Patricia Munoz

..Clinicians should include these infections in their differential diagnosis and promote adherence to preventive measures in SOT recipients...

..aureus should be closely monitored for signs and symptoms of ongoing infection, but if these are not present then antimicrobial therapy does not seem justified...

..The use of preventive measures significantly reduces the incidence of symtomatic infection or CMV disease, which has been reported to be less than 3% in some recent series...

..Physicians attending SOT recipients should be aware of these risk factors, which include specific host characteristics, type of transplantation, microorganism and immunosuppressive policy...

..An international consensus that responds to differences in patients and centers and emphasizes patient safety is clearly needed...

..To provide an updated perspective of the most common parasitic infections occurring in solid-organ transplant (SOT) recipients...

..To analyze the incidence trend of listeriosis, its present epidemiology and the potential benefit of aminoglycosides during the last two decades...

..The role of BK virus in nonrenal solid organ transplant recipients has not been clearly established; only anecdotal case reports have been published...

..However, the significance of the isolation of from respiratory specimens in heart transplant recipients is not established...

..All of them involved fungal pneumonia. Outcome was favorable in all cases...

..The mean follow-up period was 8.5 months. Further data from randomised controlled clinical trials are needed to determine the efficacy and safety of linezolid for treating endocarditis...

..Combined antifungal drug therapy is widely used in severe invasive mycoses in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. We have reviewed the available data in the literature...

..Our objective was to determine the prevalence of BKV infection for all types of SOT recipients at our medical center...

..5% of HT recipients. Non-infectious causes clearly predominated, but infections still accounted for 32% of the episodes. New monoclonal induction therapies have contributed to diminished CNS opportunistic infections in our program...

..Early microbiological information and medical education may contribute to better use of these important drugs. We review the characteristics of the new antifungals used for the treatment of candidaemia...

..5; 95% CI 0.3-0.8, p=0.01). We believe that antifungal prophylaxis in heart transplant patients should be offered at least to patients with one or more of these predisposing conditions...

..A high overload of Aspergillus spores in the intensive care unit room led this patient to acquire IA. Identical environmental and patient isolates allowed our hypothesis to be confirmed and a very precise incubation time to be estimated...

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..In 36% of cases, catheters were implanted by physicians other than anaesthetists or surgeons, and 50% were inserted by junior staff...

..We analyzed the incidence, clinical presentation, outcome and risk factors, including HGG, of CDAD after HT...

..Tolerance has been excellent. Heart transplant recipients are at a substantial risk of PCP pneumonia, which presents with an abrupt onset and a high mortality. Weekend TMP/SMX chemoprophylaxis was very effective at our institution...

..The present paper describes the Gram-negative organisms recovered from the blood cultures and discusses their clinical significance...

..They should also be considered in patients with a colonisation index >0.5 or a corrected colonization index >0.4 or when the isolate is identified as Candida tropicalis...

..Ten percent of HT patients developed lung nodules that were mainly caused by Aspergillus, Nocardia, and CMV. The time of appearance and some clinical manifestations may suggest the etiology and may help in the empirical treatment...

..This fungi is resistant to fluconazole and amphotericin B. The infection was refractory to itraconazole, but responded successfully to voriconazole. A review of the literature is provided...

..The incidence of lymphocele after renal transplantation varies, and its treatment is still controversial. Management options are discussed...

..3%. Because of its poor sensitivity and PPV, valve cultures should not be performed for patients without a clinical suspicion of IE. For patients with confirmed IE, heart valve cultures should be interpreted with caution...

..Saccharomyces cerevisiae is well known in the baking and brewing industry and is also used as a probiotic in humans. However, it is a very uncommon cause of infection in humans...

..We review the currently available Center for Disease Control recommendations and report our own experiences in the field. The indications and problems of fungal environmental and patient surveillance are also discussed...

..To define the incidence, risk factors, and characteristics of bloodstream infections (BSIs) after invasive nonsurgical cardiologic procedures (ICPs)...

..The use of inhaled L-AmB has shown promising results for use as antifungal prophylaxis in high-risk patients...

..8-19.2; P=0.04) and diabetes mellitus (RR: 5.9; 95% CI: 1.8-19.2; P=0.003). Nasal carriage of S. aureus significantly increases the rate of nosocomial SSI after MHS and decolonisation strategies should be implemented in this population...

..In our experience, fluconazole remains a safe option for the treatment of most C. albicans fungemias, although surveillance seems advisable...

..Candida krusei fungaemia is an uncommon entity described in immunocompromised patients previously exposed to azole agents...

