Multiple hospital outbreaks of vanA Enterococcus faecium in Denmark, 2012-13, investigated by WGS, MLST and PFGE.

OBJECTIVES: In Denmark, the incidence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) has increased since 2012. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiology and clonal relatedness of VREfm isolates in Danish hospitals in 2012-13 using WGS. The second aim was to evaluate if WGS-based typing could replace PFGE for typing of VREfm. METHODS: A population-based study was conducted including all VREfm isolates submitted for national surveillance from January 2012 to April 2013. All isolates were investigated by WGS, MLST and PFGE. RESULTS: One-hundred and thirty-two isolates were included. The majority of the isolates were from clinical samples (77%). Gastroenterology/abdominal surgery (29%) and ICUs (29%) were the predominant departments with VREfm. Genomics revealed a polyclonal structure of the VREfm outbreak. Seven subgroups of 3-44 genetically closely related isolates (separated by <17 SNPs) were identified using WGS. Direct or indirect transmission of VREfm between patients and intra- and inter-regional spreading clones was observed. We identified 10 STs. PFGE identified four major clusters (13-43 isolates) and seven minor clusters (two to three isolates). The results from the typing methods were highly concordant. However, WGS-based typing had the highest discriminatory power. CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasizes the importance of infection control measures to limit transmission of VREfm between patients. However, the diversity of the VREfm isolates points to the fact that other important factors may also affect the VREfm increase in Denmark. Finally, WGS is suitable for typing of VREfm and has replaced PFGE for typing of VREfm in Denmark.

Psychometric scores and persistence of irritable bowel after Campylobacter concisus infection.

OBJECTIVE: Gastroenteritis with Campylobacter concisus is an emerging infection, but the risk of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) following it is unknown. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In a prospective, community-based study of gastroenteritis with C. concisus and C. jejuni/coli, we invited adult patients to participate in a questionnaire study, including IBS symptoms and psychometric scores, at baseline and at 6 months. We estimated adjusted RR (RRadj) (for age, sex and comorbidity) for IBS as the primary outcome. RESULTS: The development of IBS symptoms at 6 months was reported in 26/106 (25%) patients with C. concisus infection, and in 30/162 (19%) of C. jejuni/coli patients. The baseline predictors for IBS in C. concisus infection were high anxiety scores (RRadj 2.0; 95% CI 1.1-3.6, p<0.05), chills (RRadj 1.9; 95% CI 1.0-3.6, p<0.05), headache (RRadj 2.5; 95% CI 1.1-6.0, p<0.05), dizziness (RRadj 2.6; 95% CI 1.2-5.8, p<0.05) and muscle ache (RRadj 3.6; 95% CI 1.4-8.9, p<0.01). For all Campylobacter patients (n=268), we confirmed previous reports of anxiety (RRadj 2.0; 95% CI 1.3-3.1), depression (RRadj 2.3; 95% CI 1.3-4.0) and high somatization scores (RRadj 3.0; 95% CI 1.5-6.0) as predictors for post-infectious IBS (PI-IBS). CONCLUSIONS: Gastroenteritis with C. concisus carries a 25% risk of IBS at 6-month follow-up. The risk factors for IBS are chills, headache, dizziness and muscle ache in the acute stage, as well as preexisting high psychometric scores for anxiety. Our findings suggest that psychological factors play a role in the development of PI-IBS.

Evaluation of fecal calprotectin in Campylobacter concisus and Campylobacter jejuni/coli gastroenteritis.

