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Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria represent a serious threat to global public health. Recently, due to its increased resistance to carbapenems and β-lactams, Klebsiella pneumoniae has become one of the main causes of septicemia, pneumonia, and urinary tract infections. It is crucial to take immediate action and implement effective measures to prevent further spread of this issue. This study aims to report the prevalence and antibiotic resistance rates of K. pneumoniae strains isolated from clinical specimens from 2015 to 2020 at the University Hospital of Salerno, Italy. More than 3,800 isolates were collected from urine cultures, blood cultures, respiratory samples, and others. K. pneumoniae isolates showed broad resistance to penicillin and cephalosporins, and increased susceptibility to fosfomycin and gentamicin. Extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) isolates accounted for 20–22%. A high percentage of strains tested were resistant to carbapenems, with an average of 40% to meropenem and 44% to ertapenem. The production of ESBLs and resistance to carbapenems is one of the major public health problems. Constant monitoring of drug-resistant isolates is crucial for developing practical approaches in implementing antimicrobial therapy and reducing the spread of K. pneumoniae in nosocomial environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a very widespread infection that can occur in disparate age range, in both sexes and in pregnancy/menopause state. Treatment of UTIs is difficult due to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. The present study shows five years of data collected on patients admitted at the University Hospital "San Giovann di Dio e Ruggi d'Aragona" in Salerno, Italy. The investigation exhibits the incidence of the infection, of the gender, and of the age group affected, identifying the most representative bacteria involved, drawing their profile of antimicrobial resistance. Bacterial identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing were performed using the VITEK 2 system. Among the 46382 studied patients, 9896 (21.34%) and 36486 (78.66%) were positive and negative for microorganism growth, respectively. Of 9896 positive patients, 6158 (62.23%) females and 3738 (37.77%) males were identified. The highest incidence of positive subjects (56.66%) was recorded in the elderly (>61 years). 8431 (85.20%) uropathogens were Gram-negative, 1367 (13.81%) were Gram-positive, and 98 (0.99%) were Candida species (Candida spp.). Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) were the most representative Gram-negative and Gram-positive strains, respectively. The Gram-negative bacteria most representative were highly resistant to ampicillin, whereas among the Gram-positive bacteria, E. faecalis was highly resistant to gentamicin and streptomycin high level synergy, and Enterococcus faecium (E. faecium) to ampicillin, ampicillin/sulbactam, and imipenem. This retrospective work investigates the local epidemiological trend in our university hospital in order to induce an increasingly targeted empirical therapeutic approach for the treatment of UTIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aerobic vaginitis (AV) is a vaginal infectious condition, characterized by a high inflammatory response and/or signs of epithelial atrophy, a decrease in the amount of Lactobacillus spp. and an increase in enteric origin bacteria. AV, often misdiagnosed, is difficult to treat due to the emerging spread of multi-drug resistant bacterial strains. The present study aimed to define the prevalence of AV, to detect causative bacteria and their antimicrobial resistance pattern. Women 10–95 years old, admitted to San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi d'Aragona Hospital, Salerno, Italy (in the years 2015–2019) are included in the study. Bacterial identification and antibiotic susceptibility tests were carried out by VITEK® 2. Among 2069 patients, 1176 tested positive for microbial growth. A higher incidence of infection was found in the 55–64 age group. Among the pathogenic strains, 50.4% were Gram-negative, and 49.6% were Gram-positive. Escherichia coli (E. coli) (32.5%) was the most representative strain, followed by Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) (29.4%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) (7.8%) and Enterococcus faecium (E. faecium) (7.7%). E. coli showed high sensitivity to carbapenems and amikacin. K. pneumoniae carbapenems resistance was fluctuating over time. Alarming resistance to vancomycin was not recorded for Enterococci. Both strains were sensitive to teicoplanin, linezolid and tigecycline. Proper diagnosis and an effective therapeutic approach are needed to improve AV management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the current study was to determine the phenolic composition, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities in grape cane extracts from typical cultivars of Southern Italy. Aqueous extracts at different pHs (1–13) were prepared from "Aglianico", "Fiano", and "Greco" grape canes. The results demonstrated that an alkaline pH (13.00) produced the best polyphenol-rich extracts, as the total phenolic content was more than double when compared to the respective extracts prepared at pH 1.00. "Greco" grape canes gave the highest quantity of phenolic compounds at each pH, ranging from 42.7 ± 0.4 to 104.3 ± 3.0 mg Gallic Acid Equivalents (GAE)/g Dry Extract (DE) from pH 1.00 to 13.00. The Radical Scavenging Activity (RSA) and the Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) were measured. The highest antioxidant activity was showed by "Greco" extract at pH 7.00. Seventy-five compounds were identified in the extracts by HPLC-MS with six of them described for the first time in grape canes. Procyanidins were highly abundant in extracts at pH 7.00, whereas stilbenoids were the most represented compounds at pH 13.00. Very strong antiviral activity against herpes simplex viruses was recorded for the extracts at pH 7.00 and 13.00 that were active in the early stages of infection by acting directly against the viral particles. The overall results suggest that grape canes, currently underutilized, can be usefully valorised by providing active extracts to use as antioxidant and antiviral agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The objective of this work was to provide an update information on HPV age/genotype distribution by retrospectively analyzing a cohort of women living in the metropolitan area of Naples., Methods: From January 2011 to December 2017, cervical scrape specimens from 1265 women, with abnormal cytological indication, were tested for HPV DNA. The presence and the viral genotypes were assessed by the Linear Array HPV genotyping test for the detection of 37 anogenital HPV-DNA genotypes., Results: The overall prevalence of HPV infections was of 44.5% (95% CI 41.77-47.24). Among HR-HPV types, HPV-16 was the most common identified genotype, followed by HPV-31, -66, -59 and -51. As concern LR-HPV, HPV-53 resulted the most prevalent. Stratifying the study population by age, the total HPV infections showed a peak in younger women aged <23 years (58.5%), with a significative decrease by age (23-29 years, 54%; ≥ 30 years, 38.2%) (p < 0.001)., Conclusion: We provided an HPV epidemiological analysis, highlighting the need to implement vaccination programmes and preventative screening strategies., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)