Pharmacy personnel opinions of selected decentralized activities.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M T Kelly.
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Microbiology instruments can provide rapid and accurate identification of gram-negative bacilli. The three instruments currently in widespread use vary in accuracy of identification, types of organisms identified, speed of identification, cost, and degree of automation. If matched to the needs of individual laboratories, microbiology instruments can enhance the quality and efficiency of bacterial identification.
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Isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus obtained during a nosocomial outbreak were analyzed by phage typing, plasmid mapping, and antibiotic susceptibility patterns for epidemiologic markers. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns were of limited use epidemiologically because of multiple resistance and similarity of the strains. Phage typing demonstrated that the outbreak consisted of multiple introductions of MRSA organisms into the hospital from the community and from other hospitals, and of circulation of one predominant phage type, 6/47/54/81. Plasmid mapping further subdivided the organisms of this phage type into two different groups, one of which carried two particular plasmids. Organisms carrying these plasmids were significantly more resistant to methicillin and cephalosporins and were isolated from patients who had received prior antibiotic treatment.
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This study presents an evaluation of a commercial system for the MIC testing of single drugs dehydrated in disposable plastic trays (Precept, Austin Biological Laboratories, Inc., Austin, Tex.). The commercial system was compared with a reference agar dilution method, and 203 clinical bacterial isolates were tested by each method. For a total of 767 determinations, there was 94.2% agreement between the two methods, and of the discrepancies encountered, 0.8% were very major, 2.1% were major, and 2.9% were minor. The results suggest that the Precept system may provide a practical and reliable method for MIC determinations of individual antimicrobial agents.
The Autobac IDX system (General Diagnostics, Warner-Lambert Co., Morris Plains, N.J.) for rapid, semiautomated identification of gram-negative bacilli was compared with the identification methods in routine use in four laboratories. The study included 1,515 organisms representing 30 species of enteric and nonenteric bacteria. Discrepancies between the results of the IDX system and routine methods were resolved by classical biochemical testing at a reference center. Overall, 98% of the organisms were correctly identified by the routine methods, and 93% were correctly identified by the IDX systems. After adjustment for frequency of clinical occurrence of the organisms tested, the IDX system performed with 95% accuracy. Results with the IDX system were available in 3 to 6 h. Results with the comparative methods were available in 4 to 48 h. A wide variety of organisms, including oxidase positive, oxidase negative, fermentative, and nonfermentative, were identified by a single system by using Autobac. Three or more systems were required to identify the 30 species by the comparative methods. Overall, the results indicate the Autobac IDX system is useful for the rapid identification of enteric and nonfermentative gram-negative bacilli.
Vibrio vulnificus most frequently causes wound infections contracted after exposure to seawater or primary septicemias resulting from the consumption of raw oysters. We report a case of endometritis caused by V. vulnificus. The infection was apparently acquired during the act of sexual intercourse in seawater in an area in which V. vulnificus has been frequently isolated. The efficacy of treatment with an antimicrobial regimen which included tetracycline is discussed.
A commercially available lysis-centrifugation blood culture system was compared with a two-bottle broth-culture system employing 100 mL of broth and 10 mL of blood per bottle to analyze 1,913 blood specimens. Of 154 clinically significant isolates, 89% were detected by the lysis-centrifugation technique, and 73% were detected by the broth-culture method. Twenty-seven percent of the organisms were detected only by the lysis-centrifugation technique, and 11% were detected only by the broth system. Fifteen polymicrobial cultures were encountered; the lysis-centrifugation technique detected 93% of the organisms in these cultures, while the broth-culture method detected only 20%. Isolated colonies of clinically important organisms were available 30 hours earlier with the lysis-centrifugation technique. These results suggest that the lysis-centrifugation technique may provide a substantial improvement over conventional methods for blood cultures.
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A pericardial effusion was diagnosed by echocardiography in a 49 year old man who suffered acute cough, orthopnea, and chest pain. Because of a positive tuberculin skin test, mycobacteria were initially suspected as the cause of the pericarditis. The patient was therefore treated with antituberculosis drugs. The pericardial effusion failed to resolve, however, and pericardiectomy was performed. Culture of the pericardial fluid yielded pure Fusobacterium nucleatum growth. The patient responded to antibiotic therapy and was in good health 3 weeks after being discharged from the hospital. This represents the first report of F. nucleatum pericarditis.
