A LAMP-based assay for the molecular detection of group B Streptococcus.

PURPOSE: Streptococcus agalactiae remains a major pathogen in human health, especially in neonatal infection. Detection in pregnant women is essential to initiate intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis. This study compared the HiberGene loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay to culture, the reference method, for the detection of group B Streptococcus (GBS) in pregnant women. METHODS: This was a prospective multicenter study conducted in four French hospitals. Three hundred fifty-four non-redundant routine care vaginal swabs were analyzed by both methods, LAMP assay and culture. Clinicians and patients were blinded to the results of the LAMP assay. RESULTS: Three hundred thirty-seven samples presented concordant results, 15 presented discordant results, and 2 were invalid using the LAMP assay (excluded from the study). Compared to culture, the LAMP assay had a sensitivity of 87.7%, a specificity of 98%, a negative predictive value of 97.6%, and a positive predictive value of 89.3%. CONCLUSION: The HiberGene GBS LAMP assay is an easy test that possesses good performances compared with the reference method, culture. It could be used in case of emergency when a quick result is needed.

An unusual case of native aortic endocarditis due to Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum.

Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum, a Gram-positive rod belonging the oropharynx microbiota, is usually described in pulmonary infections, especially in immunocompromised patients. This paper describes a rare case of native aortic infectious endocarditis (IE) and reviews the literature on similar cases. A 62-year-old man with rheumatic fever since childhood was hospitalized for surgical treatment of a febrile IE due to C. diphtheriticum with a large vegetation (15.8 X 8.3 mm). MALDI-TOF-MS from strain isolated in positive blood cultures identified C. pseudodiphtheriticum (2.34), and 16S rRNA sequencing from the valve sample confirmed the identification. The summary of 25 cases shows that the outcome of an IE due to C. pseudodiphtheriticum is bad. The review of the literature shows that this agent found in blood cultures in a cardiovascular context deserves to be explored meticulously because an unfavorable prognosis is frequent.

Comparison of time-to-positivity between two blood culture systems: a detailed analysis down to the genus-level.

A recently developed, automated blood culture system and medium improve the time-to-positivity (TTP) for bacteremia. However, there have thus far been no genus-level analyses using this novel system. We evaluated and compared the changes in blood culture TTP between two systems: BacT/Alert 3D with a blood culture medium containing activated charcoal versus the more recent BacT/Alert Virtuo with a blood culture medium containing polymeric beads. This before-and-after study included blood cultures collected between July 2010 and April 2014 (3D, activated charcoal) and between July 2015 and April 2018 (Virtuo, polymeric beads). A total of 554,732 blood cultures were included, 267,935 (48.30%) during the first period and 286,797 (51.70%) during the second period. Overall, 55,611 (10.02%) tested positive for at least one microorganism. The incubation of the blood culture medium in the Virtuo system was associated with reduced TTP for the most prevalent bacteria, those representing 91.72% (n=51,006) of all the positive blood cultures. The median TTP was reduced by 0.99 h for Staphylococcus, Enterococcus, Streptococcus, Pseudomonadales, and most of the genera within the order Enterobacterales (except the family Morganellaceae). However, strictly anaerobic bacteria belonging to the genus Bacteroides, representing 0.85% (n=474) of all positive blood cultures, were detected 4.53 h later using the Virtuo system. Virtuo was associated with a shorter TTP for most bacteria, but this improvement was heterogeneous to the genus level.

Evaluation of the new BL-RED (ß-Lactamase Rapid Electrochemical Detection) test in positive blood culture broths.

The rapid detection of extended-spectrum ß-lactamase Enterobacterales (ESBL-E) in a positive blood culture is important in order to initiate an appropriate antibiotic therapy and thus decrease mortality. We evaluated the new BL-RED (ß-Lactamase Rapid Electrochemical Detection) test in 100 positive blood culture broths to detect (in ten minutes) the presence or absence of ESBL-E. The BL-RED test appears to be an easy, rapid and reliable test to detect the presence of ESBL directly in Gram negative bacilli-positive blood culture broths, with good performances (sensibility =97.3%, specificity =90.5%, predictive positive value =85.7% and predictive negative value =98.3%). This test could be useful for therapeutic decisions and adjustments of sepsis empirical antibiotic therapy, particularly in wards where the ecology is unfavorable, such as in intensive care units.

Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-Secreting Staphylococcus aureus Pneumonia Complicating COVID-19.

Necrotizing pneumonia induced by Panton-Valentine leukocidin-secreting Staphylococcus aureus is a rare but life-threatening infection that has been described in patients after they had influenza. We report a fatal case of this superinfection in a young adult who had coronavirus disease.

Ceftobiprole: a potential empirical post-operative monotherapy in prosthetic joint infections.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate in vitro susceptibility to ceftobiprole of clinical strains identified from prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) compared to that of the associations currently recommended for post-operative empirical antibiotic therapy (PEAT) (vancomycin with either cefepime, third-generation cephalosporin or piperacillin-tazobactam). METHODS: We performed a 1-year retrospective study on all the surgical procedures performed in our hospital for PJI. Susceptibility profiles of all the strains cultured from surgical samples were reviewed to compare ceftobiprole to current used associations. RESULTS: During the study period (from January 2018 to December 2018), we identified 106 patients managed for PJI and a total of 216 surgical interventions. One hundred-fifty strains were identified from intraoperative samples, excluding redundant strains. Staphylococcus spp. represented 52.7% of all strains and Enterobacteriales 13.3%. Twenty-three patients had polymicrobial infection (22%). Among 149 surgical procedures with positive culture results, ceftobiprole covered the bacterial strains in 138 (92.6%) cases. In comparison, this percentage was 94.6% for vancomycin plus cefepime (p = 0.64), 92.6% for vancomycin plus a third-generation cephalosporin in 138 cases (p = 1) and 94.6% for vancomycin plus piperacillin-tazobactam) (p = 0.64). CONCLUSION: Based on antimicrobial susceptibility testing, our results suggest that ceftobiprole could be an interesting option for PEAT in PJIs, allowing the use of a single agent.

Sneathia amnii, an unusual pathogen in spondylitis: A case report.

Sneathia amnii is an opportunistic pathogen of the female reproductive tract that has been reported to cause infections during pregnancy and in the post-partum period. Infections outside the reproductive tract have rarely been described. We report the case of a spondylitis due to S. amnii in a 72-year old woman, successfully treated after seven weeks of antimicrobial therapy. Growth of this pathogen guided our diagnosis towards a gynecological pathology; we discovered an endometrium adenocarcinoma. This case emphasizes the need for adequate incubation of discal biopsies, using aerobic and anaerobic enrichment broth with prolonged incubation.

Clinical relevance of Clostridium bacteremia: An 8-year retrospective study.

Clostridium spp. are recovered from 25% of the blood culture positive with anaerobes. However, the clinical relevance of Clostridium bacteremia has been controverted in the literature, particularly for C. perfringens. We aimed to evaluate the clinical relevance of Clostridium bacteremia, either due to C. perfringens or other Clostridium species, and to identify the risk factors of mortality in these patients. A retrospective cohort study was conducted from January 2010 to April 2018. All the patients with at least one blood culture positive with any Clostridium species were included. Eighty-one patients with a least one blood culture positive with any Clostridium species were included. Seventy patients (86.4%) fulfilled the criteria for clinically relevant bacteremia. Bacteremia due to C. perfringens tended to be less clinically relevant than other Clostridium species but this was not statistically significant (76% vs 91.2%, P = 0.09). In case of clinically relevant bacteremia, the 30-day mortality rate was 31.4%. In multivariate analysis, adequate empiric antimicrobial therapy was significantly associated with survival (P = 0.03). In conclusion, bacteremia due to C. perfringens or other Clostridium species is usually clinically relevant. This finding was also supported by an improved survival at 30 days when adequate empiric antimicrobial therapy was administered.

Familial Transmission of emm12 Group A Streptococcus.

Incidence and severity of invasive group A Streptococcus infections are of increasing concern in France and worldwide. The risk for secondary infection of close contacts is known but rarely described. We report a case of intrafamilial and life-threatening transmission of emm12 group A Streptococcus.

Infectious hazards of tatami mats.

A 16-year old girl consulted for repeated axillary abscesses. The bacteriological culture yielded monomicrobial Staphylococcus aureus. Faced with these recurrent abscesses in an immunocompetent patient playing a close contact sport, the biologist suspected the strain to harbor a virulence factor explaining these recurrences.

