A single-day point-prevalence study of faecal carriers in long-term care hospitals in Madrid (Spain) depicts a complex clonal and polyclonal dissemination of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence and microbiological characteristics of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) colonizing patients in long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) in Madrid, Spain. METHODS: Three LTCHs were included in a single-day point-prevalence survey (September 2013). Rectal swabs, collected from all hospitalized patients (137 in LTCH-A, 121 in LTCH-B and 83 in LTCH-C), were plated onto chromogenic media. Population structure (PFGE and MLST), genes encoding carbapenemases and ESBLs and plasmids carrying carbapenemase genes were characterized. RESULTS: The prevalence of CPE carriers was 4.1% (14/341) [2.9% (4/137), LTCH-A; 4.1% (5/121), LTCH-B; and 6.0% (5/83), LTCH-C]. OXA-48 was the most prevalent carbapenemase (nine Klebsiella pneumoniae, two Escherichia coli, one Enterobacter cloacae and one Citrobacter braakii) followed by VIM-1 (one K. pneumoniae and one Raoultella ornithinolytica). One patient (LTCH-C) was co-colonized with OXA-48-producing K. pneumoniae and E. coli. K. pneumoniae and E. coli isolates also coproduced CTX-M-15 (n = 11) or CTX-M-9 (n = 1) enzymes. K. pneumoniae clustered into six PFGE types corresponding to ST11 (n = 1), ST15 (n = 6), ST307 (n = 1) and ST405 (n = 2). E. coli from LTCH-A and LTCH-C exhibited two different PFGE types associated with ST68. OXA-48 and VIM-1 enzymes were found in different clones in LTCH-A and LTCH-C. However, OXA-48 was the only carbapenemase detected in LTCH-B, mainly associated with K. pneumoniae ST15. KPC, IMP and NDM enzymes were not detected. blaOXA-48 was located on an ∼ 60 kb plasmid with a pOXA-48a-IncL/M backbone. CONCLUSIONS: We describe the first point-prevalence study of CPE faecal carriers in LTCHs in Spain. OXA-48, the most prevalent carbapenemase, showed a complex dissemination pattern with clonal and polyclonal bacterial populations.

Validation of a specific questionnaire on psychological and social repercussions of the lipodystrophy syndrome in HIV-infected patients.

OBJECTIVE: To validate a questionnaire to identify psychosocial repercussions of the lipodystrophy syndrome (LD) in HIV-infected patients. METHODS: A questionnaire containing 35 items in 6 subscales [body image, anxiety, depression, social support, social distress, quality of life (QoL)] was consecutively administered to 128 patients with LD, 25 naive patients or on therapy without LD, and to 15 HIV negative patients from January to July '04. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The area under the curve (AUC) was used for discrimination between patients and control groups, and the scores were compared according to the severity of the LD. RESULTS: In all the subscales, the relationship between higher scores and LD severity was statistically significant (0.37-0.64, p<0.01), whereas the control groups had significantly lower scores. The internal consistency showed Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from 0.64 to 0.93. Test-retest reliability after 15 days in 30 patients showed ICC values of 0.8-0.94. AUC values for the different subscales were higher than 0.7 with the exception of QoL score, and construct validity showed a significant correlation with the Beck Depression Inventory and the MOS-HIV scores (0.49 and 0.51, respectively, p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our questionnaire shows satisfactory psychometric properties for identifying psychosocial repercussions of the LD in HIV-infected patients.

Influence of liver fibrosis on highly active antiretroviral therapy-associated hepatotoxicity in patients with HIV and hepatitis C virus coinfection.

BACKGROUND: Coinfection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a known risk factor for hepatotoxicity in patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of HCV-related liver fibrosis in HAART-associated hepatotoxicity. METHODS: In a prospective study involving 107 patients who underwent liver biopsy, fibrosis was graded according 5 stages, from F0 (no fibrosis) to F4 (cirrhosis). Hepatotoxicity was defined as an increase in levels of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase to >5 times the upper limit of normal, or a >3.5-fold increase if baseline levels were abnormal. The incidence of hepatotoxicity was compared with liver fibrosis stage and with time and composition of HAART. RESULTS: Overall, 27 patients (25%) had hepatotoxic events (5.1 events/100 person-years of therapy). The incidence was greater for patients with stage F3 or F4 fibrosis (38%) than for those with stage F1 or F2 fibrosis (15%; 7.6 vs. 3 events/100 person-years; relative risk, 2.75; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-6.97; P=.013). Duration of HCV infection, duration of HAART, diagnosis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, HCV load, HCV genotype, and nadir CD4(+) cell count did not affect the risk of hepatotoxicity. Of the 86 patients who received nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), 11 (13%) developed liver toxicity. In these patients, fibrosis stages F1 and F2 were associated with similar rates of toxicity (3 events/100 person-years for patients who received nevirapine, 3.3 events/100 person-years for those who received efavirenz, and 3.4 events/100 person-years for those who received non-NNRTIs). There was a greater incidence among patients with F3 or F4 fibrosis who received NNRTIs (11.7 events/100 person-years for patients who received nevirapine, and 8.6 events/100 person-years for those who received efavirenz), compared with those who received non-NNRTIs (4 events/100 person-years). CONCLUSIONS: HAART-associated hepatotoxicity correlates with liver histological stage in patients coinfected with HIV and HCV. There was no difference in hepatotoxicity risk for different antiretroviral therapies in patients with mild-to-moderate fibrosis.