Reporting elevated vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentration in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: consensus by an International Working Group.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remains an important cause of serious infection, for which vancomycin is often recommended as the first-choice antibiotic treatment. Appropriate vancomycin prescribing requires accurate measurement of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) to avoid treatment failure, and yet determination can be challenging due to methodological difficulties associated with susceptibility testing. An International Working Group of infectious disease specialists and clinical/medical microbiologists reached a consensus that empirical MRSA infection therapies should be chosen regardless of the suspected origin of the infecting strain (e.g., community or hospital) due to the complex intermingling epidemiology of MRSA clones in these settings. Also, if an elevated vancomycin MIC in the susceptible range is obtained in routine testing, an alternative second method should be used for confirmation and to aid antibiotic therapy recommendations. There is no absolutely dependable method for the accurate determination of vancomycin MIC, but broth microdilution appears to be the most reliable.

Susceptibility testing and reporting of new antibiotics with a focus on tedizolid: an international working group report.

Inappropriate use and overuse of antibiotics are among the most important factors in resistance development, and effective antibiotic stewardship measures are needed to optimize outcomes. Selection of appropriate antimicrobials relies on accurate and timely antimicrobial susceptibility testing. However, the availability of clinical breakpoints and in vitro susceptibility testing often lags behind regulatory approval by several years for new antimicrobials. A Working Group of clinical/medical microbiologists from Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Russia and the UK recently examined issues surrounding antimicrobial susceptibility testing for novel antibiotics. While commercially available tests are being developed, potential surrogate antibiotics may be used as marker of susceptibility. Using tedizolid as an example of a new antibiotic, this special report makes recommendations to optimize routine susceptibility reporting.

Epidemiology of extensive drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (XDRAB) at Security Forces Hospital (SFH) in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

OBJECTIVES: Extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (XDRAB) became a worldwide nosocomial threat. The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiology and to evaluate the prevalence of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB). We also discuss therapeutic options for the management of their infections. METHODS: Antibiotic susceptibility was determined in 506, 510 and 936 duplicate isolates of A. baumannii isolated in 2006, 2009 and 2012, respectively. In 2012, 12 unique XDRAB strains were isolated from patients with serious ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Susceptibility tests were performed using the microdilution method according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recommendations. MICs were determined in triplicate by E-test according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Susceptible and multidrug-resistant A. baumannii (MDRAB) strains were detected using CHROMagar Acinetobacter medium. Carbapenem resistant A. baumannii was investigated for carbapenemase production by the modified Hodge test (MHT) and by multiplex PCR. A Synergy test was performed using the E-test method. RESULTS: Considering years 2006, 2009 and 2012, the susceptibilities to meropenem and imipenem were 64-81.2%, 34.5-45.3%, and 8.3-11%, respectively. Concerning the 12 XDRAB strains, all isolates were susceptible to colistin and resistant to meropenem and imipenem. Culture on CHROMagar Acinetobacter confirmed that all are MDRAB. The gene profiles detected in PCR assays showed that all the strains possess OXA-51.Out of the 12 isolates, 11 possess the oxa-23 gene and one harbours the gene 24/40. A good synergistic effect was detected between colistin and tigecycline. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, A. baumannii susceptibility to carbapenems showed a drastic reduction and represents a major epidemiological concern. The main carbapenem resistance mechanism is mediated by class D-OXA-type enzymes (oxa-23 and oxa-24/40) with Carbapenemase activity. Therapeutic options are exceedingly limited, relying on polymyxin combinations with other antibiotics. We are clearly missing new active agents against XDRAB.