Evolution of antibiotic susceptibility profiles of staphylococci from osteoarticular infections: A 10-year retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of the bacteria responsible for osteoarticular infections is crucial for choosing the appropriate empirical antibiotic regimen. Wide use of broad spectrum antibiotics in these infections may have lead to selection of resistant bacteria. The aim of our study was to answer to these questions: (1) Did the bacterial pathogens isolated from osteoarticular infections (OAIs) and their antibiotic susceptibility profile change over the 10-year period in our University Hospital, particularly for Staphylococcus aureus and Coagulase negative staphylococci? (2) Are the antibiotics used for post-operative antibiotic therapy still effective against staphylococci involved in OAIs? (3) Are the antibiotics used for documented therapy still effective against staphylococci involved in OAIs? HYPOTHESIS: We hypothetise that bacterial epidemiology and antibiotic resistance rates have changed little thanks to a reasoned prescription of antibiotics in our Center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective study describing the antibiotic susceptibility profile of bacteria isolated from osteoarticular infections over 10years in our University Hospital, with a focus on the Staphylococcus genus. RESULTS: A total of 3474 staphylococci were included (2373 coagulase negative staphylococci and 1101 S. aureus), 34.8% (1207/3469) of which were resistant to methicillin. Antibiotic susceptibility profiles remained quite stable between 2010 and 2019, except for rifampicin (14.1% (45/318) versus 5.7% (23/401), p=0.0001) and fluoroquinolones (35.3% (109/309) versus 20.3% (81/399), p=0.000008) for which resistance rates significantly decreased even among methicillin-resistant strains. DISCUSSION: In spite of wide use of antibiotics in orthopaedic units, overall resistance rates did not increase over the last 10years. The prescription of these molecules in combination regimens guided by the antibiotic susceptibility patterns performed on reliable samples and on the basis of multidisciplinary discussions may explain these results. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV, retrospective study.

Whole genomes from bacteria collected at diagnostic units around the world 2020.

The Two Weeks in the World research project has resulted in a dataset of 3087 clinically relevant bacterial genomes with pertaining metadata, collected from 59 diagnostic units in 35 countries around the world during 2020. A relational database is available with metadata and summary data from selected bioinformatic analysis, such as species prediction and identification of acquired resistance genes.

Short communication: dog bite and back pain.

Capnocytophaga canimorsus is a Gram-negative rod commensal of oral cavity of dogs and cats. It can cause sepsis, septic shock, endocarditis, and meningitis associated with bites or licking wounds, especially in immunocompromised patients. Herein, we report a case of C. canimorsus spondylodiscitis linked to a dog bite in a previously healthy patient and review the literature on this pathogen.

Apyretic pulmonary oedema revealing Cardiobacterium hominis endocarditis: Case report and review of literature.

Cardiobacterium hominis is a member of the HACEK group of bacteria, responsible for infective endocarditis, mainly in patients with damaged or prosthetic valves. The low virulence of this organism can explain the insidious presentation and subacute or chronic progression of C. hominis infective endocarditis. Here, a 41-year-old man with a past history of surgery for a Waldhausen type aortic coarctation was hospitalised with dyspnea and chest pains revealing an acute pulmonary oedema, without fever. Transesophageal echocardiography indicated a 20 mm vegetation on biscuspid aortic valve. Six sets of blood culture were positive with Cardiobacterium hominis. In case of lack of fever, the diagnosis of infectious endocarditis is difficult because other symptoms are non-specific and biological markers of inflammatory syndrome are quiet or non-existent. This is the first case of C. hominis infectious endocarditis with a clinical presentation of acute pulmonary oedema in the literature. We report here an apyretic pulmonary oedema revealing C. hominis endocarditis and a review of the literature on apyretic infective endocarditis due to C. hominis.

One Outbreak Could Hide Another.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is currently a major worldwide concern. Guidelines have been issued regarding precautions for healthcare workers caring for SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. Despite accurate observance of infection control measures, including contact precautions, we encountered an OXA-23-producing Acinetobacter baumannii outbreak in 5 intensive care units of 10 beds each in our tertiary care teaching hospital.