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Copyright of Rehabilitation / Rehabilitacija is the property of University Rehabilitation Institute, Republic of Slovenia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Acinetobacter baumannii primarily causes colonization, yet it can be an opportunistic pathogen associated with hospital-acquired infections. Many countries report rapid spread of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAb) which limits treatment options, with colistin frequently being the last line treatment option. The aim of our study was to evaluate a recently developed rapid method, namely the Rapid ResaPolymyxin test, for detection of colistin resistance (ColR) in Acinetobacter baumannii. This test was used for rapid screening of colistin resistance in a clinical setting where there is endemicity of CRAb isolates. A total of 82 A. baumannii clinical isolates were included in the evaluation. The majority of them were resistant to carbapenems (75/82, 91.5%). A total of 37 isolates (45.1%) were resistant to colistin, all being resistant to carbapenems. None of the ColR isolates carried the plasmid-mediated mcr-1 to -5 genes. The Rapid ResaPolymyxin NP test reached a 95.1% categorical agreement with results of reference broth microdilution method, with 93.3% sensitivity and specificity, and positive and negative predictive values being respectively at 92.3% and 97.7%. The Rapid ResaPolymyxin NP test performed well on our collection of clinical and surveillance CRAb isolates from the Central Slovenia region. The test is inexpensive and easy to integrate into laboratory workflow. The main value of the test is rapid categorization of susceptibility and resistance which has important implications with respect to the treatment strategy as well as the infection control measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on how neutrophil CD64 molecule expression can predict bloodstream infection in septic shock patients. Topics discussed include neutrophil CD64 expression; culture diagnosis of bacterial infection; and benefit from 16S rRNA gene PCR to improve bloodstream infection's pathogen detection.

Infectious spondylodiscitis is diagnosed with increasing frequency. It is most commonly caused by Staphylococcus aureus. The aim of the present study was to determine clinical differences between S. aureus and non-S. aureus spondylodiscitis and, by using spa typing, to determine whether certain clones of S. aureus predominate. During the y 2002–2006, 70 patients (45 male, 25 female) were diagnosed with spondylodiscitis and treated at the Department of Infectious Diseases, University Medical Centre Ljubljana. The age range was 13–95 y (mean age 63.4 y). Cultures were positive in 59 (85%) patients; S. aureus was isolated from blood and/or vertebral disc in 42 (60%) and other bacteria were isolated in 17 (25%). In patients with S. aureus spondylodiscitis, the infection was more likely to be haematogenous. These patients were more likely at risk for epidural abscess. Thirty S. aureus isolates from blood were typed with the spa typing molecular method. All of them were methicillin-susceptible. We identified 20 spa types. Seven spa types (t005, t015, t026, t091, t116, t449 and t474) were identified more than once, while 13 were sporadic. Among the sporadic spa types, 6 were newly identified in this study and introduced as new types into the spa server database. A heterogeneity of S. aureus isolates from spondylodiscitis was detected in this study. Thus no specific clone was identified that might be more likely to cause infection of the spine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]