Calprotectin (CP) is a calcium-binding cytosolic neutrophil protein and the concentration in feces reflects the migration of neutrophils into the gut lumen. Testing for fecal CP (f-CP) in patients with negative cultures for enteric pathogens is widely accepted as a useful screening tool for identifying patients who are most likely to benefit from endoscopy for suspected inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with the assumption that a negative f-CP is compatible with a functional disorder. Campylobacter concisus has recently been reported to have a high incidence in the Danish population almost equal to Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli and has been reported to cause prolonged watery diarrhea. However, isolation of C. concisus from feces requires the filter method in a hydrogen-enriched microaerobic atmosphere, which is not commonly used in the laboratory, and the diagnosis may consequently be missed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the f-CP levels, as a marker for the intestinal inflammation in C. jejuni/coli- and C. concisus-infected patients. The authors found a high concentration of f-CP (median 631: IQR 221-1274) among 140 patients with C. jejuni/coli infection, whereas the f-CP level among 99 C. concisus-infected patients was significantly lower (median 53: IQR 20-169). The data correlate to the severe inflammatory gastroenteritis seen in patients infected with C. jejuni/coli, whereas C. concisus-infected patients have a much lower intestinal inflammation which could be compared with viral gastroenteritis. Nevertheless, clinicians should be aware of C. concisus infection, especially in patients with prolonged mild diarrhea, in the differential diagnosis to IBD.

Increased short- and long-term risk of inflammatory bowel disease after salmonella or campylobacter gastroenteritis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Various commensal enteric and potentially pathogenic bacteria may be involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). We compared the risk of IBD between a cohort of patients with documented Salmonella or Campylobacter gastroenteritis and an age- and gender-matched control group from the same population in Denmark. METHODS: We identified 13,324 patients with Salmonella/Campylobacter gastroenteritis from laboratory registries in North Jutland and Aarhus counties, Denmark, from 1991 through 2003, and 26,648 unexposed controls from the same counties. Of these, 176 exposed patients with IBD before the infection, their 352 unexposed controls, and 80 unexposed individuals with IBD before the Salmonella/Campylobacter infection were excluded. The final study cohort of 13,148 exposed and 26,216 unexposed individuals were followed for up to 15 years (mean, 7.5 years). RESULTS: A first-time diagnosis of IBD was reported in 107 exposed (1.2%) and 73 unexposed individuals (0.5%). By age, gender, and comorbidity adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, the hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) for IBD was 2.9 (2.2-3.9) for the whole period and 1.9 (1.4-2.6) if the first year after the Salmonella/Campylobacter infection was excluded. The increased risk in exposed subjects was observed throughout the 15-year observation period. The increased risk was similar for Salmonella (n = 6463) and Campylobacter (n = 6685) and for a first-time diagnosis of Crohn's disease (n = 47) and ulcerative colitis (n = 133). CONCLUSIONS: In our population-based cohort study with complete follow-up, an increased risk of IBD was demonstrated in individuals notified in laboratory registries with an episode of Salmonella/Campylobacter gastroenteritis.

Utilization of serology for the diagnosis of suspected Lyme borreliosis in Denmark: survey of patients seen in general practice.

BACKGROUND: Serological testing for Lyme borreliosis (LB) is frequently requested by general practitioners for patients with a wide variety of symptoms. METHODS: A survey was performed in order to characterize test utilization and clinical features of patients investigated for serum antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. During one calendar year a questionnaire was sent to the general practitioners who had ordered LB serology from patients in three Danish counties (population 1.5 million inhabitants). Testing was done with a commercial ELISA assay with purified flagella antigen from a Danish strain of B. afzelii. RESULTS: A total of 4,664 patients were tested. The IgM and IgG seropositivity rates were 9.2% and 3.3%, respectively. Questionnaires from 2,643 (57%) patients were available for analysis. Erythema migrans (EM) was suspected in 38% of patients, Lyme arthritis/disseminated disease in 23% and early neuroborreliosis in 13%. Age 0-15 years and suspected EM were significant predictors of IgM seropositivity, whereas suspected acrodermatitis was a predictor of IgG seropositivity. LB was suspected in 646 patients with arthritis, but only 2.3% were IgG seropositive. This is comparable to the level of seropositivity in the background population indicating that Lyme arthritis is a rare entity in Denmark, and the low pretest probability should alert general practitioners to the possibility of false positive LB serology. Significant predictors for treating the patient were a reported tick bite and suspected EM. CONCLUSIONS: A detailed description of the utilization of serology for Lyme borreliosis with rates of seropositivity according to clinical symptoms is presented. Low rates of seropositivity in certain patient groups indicate a low pretest probability and there is a notable risk of false positive results. 38% of all patients tested were suspected of EM, although this is not a recommended indication due to a low sensitivity of serological testing.

