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Musher and colleagues in Houston examined the usefulness of examination of Gram-stained sputum specimens and of sputum culture for the diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia. They included all 105 patients with bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia seen over 6 years at their VA hospital, and examined the results of the first sputum specimen submitted to the laboratory.
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A patient with a disease resembling anthrax led to the identification of anthrax-like virulence factors in an isolate of Bacillus cereus.
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The FDA has approved Telithromycin, the first Ketolide antibiotic. Ketolides are semisynthetic derivatives of the macrolide erythromycin that have activity against a wide spectrum of respiratory bacterial pathogens including multi-drug resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. Telithromycin, which is a once-a-day oral tablet, is marketed by Aventis as Ketek.
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Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is nosocomial pneumonia occurring in a mechanically ventilated patient > 48 hours after intubation. It is categorized as early-onset (defined by most experts as 48-96 hours after intubation) and late-onset (> 2-96 hours after intubation): these differ with respect to responsible bacterial agents as well as outcomes.
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An outbreak of food poisoning by Yersinia pseudotuberculosis<?I> in Finland in October/November1998 involved 46 cases and was traced to locally grown iceberg lettuce.
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A carbapenem (most often imipenem) was found in a prospective observational study to be the optimal choice for therapy of bacteremia due to ESBL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae.
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A laboratory report indicating susceptibility of MRSA to vancomycin does not guarantee successful therapy with this antibiotic since a significant risk for failure may be present despite MICs within the range considered susceptible.
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Molecular techniques provide a more rapid and accurate method of Nocardia species identification than do classical microbiologic methods. A surprise: of 94 isolates, the most commonly identified species was Nocardia cyriacigeorgica and none were Nocardia asteroides.
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The E. coli geneticists are working on ways to facilitate rapid diagnosis, and in time, to purge eae positive strains from bovine reservoirs.