European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases

PURPOSE: COVID-19 and influenza infections have similar modes of transmission and clinical symptoms but have different prognoses and treatment methods; therefore, it is important to make a final diagnosis. Herein, we aimed to compare the demographic, clinical, and laboratory differences in hospitalized pediatric patients with COVID-19 and influenza. METHODS: This retrospective study comprised patients with COVID-19 managed between March 2020 to February 2022, and patients with influenza managed between December 2017 to February 2022, at a tertiary care hospital...

Previous reports focusing on cefiderocol susceptibility against Stenotrophomonas maltophilia have included a large number of noninvasive or colonized isolates, and data focusing on invasive S. maltophilia strains are still lacking. We retrospectively investigated the cefiderocol susceptibility of stored S. maltophilia strains that caused bacteremia at two Japanese hospitals. The MIC50 and MIC90 were 0.06 μg/mL and 0.25 μg/mL, respectively, while the susceptibility rate was 99.3% (current CLSI breakpoint criteria)...

INTRODUCTION: Understanding the dynamics that may characterize the emergence of KPC variants with resistance to novel β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combinations (βL/βLICs) represents a challenge to be overcome in the appropriate use of recently introduced antibiotics. METHODS: Retrospective case series describing development of multiple resistance to novel βL/βLICs in patients with KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPC-Kp) infections treated with these drugs...

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis (LB) relies on clinical symptoms and detection of Borrelia-specific antibodies. Guidelines recommend a two-tier testing (TTT) strategy for disseminated LB: serological screening with a sensitive enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and confirmation with a specific immunoblot. Searching for the most sensitive and specific approach, this retrospective study evaluated standard (STTT) and modified (MTTT) strategies using a well-defined study population. METHODS: Cases included patients with active Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB; n = 29) or Lyme arthritis (LA; n = 17)...

OXA-244-producing Escherichia coli (OXA-244-Ec) has disseminated in Europe, mostly in the community. In Poland it has spread since 2017, especially in 2023, but in contrast to other countries, all isolates have been identified in hospitals so far. The isolates (n = 101) represented one large and two limited outbreaks in different regions, and multiple epidemiologically and genetically non-related organisms. The OXA-244-Ec population consisted of 14 STs, with ST38 dominating. The ST38 isolates belonged to two major lineages, Clusters A and B, responsible for two of the hospital outbreaks...

PURPOSE: Chronic wounds caused by infections impose a considerable global healthcare burden. The microbial features of these infections and possible correlations between bacteria and fungi may influence wound healing. However, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) analyses of these features remain sparse. Therefore, we performed mNGS on chronic wound infection samples to investigate features and correlations between the bacteriome and mycobiome in 66 patients (28: chronic wounds; 38: non-chronic wounds)...

BACKGROUND: Diagnostic methods for native vertebral osteomyelitis (NVO) often yield inconclusive results. Image-guided spine biopsies for culture are specific but diagnose NVO in only 50% of cases. Pre-exposure to antimicrobials further reduces diagnostic yield. Our study assesses the value of neutrophil percentage in disc space fluid and vertebral body (DS/VB) samples for diagnosing NVO. METHODS: Adults referred for spine biopsy at Mayo Clinic from August 2022 to September 2023 were consented and enrolled at the time of biopsy...

PURPOSE: Klebsiella pneumoniae is a significant cause of healthcare-associated infections, resulting in high morbidity and mortality rates due to limited treatment options. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the treatment outcomes and the safety of Ceftazidime-avibactam in infections caused by extensively drug-resistant or pandrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in pediatric patients. METHODS: This study included pediatric patients who received ceftazidime-avibactam treatment due to extensively drug-resistant or pandrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae infections, monitored in the pediatric intensive care, neonatal intensive care, and pediatric wards of Cukurova University Faculty of Medicine between 2022 and 2023...

PURPOSE: To investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of pertussis in children and close contacts. METHODS: Nasopharyngeal swabs and blood samples of clinically suspected children with pertussis and their close contacts from 2018 to 2022 were collected for pathogen detection of Bordetella pertussis. Questionnaires were designed to investigate the basic information and infection status of pertussis children cases and their close contacts. Descriptive epidemiological analysis was performed on the results...

PURPOSE: In November 2023, the National Reference Laboratory for Enteroviruses (Budapest, Hungary) received stool, pharyngeal swab and cerebrospinal fluid samples from five newborns suspected of having human parechovirus (PEV-A) infection. The neonates were born in the same hospital and presented with fever and sepsis-like symptoms at 8-9 days of age, and three of them showed symptoms consistent with central nervous system involvement. PEV-A positivity was confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction...

