Nationwide surveillance of bacterial respiratory pathogens conducted by the surveillance committee of Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and the Japanese Society for clinical microbiology in 2014: General view of the pathogens' antibacterial susceptibility.

The nationwide surveillance on antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial respiratory pathogens from the patients in Japan was conducted by Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and the Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2014. The isolates were collected from clinical specimens obtained from well-diagnosed adult patients with respiratory tract infections during the period between January 2014 and April 2015 by three societies. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted at the central reference laboratory according to the method recommended by Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute. Susceptibility testing was evaluated in 1534 strains (335 Staphylococcus aureus, 264 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 29 Streptococcus pyogenes, 281 Haemophilus influenzae, 164 Moraxella catarrhalis, 207 Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 254 Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Ratio of methicillin-resistant S. aureus was 43.6%, and those of penicillin-susceptible S. pneumoniae was 100%. Among H. influenzae, 8.2% of them were found to be ß-lactamase-producing ampicillin-resistant strains, and 49.1% to be ß-lactamase-non-producing ampicillin-resistant strains. Extended spectrum ß-lactamase-producing K. pneumoniae and multi-drug resistant P. aeruginosa with metallo ß-lactamase were 9.2% and 0.4%, respectively.

Effect of a single injection of tranexamic acid on blood loss after primary hybrid TKA.

BACKGROUND: Control of perioperative blood loss is important in total knee arthroplasty (TKA), especially cementless or hybrid TKA. There is increasing interest in the use of tranexamic acid (TXA) for this purpose, however, studies to date have mainly evaluated the effects of various TXA administration regimens on patients who have undergone cemented TKA. We sought to determine (1) whether administration of TXA reduces blood loss after hybrid TKA, and (2) whether an autologous blood reinfusion system is necessary in TKA patients who are treated with TXA. METHODS: Ninety-five patients (100 knees) who underwent hybrid primary TKA (cemented tibia, uncemented femur) were included in this study. The initial 50 knees were treated without TXA and the following 50 were treated with TXA. Intravenous TXA (1000 mg) was administered shortly before deflation of the tourniquet. All continuous variables were expressed as median values. RESULTS: Total volumes of blood lost at postoperative 1 day were 590 mL and 150 mL and autotransfusion of collected blood was performed in 88% and 16% of patients in the without and with TXA groups, respectively. A median volume of 400 mL of collected blood was returned to the patients in the without TXA group, and 0 mL to the patients in the with TXA group. The calculated volumes of blood lost were 761 mL and 683 mL (p=0.2250), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: One intravenous injection of 1000 mg TXA may help to control postoperative blood loss and reduce the need for postoperative autologous blood reinfusion after hybrid TKA. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II.

Nationwide surveillance of bacterial respiratory pathogens conducted by the surveillance committee of Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and the Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010: General view of the pathogens' antibacterial susceptibility.

The nationwide surveillance on antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial respiratory pathogens from patients in Japan, was conducted by Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases and Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010. The isolates were collected from clinical specimens obtained from well-diagnosed adult patients with respiratory tract infections during the period from January and April 2010 by three societies. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted at the central reference laboratory according to the method recommended by Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institutes using maximum 45 antibacterial agents. Susceptibility testing was evaluable with 954 strains (206 Staphylococcus aureus, 189 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 4 Streptococcus pyogenes, 182 Haemophilus influenzae, 74 Moraxella catarrhalis, 139 Klebsiella pneumoniae and 160 Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Ratio of methicillin-resistant S. aureus was as high as 50.5%, and those of penicillin-intermediate and -resistant S. pneumoniae were 1.1% and 0.0%, respectively. Among H. influenzae, 17.6% of them were found to be ß-lactamase-non-producing ampicillin (ABPC)-intermediately resistant, 33.5% to be ß-lactamase-non-producing ABPC-resistant and 11.0% to be ß-lactamase-producing ABPC-resistant strains. Extended spectrum ß-lactamase-producing K. pneumoniae and multi-drug resistant P. aeruginosa with metallo ß-lactamase were 2.9% and 0.6%, respectively. Continuous national surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility of respiratory pathogens is crucial in order to monitor changing patterns of susceptibility and to be able to update treatment recommendations on a regular basis.