Cerebrospinal fluid specimens from patients with suspected meningitis were screened with the Phadebact Haemophilus Test (Pharmacia Diagnostics), with Bactogen (Wampole Laboratories), and by counterimmunoelectrophoresis. With culture-positive fluids, Phadebact coagglutination detected 95%, Bactogen latex agglutination detected 91%, and counterimmunoelectrophoresis detected only 79%. Both agglutination techniques were 25-fold more sensitive than counterimmunoelectrophoresis when tested with dilutions of positive fluids. To obtain specific reactions with the Phadebact reagents it was necessary to heat treat (95 degrees C, 5 min) the fluid; with Bactogen and counterimmunoelectrophoresis this was not necessary.
An in-use evaluation of a commercially available lysis-centrifugation blood culture system (Isolator; Du Pont Co., Wilmington, Del.) is presented. The Isolator was compared with biphasic bottles containing Trypticase soy broth and agar for the detection of organisms in 3,129 paired blood samples. Of 272 potential pathogens recovered, 78% were detected by the Isolator system, and 69% were detected by the biphasic bottle. A total of 31% of these organisms were detected only by the Isolator, and 22% were detected only by the biphasic bottle. The Isolator demonstrated enhanced detection of facultative gram-negative bacilli, anaerobic bacteria, and polymicrobial cultures. The biphasic bottle was more effective for the recovery of facultative gram-positive cocci, especially Streptococcus pneumoniae. The two systems were equally effective for the recovery of yeasts. Contamination rates were 3% for the Isolator and 3.2% for the biphasic bottle. The results indicate that the Isolator system performs well in routine clinical use, but it should be complemented by another method to obtain optimal detection of bacteremia. The biphasic bottle provides an acceptable complementary system both in terms of utility and performance.
A significant prevalence of leprosy has been demonstrated in wild Louisiana armadillos. The Texas Gulf Coast still has endemic human leprosy, and recent mores in Texas have markedly increased armadillo-human contact. Armadillos were screened by physical examination, and by ear-snip and slit-scrape technique. Animals that screened "positive" were sacrificed and necropsied under aseptic conditions. Liver, spleen, gross lesions, and four groups of lymph nodes were cultured for mycobacteria and were studied histologically. Base ratios and DNA homology with Mycobacterium leprae were determined on mycobacteria from two armadillos (and two tissues from one of these); these studies indicate that the organism found in Texas armadillos is M leprae. Twenty-one of the armadillos were leprous--4.66%. The local prevalence varied from 1.0% to 15.4%. Epidemiologic implications of these findings and the occurrence of other concomitant mycobacterial infections are discussed.
Cholera is being increasingly recognized in the Gulf Coast region. This report describes two cholera cases of classic clinical presentation. Both cases were caused by toxigenic Vibrio cholerae, one of an 01 serotype and one of a non-01 serotype. Vibrio cholerae was also isolated from the home environments of both patients. These findings indicate that cholera continues to be detected on the Gulf Coast, that non-01 V cholerae infections may be clinically indistinguishable from V cholerae 01 infections, and that both 01 and non-01 V cholerae strains are capable of survival in Gulf Coast environments.
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Twenty-five isolates of Campylobacter fetus subsp. jejuni were tested by broth microdilution panels (Sensititre; GIBCO Diagnostics, Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were compared with the corresponding MICs obtained by the standard agar dilution technique. Microdilution panels designed for testing gram-positive organisms were used so that erythromycin, the antibiotic of choice for this organism, could be included. The correlation with agar dilution was relatively poor when Mueller-Hinton broth was used; the MICs that were within one twofold dilution of the corresponding agar dilution MIC ranged from 15% with tetracycline to 75% with ampicillin. The overall agreement for all antibiotics tested was 48%. The correlation improved significantly, however, to an overall agreement of 87% when Wilkins-Chalgren broth was substituted in the broth microdilution procedure. Our results indicate that the broth microdilution test is an accurate method for testing this organism, provided than an appropriate medium is used.