Search

Acinetobacter baumannii is a Gram-negative saprophytic rod inhabiting both moist niches and dry surfaces. The wide spread of the microbe in the environment by means of minimal nutritional requirements and exceptional survival capabilities give the opportunities to occupy hospital niches, and thus to create threats for hospitalized patients. This bacterium may be a part of the human microbiota as an opportunistic pathogen which upon the host’s weakening, causes less or more serious diseases. A. baumannii is an etiological factor of ventilator-associated pneumonia, which is especially dangerous for patients in intensive care units (in Poland every fifth patient suffers from such infection). Due to the increasing multidrug resistance of A. baumannii, this bacterium belongs to the group of priority pathogens. Fighting such dangerous bacteria is difficult due to their natural resistance as well as acquired resistance mechanisms in response to environmental threats. The unique ability of A. baumannii to cause diseases and acquire resistance to numerous antibiotics, make it necessary to control and prevent these infections.

S. cerevisiae var. boulardii yeasts, historically recognized as a separate species, are now considered a subspecies of S. cerevisiae. Strains of S. cerevisiae var. boulardii are widely used for prevention and treatment of disorders of human digestive system. The use of preparations based on S. cerevisiae var. boulardii impacts the functioning of the intestinal barrier, which leads to a change in the composition of the digestive tract microbiota and alleviates intestinal epithelial defects. Despite the clinically confirmed probiotic properties of these unicellular microorganisms, the number of reports of infections in humans has been increasing. Population studies suggest that S. cerevisiae yeasts are responsible for 0.1–3.6% of all cases of mycoses in patients receiving therapy with probiotics containing S. cerevisiae var. boulardii. The presence of a central venous catheter, parenteral nutrition, immunosuppression and co-morbidities in patients are considered as factors predisposing for infection. This work summarizes the most important information on biology of S. cerevisiae var. boulardii and presents the latest epidemiological data on fungemia caused by these fungi.

It has been argued that due to the growing importance attributed to research impact and forms of its evaluation, an academic 'culture of impact' is emerging. It would include certain concepts, values, and skills related to the area of generating and documenting impact. We use thematic and discourse analysis to analyse open answers from 100 questionnaires on research impact submitted by ECRs working in the social sciences and humanities (SSH) in Europe. We explore ECR's early-career stage positions relative to societal impact and the trade-offs necessary to assure an academic career. The results show how, as the first generation of scholars to be socialized towards value of academic research beyond academia, ECRs are confronted with policy signals that encourage a drive for impact, which are at the same time often in line with respondents' personal values around impact beyond academia. However, ECRs face a number of competing signals about research value within the evaluation spaces necessary to navigate an academic career. Current evaluative structures often dismiss the achievement of societal impact favouring instead narrower definitions of research excellence. Career structures and organizational realities are often unfavourable to impact-related activity, which has implications for an ECRs' ability to develop coherent professional positionings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Bloodstream infections (BSI) and sepsis constitute an important clinical problem worldwide, with a high mortality rate. A fast and reliable determination of BSI etiology is necessary for administration of targeted antibiotic therapy and improvement in survival rates of patients with BSI. Aim: To present the possibilities for optimal laboratory diagnostics of BSI, in the aspect of epidemiology, available research methods and current diagnostic recommendations. Material and methods: A review of literature concerning recommendations in diagnosis and peer-reviewed publications using the following keywords 'bloodstream infection,' 'bacteremia,' 'epidemiology,' and 'diagnostics.' Results and discussion: Etiology of BSI depends on several factors, such as origin of microorganisms, the location of the primary source of infection, immunocompetence of the host, and possible contact of the patient with the healthcare. Blood culture has status of the 'gold standard,' which inables susceptibility testing of the isolated pathogen. Non-culture methods based on detection of microbial genetic material or proteins are increasingly used in laboratory diagnostics of BSI. They constitute the methods of choice in detection of uncultivable or difficult to culture microorganisms. New diagnostic solutions are urgently needed for rapid detection of multidrug-resistant strains of microorganisms. Conclusions: Blood culture remains the reference method in laboratory diagnostics of BSI, while molecular techniques available at present are a valuable addition to it. However, the clinical relevance of the results of molecular tests which do not correlate with clinical symptoms needs to be solved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Advancements of Microbiology is the property of Sciendo 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.)

Fungal corneal ulcers caused by Fusarium spp. are known as sight threatening infection with bad course. Fungus properties, diagnostic difficulties and limited therapeutic ways result in poor outcomes. Three of antimycotic drugs are effective against Fusarium spp.: natamycin, amphotericin B and voriconazole. Natamycin is the only drug approved by FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for treatment of corneal ulcers caused by Fusarium spp. Fungistatic work and limited ocular penetration of antimycotic drugs lead to therapeutic keratoplasty in cases with extremely bad course. Patient with recurrent infections and very advanced inflammation, require enucleation. Currently there is no gold standard way of therapy for Fusarium spp. corneal ulcers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most common etiological agent of aspergillosis in humans is Aspergillus fumigatus. There are several most common clinical forms of aspergillosis, such as pulmonary aspergillosis, rhinocerebral aspergillosis, invasive aspergillosis in patients with severe immunodeficiency, aspergilloma and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. Important risk factors for development of invasive fungal infections caused by Aspergillus spp. are: neutropaenia and/or lymphopaenia (particularly in transplant recipients), graft-versus-host disease, as well as high doses of steroids and immunosuppressive agents. Newly added high risk groups are patients undergoing intensive therapy, subjected to surgery, suffering from chronic lung diseases, patients with AIDS and recipients of immunomodulating agents (e.g. TNF-a inhibitors). Microscopic evaluation of the clinical samples enables not only rapid detection of fungi in the samples, but also their approximate quantity. The results of culture of the moulds are characterised by high specificity and it remains a „gold standard" in mycological diagnostics, however, they should always be correlated with the clinical status of the patient. High diagnostic value is ascribed to computer tomography in conjunction with histopathological examination of biopsy specimens. According to the ECIL-6 guidelines, recommendations of IDSA and ESCMID, as well as expert groups, in therapy of invasive aspergillosis the highest recommendations have been allocated to voriconazole and isavuconazole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]