Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Simultaneous quantification of systemic azoles and their major metabolites in human serum by HPLC/PDA: role of azole metabolic rate
We describe the development and validation of a novel liquid chromatography assay (HPLC/PDA) for simultaneous quantification of voriconazole, itraconazole, and posaconazole, as well as some of their major metabolites, voriconazole-N-oxide and hydroxy-itraconazole, in human serum. Analytes were detected using a PDA system that allows the characterization of the specific UV spectra of each compound. The assay exhibited linearity between 0.25 –16mg/L for all the compounds tested. The accuracy and within- and between-day precision of the assay were in acceptable ranges. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - April 14, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Alicia G ómez-López, Laura Alcazar-Fuoli, Leticia Bernal-Martínez Source Type: research

Impact of IFNL4- ∆G genotype on sustained virologic response in hepatitis C genotype 1 patients treated with direct-acting antivirals
In direct acting antiviral (DAA)-treated HCV genotype 1, the sustained virologic response rate with the ∆G/∆G genotype of IFNL4 rs368234815 (86.8%) was significantly lower than with ∆G/TT (95.9%, p=0.03) or TT/TT (98.6%, p=0.01). The SVR odds ratio for ∆G/∆G compared to TT/TT was 0.10 (p=0.03). IFNL4 genotype might predict DAA-response. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - April 14, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Lisa I. Backus, Troy A. Shahoumian, Pamela S. Belperio, Mark Winters, Ludmila Prokunina-Olsson, Thomas R. O'Brien, Mark Holodniy Tags: Note Source Type: research

Preliminary Assessment of the Diagnostic Performances of a New Rapid Diagnostic Test for the Serodiagnosis of Human Cystic Echinococcosis
Rapid Diagnostic Tests for cystic echinococcosis (CE) are convenient to support ultrasound diagnosis in uncertain cases, especially in resource-limited settings. We found comparable diagnostic performances of the experimental Hyd Rapid Test and the commercial VIRapid HYDATIDOSIS Test, used in our diagnostic laboratory, using samples from well-characterized hepatic CE cases. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - April 14, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Ambra Vola, Francesca Tamarozzi, Rahmah Noordin, Muhammad Hafiznur Yunus, Sam Khanbabaie, Annalisa De Silvestri, Enrico Brunetti, Mara Mariconti Source Type: research

The population structure of clinical Extra-intestinal Escherichia coli in a teaching hospital from Nigeria
Limited information is available regarding the population structure of extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) in Africa. Antimicrobial resistance profiles, sequence types (STs) and fimH types were determined on 60 clinical ExPEC from Nigeria using a 7-single nucleotide polymorphism quantitative PCR and sequencing of certain genes. Different ST131 clades were identified with a multiplex PCR. The isolates were mostly obtained from urines (58.3%). Not-susceptibility rates were as follows: trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (98%), cefotaxime (68%), gentamicin (55%), ciprofloxacin (62%) and piperacillin-tazobactam (2%)...
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - April 14, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Jeremiah Seni, Giselle Peirano, Kenneth Okwong Okon, Yusuf Bara Jibrin, Alkali Mohammed, Stephen E. Mshana, Rebekah DeVinney, Johann D.D. Pitout Source Type: research

Pharmacokinetics –pharmacodynamics, computer decision support technologies, and antimicrobial stewardship: the compass and rudder
The first guidelines for conducting antimicrobial stewardship in the hospitalized setting were published in 2007. These guidelines recommend that stewardship programs employ the science of pharmacokinetics –pharmacodynamics (PK-PD) as well as adopting computerized decision support technologies when possible. The United States Food and Drug Administration have adopted PK-PD as a cornerstone in the evaluation of antimicrobial agents during clinical development. The core principles of PK-PD center arou nd describing the relationship between drug exposure indexed to the susceptibility of the infecting bacterial pathogen and ...
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - April 13, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Robert C. Owens, Catharine C. Bulik, David R. Andes Source Type: research

Pharmacokinetics-Pharmacodynamics, Computer Decision Support Technologies, and Antimicrobial Stewardship: The Compass and Rudder
The first guidelines for conducting antimicrobial stewardship in the hospitalized setting were published in 2007. These guidelines recommend that stewardship programs employ the science of pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics (PK-PD) as well as adopting computerized decision support (CDS) technologies when possible. The United States Food and Drug Administration have adopted PK-PD as a cornerstone in the evaluation of antimicrobial agents during clinical development. The core principles of PK-PD center around describing the relationship between drug exposure indexed to the susceptibility of the infecting bacterial pathogen an...
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - April 13, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Robert C. Owens, Catharine C. Bulik, David R. Andes Source Type: research

Rapid Real-Time PCR for the Detection of IMP, NDM, VIM, KPC and OXA-48 Carbapenemase Genes in Isolates and Spiked Stool Samples
An in-house real-time PCR was developed to detect the carbapenemase genes IMP, NDM, VIM, KPC and OXA-48 from both bacterial colonies and directly from fecal material. The assay is a multiplex PCR performed in two tubes with NDM, VIM and IMP genes detected in one tube and OXA-48 and KPC genes in the other. Despite the large amount of primers and probes necessary to cover all variants of especially the VIM and IMP genes, the efficiency of the PCR reactions was from 95 to 100%. When tested on 170 clinical strains and compared to culture results from a reference laboratory, 100% correspondence was found. (Source: Diagnostic Mi...
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - April 13, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Marianne Lund, Marianne B øgild Petersen, Anders Lægaard Jørgensen, Dorte Paulmann, Mikala Wang Source Type: research

Direct In Vitro Comparison of the Prodrug Isavuconazonium Sulfate with the Isavuconazole Active Compound Against Aspergillus spp. and 2 Rare Moulds
Isavuconazonium sulfate is a prodrug of isavuconazole, a broad-spectrum mould-active triazole antifungal drug. We provide a direct comparison of the in vitro activity of the prodrug versus the active metabolite against clinical isolates of Aspergillus spp., Sarocladium kiliense, and Scedosporium apiospermum using CLSI broth microdilution methods. The MIC values obtained for the prodrug were one 2-fold dilution higher than those of isavuconazole for all isolates tested. Using previously defined epidemiological cutoff values for isavuconazole and Aspergillus spp., 96.4% of isolates were wild type (WT) to isavuconazole and on...
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - April 13, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Michael A. Pfaller, Paul R. Rhomberg, Mariana Castanheira Source Type: research

Colistin susceptibility testing and Vitek-2 ™: is it really useless?
In this study we evaluated the performance of Vitek-2 ™ (bioMérieux, Marcy-L'Etoile, France) on determination of colistin susceptibility in comparison with gold standard broth microdilution method. The Vitek-2 showed 90.1% of essential agreement (EA) and 91.4% categorial agreement (CA), for Enterobacteriaceae isolates. In addition, 0.7% of major err ors (ME) and 7.94% of very major errors (VME) was observed. However, K. pneumoniae and E. coli, the Vitek-2 showed better performance for isolates with ≤0.5 or≥16μg/mL MICs. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - April 8, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Raquel Girardello, Ana Paula Cury, Maria Renata Gomes Franco, Thais Romano Di Gi óia, João Nóbrega de Almeida, Maria Rita Elmor de Araújo, Alberto José da Silva Duarte, Flavia Rossi Source Type: research