Increased risk of zoonotic Salmonella and Campylobacter gastroenteritis in patients with haematological malignancies: a population-based study.

We hypothesised that haematological malignancies increase the risk of acquiring zoonotic Salmonella or Campylobacter gastroenteritis. The population-based study comprised all first-time Salmonella/Campylobacter gastroenteritis cases in two Danish counties (1991-2003), with age- and gender-matched controls from the background population. We linked the study cohort to registries to obtain data on malignancies, chemotherapy (yes/no), and main comorbidities diagnosed before Salmonella/Campylobacter gastroenteritis. Based on this design, we determined incidence rate ratios (IRR) in conditional logistic regression analyses, and we used weighted mean regression curves to evaluate fluctuations in risk 0-5 years after the malignancy diagnosis. Sixty-eight of 13,324 cases (0.5%) and 29 of 26,648 controls (0.1%) had haematological malignancy before their Salmonella/Campylobacter gastroenteritis. Comorbidity-adjusted IRR for Salmonella/Campylobacter gastroenteritis in patients with haematological malignancy as compared to patients without malignancy were 4.46 [95% confidence intervals (CI), 2.88-6.90] for all individuals, 8.33 (95% CI, 4.31-16.1) for Salmonella, and 2.17 (95% CI, 1.15-4.08) for Campylobacter. Stratification on chemotherapy treatment did not change these estimates. In time-related analyses, IRR were 7-8 in the first 2 years after the haematological malignancy diagnosis and 4-5 in the following 3 years. Patients with haematological malignancy had increased long-term risk of enquiring Salmonella or Campylobacter gastroenteritis.

Are host characteristics or exposure factors mainly involved in the acquisition of zoonotic Salmonella and Campylobacter coinfection in humans?

We hypothesized that patients coinfected with zoonotic Salmonella and Campylobacter were frailer than monoinfected Salmonella or Campylobacter patients. The study cohort included all first-time Salmonella/Campylobacter infections in Aarhus and North Jutland counties, Denmark, from 1991 through 2003. Data on comorbidity, hospitalization in relation to the Salmonella/Campylobacter infection, and 1-year mortality were obtained from electronic registries. Among 13,449 individuals, 114 (0.85%) had Salmonella/Campylobacter coinfection, 6567 (48.8%) had Salmonella monoinfection, and 6768 (50.3%) had Campylobacter monoinfection. There were no major differences in age, gender, comorbidity, hospitalization rates, 1-year mortality, or seasonal variation between coinfected patients on the one hand and each of the monoinfected patient groups on the other. The main difference was encountered between the Salmonella serotype distribution as 49.1% of coinfected patients versus 20.3% of monoinfected Salmonella patients had Salmonella serotypes other than Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 4.07 [2.73-6.06]). In conclusion, Salmonella/Campylobacter coinfected patients were not frailer than monoinfected patients. The difference in Salmonella serotype distribution was compatible with a higher proportion of coinfections acquired during foreign travel.

Risk factors of cardiac device infection: Glove contamination during device procedures.

BACKGROUND: Infections in cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) constitute a serious complication. We sought to identify contamination of gloves before handling the device in primary and replacement CIED procedures. METHODS: Two groups of 30 patients underwent primary CIED implantation or replacement. Before the device entered the surgical field, surgeon and assistant imprinted their outer gloves on aerobe and anaerobe agar plates, and a wound swab was performed. Samples were cultured, and the presence of bacteria was identified, counted as the number of colony forming units, and characterized to the level of genus and species. RESULTS: Samples from 40 (67%) procedures revealed bacteria on surgeons' or assistants' gloves. Contamination occurred in 80% of replacements and 67% of primary implantations (risk difference, 13%; 95% confidence interval [CI], -8.8 to 35.5). Contamination of surgeons' and assistants' gloves occurred in 55% and 44% of procedures, respectively. Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CNS) occurred in 52%, and Propionibacterium spp (PS) occurred in 84% of positive cases. For every 15 minutes of procedure time, colony levels increased by 7.4% (95% CI, 1.4%-13.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Contamination of gloves is common during CIED procedures before handling the device. Therefore, devices are often handled with contaminated gloves. The most prevalent bacteria were PS and CNS, which are associated with clinical CIED infections. Changing outer gloves before handling the device might improve sterile state and lower infection risk.