PURPOSE: This study describes a pseudo-outbreak of Bacillaceae spp. bloodstream infections that spanned five months starting in May 2023 and the infection prevention measures implemented to control it. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary infectious disease hospital in Bucharest, Romania. An observational audit of the blood culture collection practice in our hospital was performed, and the materials used during blood culture collection were sampled...

BACKGROUND: Limited information exists on carriage of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) by health workers (HWs) in primary care settings. This study aims to determine the prevalence of MDRO carriage among HWs in primary care and to identify associated risk factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted across all 12 primary care units in São Caetano do Sul-SP, Brazil, from October to December 2023. Self-collected samples (nasal, oropharyngeal, and inguinal) were obtained...

PURPOSE: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) tools have clinical advantages over blood culture but are more expensive. This study assesses the budget impact and break-even point of NGS testing costs from a healthcare provider's perspective in Germany. METHODS: The budget impact was calculated based on aggregated data of German post-operative surgery cases. Simulated cost savings were calculated based on a simulated reduction in hospital length of stay (LOS) of four or eight days with a positivity rate of 71% and compared to the costs of one (scenario A) or two tests (scenario B) per case...

Immunocompromised patients are prone to recurrent Campylobacter infections. We report a case of recurrent multi-drug resistant Campylobactor jejuni bloodstream infections in a Bruton's X-linked agammaglobulinemia patient with prolonged ertapenem treatment. The isolate from the fifth recurrence developed carbapenem resistance, which is associated with mutations in a porin gene porA, and promoter changes and duplication of chromosomal blaOXA-61 gene. Combination therapy using cefepime and doxycycline (later switched to moxifloxacin) cleared the infection...

PURPOSE: The diagnosis of pulmonary cryptococcosis (PC) remains challenging, particularly in patients presenting with lobar or patchy consolidation on chest radiographs. Biopsies are sometimes performed for histopathologic examination and microbiological culture to differentiate infections, including PC, from lung cancers. However, to date, the clinical value of small biopsy samples and their reasonable processing methods for detecting Cryptococcus are rarely evaluated. Furthermore, the cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) test has been widely used in cryptococcosis diagnosis due to its high specificity...

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to analyze treatment outcomes and their predictors in children hospitalized due to varicella complicated by bacterial superinfections after pandemic of COVID-19. METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed data collected in a multicenter, nationwide, observational database dedicated for children aged 0-17 years hospitalized due to bacterial complications of varicella in 9 Polish tertiary healthcare inpatient centers. The primary endpoint of this study was the treatment outcome established after the end of hospital management assessed at a 4-point scale...

PURPOSE: Non-optimal vaginal microbiota lacking lactobacilli and comprising a wide array of anaerobic bacteria, typified by community state type (CST) IV, have been associated with adverse gynecological and pregnancy outcomes. Here, we investigate the stability of the vaginal microbiota sampled every 6 months over 18 months and how samples distantly collected combined with exposures could provide insight on future microbiota compositional changes. METHODS: Vaginal microbiota dynamics were analyzed in 241 female students aged 18-24 years and negative for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae...

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is challenging to treat due to the presence of multiple intrinsic and acquired resistance mechanisms. TMP-SMZ is the standard care of therapy for treating S. maltophilia infections; levofloxavin and minocycline are the preferred potential alternatives. Recently, in 2024, CLSI has lowered the susceptibility breakpoints for minocycline against S. maltophilia. Applying the revised minocycline's susceptibility breakpoint of ≤ 1 mg/L, susceptibility to minocycline dropped significantly from 77% (previous breakpoint, ≤ 4 mg/L) to 35% (revised breakpoint of ≤ 1 mg/L)...

PURPOSE: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic changed the dynamics of other community-acquired respiratory viruses (CARVs), however, information regarding the frequency of CARV detection during COVID-19 pandemic in subtropical regions is limited. Additionally, studies comparing the diagnostic accuracy between multiplex and monoplex PCR for the diagnosis of COVID-19 are scarce. METHODS: We evaluated samples collected from patients suspected of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in Okinawa, a subtropical climate in Japan, from March 2020 to March 2021...

PURPOSE: We aimed to determine the changes in the frequency of respiratory pathogens and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during containment of the 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic and elucidate the epidemiological interference that may have occurred after lifting pandemic measures. METHODS: A total of 4,770 Nasopharyngeal swab samples were collected from children with ARTIs from the First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province between January 2022 and December 2023 and subjected to nucleic acid testing for 13 types of respiratory pathogens and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)...