..Solid organ transplant recipients are a population at risk of invasive aspergillosis. The lung and the central nervous system are usually affected...

..Incidence in the group <24 months of age increased from 7.4 to 78.6 episodes per 100,000 per year (P < 0.001). Overall 75% of the serogroups are included in the new heptavalent vaccine...

..Although antifungal prophylaxis in high-risk liver transplant recipients (LTR) seems to be clearly justified, the efficacy of universal prophylaxis (UP) including low-risk patients is controversial...

..Recurrence of E. coli BSI is not an uncommon phenomenon and includes relapses (47%) and reinfections (53%). Recurrence should suggest not only the presence of urinary or biliary obstruction, but also the presence of immunosuppression...

..Conventional HV cultures are frequently responsible for false-positive and false-negative results, and are not always useful to establish the etiology of IE...

..908, 95% confidence interval 0.83-0.99; P=0.04). This work is retrospective and addresses a very particular population, but it is the first to suggest the potential impact of linezolid against CDI...

..Current advances in transplantation practices may influence the development of cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease after renal transplantation...

..Urine culture can be negative and treatment should include long-term systemic anti-fungal therapy and, in most cases, prostatectomy...

..In conclusion, the use of broad-spectrum antifungal agents is not justified in ICUs with a low proportion of candidemia episodes caused by fluconazole-resistant strains of Candida...

..We describe episodes of mixed fungemia (MF), detected between 1985 and 2006, in a large teaching hospital...

..There is scarce information regarding the role of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the development of infectious complications after kidney transplantation (KT)...

..This is the 1st R. equi infection to be cured with linezolid in a heart transplant recipient...

..Our study aims were to determine the incidence of herpes simplex virus (HSV) in the lower respiratory tract (LRT) secretions in patients with bacterial VAP and to assess its potential clinical relevance...

..08). We conclude that the higher yield of blood cultures inoculated with lower volumes of blood reflects the conditions of the population cultured. Washington's dictum holds true today in the era of automated blood culture machines...

..Gram-positive pathogens have overtaken other etiologic agents of BSI. Our observation shows the remarkable escalation of some resistant pathogens, and the rise and relative fall of BSI in patients with HIV...

..Recipient serostatus was the most important risk factor. The rate of BKV replication and nephropathy among pediatric kidney recipients is similar to that of adults, but the incidence of graft loss is significantly lower...

..The objective of this study was to compare the yield of 3 microbiological procedures to assess CR-BSI without catheter withdrawal...

..Heart transplant (HT) recipients are prone to life-threatening infections, including bloodstream infection (BSI), but information on this topic is particularly scarce...

..To describe postdischarge survival rates and late complications in non-intravenous drug users (non-IVDUs) after treatment of infective endocarditis (IE)...

..Campylobacter bacteremia has an extraintestinal origin in as many as 31% of cases, and humoral immunodeficiency must be sought in patients with recurrent episodes. Quinolones should not be considered for empirical therapy...

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..Prolonged courses of antimicrobial agents can be curative, but liver transplantation is also an option to consider...

..Anaerobically incubated blood samples are also necessary in the pediatric population...

..5 mg/L. However, previous reports included patients treated without adjustments based on vancomycin serum levels and with different methods to evaluate MICs, which may render different results...

..In conclusion, FQ-SID does not reduce the incidence of EBIs in LTRs and could be withheld from this group of patients...

..We evaluated whether skin insertion site and catheter hub surveillance cultures ("surface cultures") could predict catheter colonization and help establish the origin of bloodstream infections...

..The impact of how positive blood culture results are reported on the evolution bloodstream infections (BSIs) has not been assessed...

..Post-surgical invasive aspergillosis (PSIA) is an unusual and underestimated complication of surgery. It may occur after colonization of surgical sites by airborne Aspergillus conidia during surgery, or in the immediate postoperative...

..Major heart surgery (MHS) patients are a particularly high-risk population for nosocomial infections. Our objective was to identify risk factors for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients undergoing MHS...

..Specific recommendations on the prevention of fungal infections in these patients are included...

..Extra coverage for Gram-negative bacilli should be administered in severely ill or immunocompromised patients. Once culture and sensitivity results are known, antibiotic therapy can be more selective...

..Larger studies of nocardiosis are required to better identify risk factors associated with mortality, and alternative and more effective methods of prevention must be developed...

..We compared conventional and continuous aspiration of subglottic secretions (CASS) procedures in ventilated patients after major heart surgery (MHS)...