Azithromycin vs. Placebo for the Clinical Outcome in Campylobacter concisus Diarrhoea in Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.

Campylobacter concisus has been associated with prolonged mild diarrhoea, but investigations regarding the efficacy of antimicrobial treatment have not been reported previously. We initiated a phase 3, single-centre, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study comparing the efficacy of 500 mg once-daily dose of azithromycin with a 500 mg once-daily dose of placebo for three days, for the treatment of C. concisus diarrhoea in adult patients with a follow-up period of ten days. If symptoms persisted at day ten, the patient was offered cross-over study treatment of three days and another ten-day follow-up period. The primary efficacy endpoint was the clinical response, defined as time to cessation of diarrhoea (<3 stools/day or reversal of accompanying symptoms). Our estimated sample size was 100 patients. We investigated a total of 10,036 diarrheic stool samples from 7,089 adult patients. Five-hundred and eighty-eight C. concisus positive patients were assessed for eligibility, of which 559 were excluded prior to randomization. The three main reasons for exclusion were duration of diarrhoea longer than 21 days (n = 124), previous antibiotic treatment (n = 113), and co-pathogens in stools (n = 87). Therefore, 24 patients completed the trial with either azithromycin (n = 12) or placebo (n = 12). Both groups presented symptoms of mild, prolonged diarrhoea with a mean duration of 18 days (95% CI: 16-19). One person in the azithromycin group and four from the placebo group chose to continue with crossover medication after the initial ten-day period. In the azithromycin group, there was a mean of seven days (95% CI: 5-9) to clinical cure and for the placebo group it was ten days (95% CI: 6-14) (OR-3 (95% CI: -7-1). We observed no differences in all examined outcomes between azithromycin treatment and placebo. However, due to unforeseen recruitment difficulties we did not reach our estimated sample size of 100 patients and statistical power to conclude on an effect of azithromycin treatment was not obtained. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01531218.

Polycarbonate filtration technique is noninferior to mCCDA for isolation of Campylobacter species from stool samples.

A total of 5963 diarrheic stool samples were cultivated for Campylobacter spp. with use of modified charcoal cefoperazone deoxycholate agar (mCCDA) plates as well as a polycarbonate (PC) filter technique on blood agar plates. A total of 376 Campylobacter jejuni/coli were isolated from both PC and mCCDA. Six and three were isolated from PC and mCCDA only, respectively (P = ns). The PC technique is noninferior to mCCDA for isolation of C. jejuni/coli.

Comparison of polycarbonate and cellulose acetate membrane filters for isolation of Campylobacter concisus from stool samples.

One thousand seven hundred ninety-one diarrheic stool samples were cultivated for Campylobacter spp. We found a high prevalence of Campylobacter concisus with use of a polycarbonate filter (n = 114) compared to a cellulose acetate filter (n = 79) (P < .0001). The polycarbonate filter is superior to the commonly used cellulose acetate filter for detection of C. concisus.

Clinical manifestations of Campylobacter concisus infection in children.