Antibiotic time-lag combination therapy with fosfomycin for postoperative intra-abdominal abscesses.

The first-line treatment for intra-abdominal abscess is source control. Sometimes, however, source control is too invasive for relatively small abscesses and is not feasible due to the risk of injury to some organs. Based on reports that fosfomycin (FOM) can break up biofilms to enhance the permeability of other antibiotics, we investigated the FOM time-lag combination therapy (FOM-TLCT). We enrolled 114 patients who had intra-abdominal abscess after gastrointestinal surgery and examined the efficacy of FOM-TLCT using the same therapeutic antibiotic (TA) as that which had been used previously, but had proven ineffective, at the same dose schedule. The efficacy endpoint determination was carried out as follows: among the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS)-positive cases, even after administration of TA, excellent outcome was defined as SIRS negative within 7 days of FOM-TLCT with TA without the need for other treatment, including other antibiotics or drainage. Of the 114 patients enrolled, 104 cases (SIRS positive 73; SIRS negative 31) were assessed. Ten patients were excluded; four had received TA at higher doses, three had received different TAs, and three were considered to have bacteria resistant to TAs. Among these patients, 86.3% (63/73) of the SIRS-positive cases were classified as excellent, and 90.3% (28/31) of the SIRS-negative cases were classified as effective. In total, the efficacy rate was 87.5% (91/104). The total no-response rates were 12.5% (13/104). FOM-TLCT seems to be effective for treating refractory intra-abdominal abscess.

Drug susceptibility of isolates from severe postoperative intraperitoneal infections causing multiple organ failure.

PURPOSE: To select the most appropriate antibiotic regimens for life-threatening postoperative infections, we obtained isolates from patients with severe postoperative infections over a 12-year-period, and examined their drug susceptibility. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 55 patients with multiple organ failure (MOF) caused by postoperative infection. RESULTS: All strains of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were susceptible to Vancomycin (VCM) and Teicoplanin (TEIC). Only 0.3% of all the Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains were resistant to Imipenem (IPM), but 53.6% of the strains from the severe infections were resistant to IPM. On the other hand, there were few P. aeruginosa strains resistant to Meropenem (MEPM), Ceftazidime (CAZ), Ciprofloxacin (CPFX), and Pazufloxacin (PZFX), even among strains isolated from severe infections. The resistant rate of Bacteroides fragilis to Clindamycin (CLDM) was 35.9%, but there were strains resistant to IPM and Panipenem. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that VCM or TEIC are most appropriate for severe abdominal abscess caused by MRSA, whereas MEPM, CAZ, CPFX, and PZFX are more effective against P. aeruginosa infections. The only antibiotic effective against B. fragilis infections in this study was IPM.

Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic analysis of fluoroquinolones against Bacillus anthracis.

Based on the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) parameters of ciprofloxacin in rhesus monkeys, the efficacies of levofloxacin, sparfloxacin, norfloxacin, and tosufloxacin against anthrax in humans were examined. The optimal PK-PD parameter for the prophylaxis or treatment of infection with Bacillus anthracis is not clearly defined. To evaluate the efficacy of fluoroquinolones against anthrax, PK-PD parameters and the protein-binding effect of fluoroquinolones are used. B. anthracis is very susceptible to fluoroquinolones in vitro, and levofloxacin, sparfloxacin, and tosufloxacin may be as effective against anthrax as ciprofloxacin by PK-PD analysis. However, additional studies of the in vivo model are necessary to define more clearly efficacy against anthrax and the pharmacodynamic relationship of fluoroquinolones.