Imported transmissible diseases in minors coming to Spain from low-income areas.

We prospectively studied the prevalence of imported transmissible diseases in 373 immigrant children and adolescents coming from Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and Latin America to Salamanca, Spain. The most frequent transmissible diseases in this group were latent tuberculosis (12.7%), chronic hepatitis B virus infection (4.2%), hepatitis C virus infection (2.3%), syphilis (1.5%) and human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 or 2 infections (1.4%). A total of 24.2% of patients had serologic profiles suggesting past hepatitis B virus infection. Anti-human immunodeficiency virus antibodies were not detected in any subject. Largely asymptomatic immigrant children show a high prevalence of communicable diseases. Thus, infectious disease screenings are highly advisable in immigrant children coming from low-income countries.

Encuesta multicéntrica nacional sobre utilización de antibióticos intravenosos / National multicenter survey: the use of intravenous antimicrobial agents

Las enfermedades infecciosas constituyen uno de los mayores problemas de salud, por lo que tanto la infección hospitalaria como la adquirida en la comunidad implican una carga asistencial y un gasto sanitario importante en los hospitales, sobre todo en unidades como las de Cuidados Intensivos, Medicina Interna y Cirugía. Dadas las peculiaridades de los enfermos hospitalizados, el uso de antimicrobianos intravenosos es habitual. Este estudio multicéntrico pretende conocer el manejo de los antimicrobianos y los procedimientos empleados con más frecuencia en relación con su administración en los hospitales españoles. Para ello se ha realizado una encuesta entre el personal sanitario de los servicios anteriormente mencionados de 63 hospitales españoles, en la cual se recogen datos referentes al manejo del catéter, tanto central como de vía periférica, y a la administración de antimicrobianos intravenosos. Los resultados indican que, en España, tanto el manejo del catéter (inserción, mantenimiento y retirada) como la administración de antimicrobianos son realizados por el personal de enfermería, siguiendo protocolos establecidos, fundamentalmente en el manejo del catéter central. Además, la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos presenta los porcentajes más elevados tanto de pacientes portadores de catéteres como de pacientes con algún tratamiento antimicrobiano, frecuentemente en asociación. Se concluye que el uso de antimicrobianos intravenosos en los hospitales supone una gran parte del trabajo asistencial, así como un gasto sanitario importante, sin olvidar los riesgos asociados a la presencia de un catéter vascular

Infectious diseases are currently one of the major health problems worldwide. As a consequence, both nosocomial and community-acquired infections are responsible for a significant increase in workload and health costs for hospitals, particularly in Intensive Care Units (ICU), Internal Medicine and Surgery. The use of intravenous antimicrobial agents is common in hospitalized patients. In order to determine the use of antimicrobial agents and the most frequent procedures used for their administration in Spanish hospitals, a national multicenter survey was undertaken among ICU, Internal Medicine and Surgery health staff from 63 hospitals, in which data were collected on central and peripheral catheter manipulation and intravenous administration. Results showed that, in Spain, both catheter manipulation (insertion, maintenance and removal) and administration of antimicrobial agents are performed by the nursing staff following established protocols, particularly for central catheters. Moreover, the ICUs had the highest rates of catheter-bearing patients, as well as patients undergoing antimicrobial treatment, sometimes in combination. The use of intravenous antimicrobial agents in Spanish hospitals results in an increased workload for the nursing staff and higher health costs, not to mention the risk involved with the use of vascular catheters

[National multicenter survey: the use of intravenous antimicrobial agents]. / Encuesta multicéntrica nacional sobre utilización de antibióticos intravenosos.

Infectious diseases are currently one of the major health problems worldwide. As a consequence, both nosocomial and community-acquired infections are responsible for a significant increase in workload and health costs for hospitals, particularly in Intensive Care Units (ICU), Internal Medicine and Surgery. The use of intravenous antimicrobial agents is common in hospitalized patients. In order to determine the use of antimicrobial agents and the most frequent procedures used for their administration in Spanish hospitals, a national multicenter survey was undertaken among ICU, Internal Medicine and Surgery health staff from 63 hospitals, in which data were collected on central and peripheral catheter manipulation and intravenous administration. Results showed that, in Spain, both catheter manipulation (insertion, maintenance and removal) and administration of antimicrobial agents are performed by the nursing staff following established protocols, particularly for central catheters. Moreover, the ICUs had the highest rates of catheter-bearing patients, as well as patients undergoing antimicrobial treatment, sometimes in combination. The use of intravenous antimicrobial agents in Spanish hospitals results in an increased workload for the nursing staff and higher health costs, not to mention the risk involved with the use of vascular catheters.