BACKGROUND: There is only sparse information about the clinical impact of Campylobacter concisus infections in children. METHODS: A study was performed during a 2-year period to determine the clinical manifestations in C. concisus-positive children with gastroenteritis. A case patient was defined as a child or teenager (<18 years) with a C. concisus-positive stool sample during the study period. Clinical data were obtained with use of a questionnaire study supplemented with the patients' medical records. The clinical manifestations in these patients were compared with those of patients with Campylobacter jejuni/coli infection. RESULTS: Two thousand three hundred seventy-two diarrheic stool samples from 1867 children were cultured for pathogenic enteric bacteria during the study period, and 85 and 109 children with C. concisus and C. jejuni/coli, respectively, were identified. Comparison of the acute clinical manifestations in 44 C. concisus patients with those in 64 C. jejuni/coli patients showed a significantly lower prevalence of fever, chills and blood in stools in the former. However, half of C. concisus patients compared with one-fourth of C. jejuni/coli patients had prolonged diarrhea for more than 2 weeks and two-thirds of all children with C. concisus reported loose stools after 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: C. concisus infection in children seems to have a milder course of acute gastroenteritis compared with C. jejuni/coli infection but is associated with more prolonged diarrhea. Children with C. concisus have the same degree of late gastrointestinal complaints as children diagnosed with C. jejuni/coli infection.

Clostridium difficile 027-associated pseudomembranous colitis after short-term treatment with cefuroxime and cephalexin in an elderly orthopedic patient: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Clostridium difficile ribotype 027 has become increasingly prevalent in European countries. The clinical picture varies from self-limiting diarrhea to pseudomembranous colitis with toxic megacolon and ultimately death. Use of antibiotics is the principal risk factor; others include comorbidity, advanced age and hospitalization. However even with extensive knowledge of risk factors, it remains difficult to define "minimum risk," as illustrated by the following case. CASE PRESENTATION: An 80-year-old Danish man in good health was hospitalized for a penetrating knee injury. He received 5 days of intravenous cefuroxime after surgical revision and was discharged with oral cephalexin. Post-discharge he suffered from abdominal discomfort and was readmitted with ileus 4 days after discharge, i.e. 10 days after initiation of antibiotic treatment. His condition deteriorated, and pseudomembranous colitis was diagnosed. Due to lack of response to vancomycin and metronidazole, a total colectomy was performed. Stool cultures were positive for CD 027. CONCLUSION: Short-term use of cephalosporins may have induced CD 027 infection, and the patient's age was the only identifiable risk factor for the fulminant course. Thus, even short-term prophylactic treatment with cephalosporins cannot be considered entirely safe.

Oral and fecal Campylobacter concisus strains perturb barrier function by apoptosis induction in HT-29/B6 intestinal epithelial cells.

Campylobacter concisus infections of the gastrointestinal tract can be accompanied by diarrhea and inflammation, whereas colonization of the human oral cavity might have a commensal nature. We focus on the pathophysiology of C. concisus and the effects of different clinical oral and fecal C. concisus strains on human HT-29/B6 colon cells. Six oral and eight fecal strains of C. concisus were isolated. Mucus-producing HT-29/B6 epithelial monolayers were infected with the C. concisus strains. Transepithelial electrical resistance (R(t)) and tracer fluxes of different molecule size were measured in Ussing chambers. Tight junction (TJ) protein expression was determined by Western blotting, and subcellular TJ distribution was analyzed by confocal laser-scanning microscopy. Apoptosis induction was examined by TUNEL-staining and Western blot of caspase-3 activation. All strains invaded confluent HT-29/B6 cells and impaired epithelial barrier function, characterized by a time- and dose-dependent decrease in R(t) either after infection from the apical side but even more from the basolateral compartment. TJ protein expression changes were sparse, only in apoptotic areas of infected monolayers TJ proteins were redistributed. Solely the barrier-forming TJ protein claudin-5 showed a reduced expression level to 66±8% (P<0.05), by expression regulation from the gene. Concomitantly, Lactate dehydrogenase release was elevated to 3.1±0.3% versus 0.7±0.1% in control (P<0.001), suggesting cytotoxic effects. Furthermore, oral and fecal C. concisus strains elevated apoptotic events to 5-fold. C. concisus-infected monolayers revealed an increased permeability for 332 Da fluorescein (1.74±0.13 vs. 0.56±0.17 10(-6) cm/s in control, P<0.05) but showed no difference in permeability for 4 kDa FITC-dextran (FD-4). The same was true in camptothecin-exposed monolayers, where camptothecin was used for apoptosis induction.In conclusion, epithelial barrier dysfunction by oral and fecal C. concisus strains could mainly be assigned to apoptotic leaks together with moderate TJ changes, demonstrating a leak-flux mechanism that parallels the clinical manifestation of diarrhea.