..To assess the influence of antifungal therapy on the outcome of non-candidemic adult patients with central vascular catheter (CVC) tips colonized by Candida species...

..Our aim was to determine the incidence, aetiology, risk factors and outcome of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients who have undergone MHS in Europe...

..15%/100%, and 93.55%/92.86% (p=0.001 and p<0.001), respectively. The determination of galactomannan in the sera of non-neutropenic patients could prove to be a useful microbiological finding when diagnosing invasive aspergillosis...

..The case was diagnosed using broad-range PCR and confirmed by specific PCRs. We review the cases of infective endocarditis presenting as the only manifestation of Whipple's disease reported in the literature...

..To study the predictive role of systematic surveillance cultures...

..One of the members of the group discussed the content of each of the selected papers, with a critical appraisal by other members of the panel...

..Candidemia in ICUs is associated with a considerable increase in hospital costs and length of hospital stay...

..Less than 8% of the patients who harbored zygomycete isolates had zygomycosis. The incidence of zygomycosis (6 cases) was 0.43 cases/1,000,000 inhabitants and 0.62 cases/100,000 hospital admissions...

..Demolition work was associated with a significant increase in the fungal colony counts of hospital external and non-protected internal air. Effective protective measures may be taken to avoid the emergence of clinical infections...

..Multivariate analysis showed that CLAVE use was an independent protective factor for tip colonization. CLAVE offered significant protection from catheter-tip and hub colonization...

..We present a review of the literature and report a case of pacemaker infection due to Mycobacterium fortuitum rapidly detected by universal 16S rRNA gene polymerase chain reaction and sequencing...

..The aim of this prospective, multicenter, noncomparative, open-label trial was to evaluate the prophylactic use of caspofungin in adult liver transplant recipients at high risk of developing invasive fungal infections (IFI)...

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..4% of coagulase-negative staphylococcus isolates. Of 37 Gram-negative isolates, 35% were resistant to cefotaxime, 31% to ceftazidime, and 27% to ciprofloxacin. Imipenem and cefepime had the lowest reported rates of resistance (11%)...

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..Until the late 1970s, invasive infections caused by Haemophilus species were thought to occur mainly in children and only infrequently in adults...

..To estimate the incidence of nosocomially acquired urinary tract infections (NAUTI) in Europe and provide information on the clinical characteristics, underlying conditions, etiology, management and outcome of patients...

..7; 95% CI, 4.9--820.7; p<0.001). Adequate empirical therapy was an independent protective factor (OR, 0.05; 95% CI, 0.04--0.58; p<0.005), but the use of more than one antimicrobial agent was not...

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..New diagnostic and therapeutic techniques may avoid the unnecessary withdrawal of thousands of efficient, difficult to replace and expensive intravascular lines...

..New diagnostic and therapeutic techniques may avoid the unnecessary withdrawal of thousands of efficient, difficult to replace and expensive intravascular lines...

..MHS ICUs in Europe still have a high rate of postoperative infections. Well-recognized routine practices for the diagnosis and treatment of VAP are not implemented regularly in many European institutions...

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..To obtain information on the microbiology workload, etiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of urinary tract infection (UTI) pathogens isolated in European hospitals...

..Even if our survey was limited to five cases, the results suggest that addition of IVIG to antiviral chemotherapy might improve outcome in heart-transplanted patients with hypogammaglobulinemia and CMV disease...

..A simple score based on five easily available parameters may be of help to microbiologists and clinicians to predict the risk of IA...

..06, CI = 0.0060 to 0.63, P = .01]. The use of nonspecific IVIG in OHT with hypogammaglobulinemia and infections might reduce the risk of death. Randomized studies in a larger cohort of patients are necessary to confirm these results...

..This article examines an approach that considers different syndromes, followed by an etiologically oriented differential diagnosis...

..21; CI 1.04-89.48; P=0.022) were associated with an increase in the risk for developing infections. Early monitoring of immunoglobulin levels might help to identify the risk for developing infection in heart transplantation...

..Monitoring of immunoglobulin levels, a rapid and well-standardized nephelometric determination, in heart transplantation, may identify a subset of patients at risk for development of infections...

..Prognosis is poor unless patients recover from neutropenia. Voriconazole has good in-vitro activity and is currently the drug of choice for these infections...

..Our study evaluates the clinical and financial impact of performing rapid antimicrobial susceptibility tests directly on samples obtained from the lower respiratory tract...

..It is estimated that at least 50% of them will suffer a severe infectious episode during the course of the disease. Improvements in the control of the disease are discussed in this article...