi by the USDA/APHIS in Beltsville, MD. Six noninfected Florida beggarweed plants were transplanted to pots during December 2005 and grown at 22 to 24°C in a greenhouse. On 11 January 2006, a water suspension of urediniospores collected from SBR-infected soybeans (1 × 105 spores per ml) was spray inoculated on all leaves to almost runoff and incubated for 48 h in a plastic humidity chamber. Lesions, pustules, and urediniospores consistent with SBR (2) were observed on 3 February 2006. A PCR assay was conducted on six samples from the infected greenhouse plants and all were positive for P. pachyrhizi. Florida beggarweed is widespread in the southern United States and may serve as an additional overwintering source for P. pachyrhizi and a potential inoculum source for the soybean crop. References: (1) R. D. Fredrick et al. Phytopathology 92:217, 2002. (2) J. B. Sinclair and G. L. Hartman. Soybean rust. Pages 25-26 in: Compendium of Soybean Diseases. 4th ed. G. L. Hartman et al., eds. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN, 1999.