Simultaneous use of serum IgG and IgM for risk scoring of suspected early Lyme borreliosis: graphical and bivariate analyses.

The laboratory diagnosis of early disseminated Lyme borreliosis (LB) rests on IgM and IgG antibodies in serum. The purpose of this study was to refine the statistical interpretation of IgM and IgG by combining the diagnostic evidence provided by the two immunoglobulins and exploiting the whole range of the quantitative variation in test values. ELISA assays based on purified flagella antigen were performed on sera from 815 healthy Danish blood donors as negative controls and 117 consecutive patients with confirmed neuroborreliosis (NB). A logistic regression model combining the standardized units of the IgM and IgG ELISA assays was constructed and the resulting disease risks graphically evaluated by receiver operating characteristic and 'predictiveness' curves. The combined model improves the discrimination between NB patients and blood donors. Hence, it is possible to report a predicted risk of disease graded for each individual patient, as is theoretically preferable. The predictiveness curve, when adapted to the local pretest probability of LB, allows high-risk and low-risk thresholds to be defined instead of cut-offs based on the laboratory characteristics only, and it allows the extent of under- and over-treatment to be assessed. It is shown that an example patient with low ELISA results in IgM and IgG, considered negative by the conventional cut-off, has a relatively high risk of belonging to the truly diseased population and a low risk of being false positive. Using a 20% high-risk threshold for advising the clinician to consider treatment, the sensitivity of the assay is increased from 76% to 85%, while the specificity is maintained at around 95%.

Salmonella or Campylobacter gastroenteritis prior to a cancer diagnosis does not aggravate the prognosis: a population-based follow-up study.

We hypothesized that preceding zoonotic Salmonella or Campylobacter gastroenteritis aggravated the prognosis in cancer patients. Exposed patients comprised all of those diagnosed with first-time Salmonella/Campylobacter gastroenteritis from 1991 and with first-time cancer diagnosis thereafter (through 2003) in two Danish counties. These patients were matched for main cancer type, gender, age and calendar period to unexposed cancer patients, i.e. those without Salmonella/Campylobacter gastroenteritis. We compared cancer stage by age- and comorbidity-adjusted logistic regression analysis, survival by comorbidity-adjusted Cox's regression analysis and mortality dependent on the time period between Salmonella/Campylobacter gastroenteritis and cancer by spline regression curves. The study cohort comprised 272 Salmonella/Campylobacter-exposed cancer patients and 2681 unexposed cancer patients. Prevalence odds ratios [95% confidence intervals (CI)] in exposed as compared with unexposed patients were 0.96 (0.74-1.25) for localized tumours, 1.15 (0.87-1.54) for regional spread and 1.14 (0.84-1.55) for metastases. Adjusted mortality rate ratios (95% CI) were 0.93 (0.75-1.16) for 0-1 year, 1.08 (0.84-1.39) for 2-5 years and 1.02 (0.60-1.73) for the remaining period. Mortality estimates did not change in relation to the time period between gastroenteritis and cancer. Salmonella/Campylobacter gastroenteritis prior to cancer was associated with neither the cancer stage nor a poorer prognosis.

Emerging role of Candida in deep sternal wound infection.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the overall incidence, prognosis, and risk factors for microbiologically documented Candida deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) after cardiac operations. METHODS: A retrospective observational study was performed at Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, from January 1999 through November 2006. Included were all 83 of 4222 cardiac surgical patients with microbiologically documented DSWI requiring surgical revision. Various potential risk factors in patients with Candida DSWI were compared with those of patients with non-Candida DSWI. We compared markers of morbidity, in-hospital mortality, and 1-year mortality to evaluate the prognosis of the disease. RESULTS: DSWI developed in 2% of all patients, of whom, 17 (20.5%) had Candida DSWI, and 66 (79.5%) had non-Candida etiology. Candida was the primary causative organism in 11 of 17 Candida DSWI cases. No Candida DSWI was found during the first 3 years of the study. In-hospital and 1-year mortality were doubled in patients with Candida DSWI compared with patients with non-Candida DSWI. Candida DSWI was associated with significantly longer stay in the intensive care unit and need of prolonged mechanical ventilation. Risk factors for Candida etiology were Candida colonization in tracheal secretions or urine and reoperation before diagnosis of DSWI. CONCLUSIONS: Candida was a frequent causative agent of DSWI in our series and was associated with a very high morbidity and mortality. Cardiothoracic patients on mechanical ventilation when colonized with Candida were identified as a high-risk population for subsequent development of Candida DSWI.