In vitro activity of linezolid, synercid and telithromycin against genetically defined high level fluoroquinolone-resistant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

The in vitro activity of levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, gatifloxacin, erythromycin, telithromycin, linezolid, synercid and vancomycin was measured against 36 genetically defined, gyrA/grlA double mutant MRSA clinical strains with an MIC to ciprofloxacin > or = 8 mg/l. The three newer fluoroquinolones tested were more active than ciprofloxacin. Resistance rates for levofloxacin and gatifloxacin were high (44.5 and 36.1%, respectively). All the strains were moxifloxacin-susceptible, though most of them had MICs close to the break point. All the strains were intermediate or resistant to erythromycin and most were also resistant to telithromycin. No strains were resistant to linezolid, synercid or vancomycin (MIC(90): 2, 1 and 2 mg/l, respectively).

Molecular diversity of quinolone resistance in genetically related clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and susceptibility to newer quinolones.

The genes encoding topoisomerases (gyrA and grlA) and the norA promoter of 100 fluoroquinolone-susceptible and -resistant Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates obtained in two geographically distant hospitals were analysed. The relationship between mutations found and the susceptibility to newer quinolones was determined. Thirty-nine strains were grouped in seven clones by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The remaining 61 strains were classified as unrelated strains. In three clones, all strains showed the same grlA-gyrA-norA mutation profiles. Strains in the rest of the groups showed different mutation profiles, even though PFGE indicated that they possessed genetically similar populations. One cluster showed a high level of diversity; five different mutation profiles were detected in the six isolates belonging to this pattern. Two isolates had a Glu84 to Lys mutation in grlA and another isolate had this mutation combined with a Ser84 to Leu mutation in gyrA. Combination of a Ser80 to Phe mutation in grlA and a Ser84 to Leu in gyrA was found in the two other isolates. One of these also had a thymine to a guanine transversion at a position 89 nucleotides upstream of the norA start codon in the norA promoter. These results show that fluoroquinolone resistance in clinical S. aureus strains does not necessarily result from the spread of resistant clones. Fluoroquinolone resistance may develop independently in strains belonging to the same PFGE pattern by accumulation of different mutations over a quinolone-susceptible ancestor wild type or single grlA mutant.

[In vitro activity of new quinolones against clinical strains of Staphylococcus aureus of the wild type and with mutations characterized by gyrA, gyrB and grlA]. / Actividad in vitro de nuevas quinolonasfrente a cepas clínicas de Staphylococcus aureussilvestres y con mutaciones caracterizadasen gyrA, gyrB y grlA.

The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro activity of five quinolones against clinical strains of methicillin-susceptible and -resistant Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates characterized at the molecular level with respect to the presence of mutations in genes coding for resistance to quinolones (grlA, gyrA and gyrB). The relationship between the mutations found and the activities of these quinolones was also analyzed. Trovafloxacin was the most active against methicillin-susceptible S. aureus and showed good activity against methicillin-resistant S. aureus, with a MIC90 of 2 mg/l. The grlA-gyrA double mutation was the most frequent (55% of the strains). Single mutation in grlA was detected only in 5% of strains; 39% of strains showed a wild-type genotype. The grlA-gyrA double mutants presented a high level of resistance against the fluoroquinolones tested except for trovafloxacin, with the MIC ranging between 0.5 and 4 mg/l. Wild-type strains were susceptible to all the fluoroquinolones tested and the single grlA mutants had a low level of quinolone resistance but were still below the breakpoint for resistance. Trovafloxacin and sparfloxacin were less affected by this mutation.

Actividad in vitro de nuevas quinolonasfrente a cepas clínicas de Staphylococcus aureussilvestres y con mutaciones caracterizadasen gyrA, gyrB y grlA / In vitro activity of new quinolones against clinical strainsof Staphylococcus aureus of the wild type and with mutations characterized by gyrA, gyrB and grlA

