Identification of Mycoplasma pneumoniae-associated pneumonia cases among hospitalized patients using CLART® microarray technology.

OBJECTIVES: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a global health condition that affects populations from all age groups. The laboratory identification of Mycoplasma pneumoniae as a causative agent of CAP is challenging because of its atypical and fastidious nature. Therefore, this study assessed the diagnostic potential of PneumoCLART bacteria® in identifying M. pneumoniae as a causative agent of pneumonia in hospitalized adults. METHODS: This prospective study used a cross-sectional approach to assess the diagnostic potential of PneumoCLART bacteria® for detecting M. pneumoniae in sputum samples procured from 27 patients with pneumonia who required hospitalization. RESULTS: The PneumoCLART bacteria® results illustrated that 7 of 27 patients with pneumonia were positive for M. pneumoniae (26%). However, the quality of sputum varied among the M. pneumoniae-positive and M. pneumoniae-negative samples. Fifty percent of the specimens obtained from patients positive for M. pneumoniae were saliva-contaminated and unsuitable for analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Because the leukocyte count was low and sputum specimens were saliva-contaminated, these findings require further validation to prove the utility of CLART® microarray technology for the identification of M. pneumoniae in pneumonia-positive patients. Conclusively, this prospective study included a small number of clinical samples, which likely affected its outcomes.

Performance of TDR-300B and VITEK®2 for the identification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in comparison with VITEK®-MS.

OBJECTIVE: Automated systems are needed for the rapid and accurate diagnosis of Pseudomonas-associated nosocomial infections among critically ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit. We assessed the performance of TDR-300B and VITEK®2 for the identification of P. aeruginosa using VITEK®-MS as the gold standard. METHODS: This analytical study employed a cross-sectional approach. First, 44 clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa were collected and refreshed. Next, a single colony of oxidase-positive, gram-negative rods (30 samples) was inoculated into a TDR-300B NF-64 card and VITEK®2 GN cassette for each isolate. Finally, bacterial identification was performed using VITEK®-MS for comparative analysis. RESULTS: Compared with the results for VITEK®-MS, the congruence rates for TDR-300B and VITEK®2 were 80.76% (21/26) and 92.30% (24/26), respectively. Further, high sensitivity was observed for TDR-300B and VITEK®2 (95.45% and 100%, respectively). In addition, TDR-300B had a lower positive predictive value and accuracy than VITEK®2, albeit without significance. CONCLUSIONS: Conclusively, there were no significant differences regarding the diagnostic efficiency of TDR-300B and VITEK®2 for P. aeruginosa.

Acinetobacter baumannii: Role in Blood Stream Infection in Neonatal Unit, Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) is Gram-negative coccobacilli that has emerged as a nosocomial pathogen. Several reports in Indonesia showed the continuous presence of A. baumannii. This study aimed to determine the incidence of A. baumannii bacteremia in neonates in the Neonatal Unit Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM), Jakarta, Indonesia, and assess its role in blood stream infection using antibiogram and genotyping by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Subjects were neonates with clinical sepsis. Blood specimens from the neonates and samples of suspected environment within the Neonatal Unit were cultivated. Antimicrobial resistance profiles were classified for analysis purpose. A. baumannii isolates were genotyped by PFGE to determine their similarity. A total of 24 A. baumannii were isolated from 80 neonates and the environment during this period of study. Seven isolates from the neonates showed multiple antimicrobial resistance (MDR), and 82% (n = 17) of the environment isolates were also MDR. Antibiotype "d" seemed to be predominant (62.5%). PFGE analysis showed a very close genetic relationship between the patients and environment isolates (Dice coefficient 0.8-1.0). We concluded that a mode of transmission of environmental microbes to patients was present in the Neonatal Unit of RSCM and thus needed to be overcome.