Severity of human non-typhoid salmonellosis as a predictor of short- and long-term mortality.

We hypothesized that severity of human non-typhoid Salmonella (NTS) infection was a marker of 0-30 and 31-365-d mortality. All patients with first-time detection of NTS in stool specimens in North Jutland County, Denmark, 1995-2003, were categorized into 4 groups. Group 1 was not hospitalized in relation to their NTS infection, group 2 was hospitalized without sampling of blood cultures, group 3 was hospitalized with blood cultures obtained in which pathogenic micro-organisms were not detected, and group 4 had blood culture-proven bacteraemia. Among 1764 NTS patients, 2 of 1082 (0.2%) in group 1, 14 of 344 (4.1%) in group 2, 20 of 248 (8.1%) in group 3, and 19 of 90 (21.1%) in group 4 died within 365 d. Using group 2 as reference, age and comorbidity adjusted 0-30-d mortality rate ratios (MRR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) could not be computed for group 1 (no deaths), while they were 1.8 (0.6-5.5) for group 3 and 1.4 (0.4-4.9) for group 4. For the 31-365-d period, MRR (95% CI) were 0.16 (0.03-0.8), 1.6 (0.7-3.7), and 2.5 (1.1-5.8), respectively, for the 3 groups. Severity of NTS infection was an age- and comorbidity-independent short- and long-term prognostic marker of mortality.

Trends in occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in Campylobacter jejuni isolates from broiler chickens, broiler chicken meat, and human domestically acquired cases and travel associated cases in Denmark.

Campylobacter jejuni is a frequent cause of bacterial gastroenteritis. Often it causes self-limiting disease but severe or prolonged cases may require antimicrobial treatment. The agricultural use of antimicrobial agents selects for resistance among C. jejuni which is transmitted to humans via food. In Denmark, the use of fluoroquinolones in animal husbandry has been restricted since 2003. The purpose of the present study was to look at trends in occurrence of resistance among C. jejuni from broiler chickens, broiler chicken meat and human domestically acquired or travel associated cases. From 1997 through 2007, C. jejuni isolates were obtained from The Danish Integrated Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring and Research Programme (DANMAP) and susceptibility tested for ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, nalidixic acid, and tetracycline. Erythromycin resistance was at a low level in all the reservoirs during the study period. Resistance to ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid and tetracycline was significantly higher in C. jejuni from imported broiler chicken meat compared to Danish broiler chicken meat. In domestically acquired human C. jejuni isolates, resistance to ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid was for most years significantly higher compared to the level found in isolates from Danish broiler chicken meat, whereas the resistance level was similar to the level found in isolates from imported broiler chicken meat. Imported broiler chicken meat may therefore contribute to the high level of ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid resistance in C. jejuni isolates from domestically acquired human infections. In 2006 and 2007, the occurrence of resistance to ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid and tetracycline was significantly higher in travel associated C. jejuni isolates compared to isolates acquired domestically. Even though the use of fluoroquinolones is restricted for animal use in Denmark, Danes are still often infected by fluoroquinolone resistant C. jejuni from imported chicken meat or by travelling.

Neuroborreliosis recurrence: reinfection or relapse?

We report the case of a 47-y-old female with documented neuroborreliosis, who had a complete recovery after 10 d of intravenous high-dose penicillin followed after 9 months by a new episode of documented neuroborreliosis. The case probably represents a rare case of true reinfection rather than relapse.