Se ha estudiado la actividad in vitro de cinco fluoroquinolonas frente a cepas clínicas de Staphylococcus aureus, sensibles y resistentes a la meticilina, caracterizadas desde el punto de vista genético respecto a la existencia de mutaciones en los genes causantes de la resistencia a las quinolonas (grlA, gyrA y gyrB). También se comprobó el efecto de estas mutaciones en la actividad de las quinolonas. El trovafloxacino apareció como el más activo de los antimicrobianos estudiados frente a S. aureus sensibles a la meticilina (SASM), presentando también una buena actividad frente a los resistentes a ésta (SARM), con una CMI90 de 2 mg/l. El patrón más frecuente fue la doble mutación gyrA y grlA (55 por ciento de las cepas), siendo mucho menos frecuente la mutación únicamente en grlA (5 por ciento). El 39 por ciento de las cepas presentaron un genotipo silvestre. Las cepas con doble mutación presentaron altos grados de resistencia a todas las fluoroquinolonas probadas excepto a trovafloxacino, con un rango de CMI de 0,5-4 mg/l. Las cepas silvestres fueron sensibles a todas las quinolonas ensayadas; en las cinco cepas con mutación en grlA se observó un ligero aumento de las CMI para todos los antimicrobianos, aunque siempre por debajo del punto de corte que determina resistencia. Las quinolonas menos afectadas por esta mutación fueron trovafloxacino y esparfloxacino (AU)

In vitro activities of 13 fluoroquinolones against Staphylococcus aureus isolates with characterized mutations in gyrA, gyrB, grlA, and norA and against wild-type isolates.

The in vitro activities of 13 fluoroquinolones (FQs) were tested against 90 Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates: 30 wild type for gyrA, gyrB, grlA and norA and 60 with mutations in these genes. Clinafloxacin (CI-960), sparfloxacin, and grepafloxacin were the most active FQs against wild-type isolates (MICs at which 90% of isolates were inhibited, 0.06 to 0.1 microgram/ml). Mutations in grlA did not affect the MICs of newer FQs. grlA-gyrA double mutations led to higher MICs for all the FQs tested. Efflux mechanisms affected the newer FQs to a much lesser extent than the less recently developed FQs.

In vitro activity of eight fluoroquinolones against multiresistant Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.

We studied the activity of eight fluoroquinolones (norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, grepafloxacin, trovafloxacin, gatifloxacin, clinafloxacin, PD-117596 and PD-138312) against 58 multiresistant Stenotrophomonas maltophilia clinical strains. Norfloxacin was the least active drug (MIC(90) = 128 mg/l). Grepafloxacin, trovafloxacin and gatifloxacin activity was moderately higher (MIC(90) = 8 mg/l) than ciprofloxacin (MIC(90) = 16 mg/l). The best activity was shown by clinafloxacin and PD-138312 (MIC(90) = 4 mg/l). The most resistant strains showed similar MICs against all the fluoroquinolones tested. The highest increase of activity of newer fluoroquinolones was observed against the most sensitive strains.

In vitro activities of beta-lactam-beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations against Stenotrophomonas maltophilia: correlation between methods for testing inhibitory activity, time-kill curves, and bactericidal activity.

The activities of ampicillin, ampicillin-sulbactam, amoxicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ticarcillin, ticarcillin-clavulanic acid, piperacillin, piperacillin-tazobactam, aztreonam, and aztreonam-clavulanic against Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strains for which the MICs of penicillins and commercially available beta-lactam-beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations were higher than the breakpoints usually recommended for Pseudomonas aeruginosa in commercially available broth microdilution methods were tested by the agar diffusion, agar dilution, and broth microdilution methods. Time-kill curve studies were performed when discrepancies between these methods were observed. The MICs obtained by the commercially available broth microdilution method, the agar dilution method, and the broth microdilution method were almost identical. Twenty-five percent of the strains tested showed inhibition diameters of > or =15 mm for ticarcillin-clavulanic acid, and 43.7% of the strains tested showed inhibition diameters of > or =18 mm for piperacillin-tazobactam by the agar diffusion method. The time-kill curves for these strains confirmed the results obtained by dilution methods. Aztreonam-clavulanic acid (2:1) at concentrations of < or =16 microg/ml inhibited all of these strains (MIC range, 1 to 16 microg/ml). The time-kill curves confirmed this activity. The addition of piperacillin to this combination did not modify the MICs. The combination aztreonam-clavulanic acid-ticarcillin was two- to fourfold more active than aztreonam-clavulanic acid alone. We studied the inhibitory and bactericidal activities of the two most active combinations (aztreonam-clavulanic acid and aztreonam-clavulanic acid-ticarcillin) against the standard inoculum and 10 and 50 times the standard inoculum. Inoculum modifications did not modify the MICs. Both combinations showed good bactericidal activity against the standard inoculum. With 10 times the standard inoculum, minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) results were heterogeneous (for 55% of the strains, MBCs were between the MIC and 4-fold the MIC, and for 45% of the strains MBCs were between 8- and >32-fold the MIC). With 50 times the standard inoculum, MBCs were at least 32-fold the MICs for all the strains tested.