The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the risk of inducing bacterial resistance to disinfection treatment with photolysis of H2O2 and comparing this with existing antibacterial agents. We tested seven antibacterial agents, including amoxicillin, cefepime hydrochloride, erythromycin, ofloxacin, clindamycin hydrochloride, ciprofloxacin hydrochloride, and minocycline hydrochloride, as p...

Derangement of the blood clotting system contributes strongly to multiple organ failure in severe sepsis. In this review, we examine two microbial modulators of the clotting system: polyphosphates and omptins. Polyphosphates are linear polymers of inorganic phosphate that are abundant in the acidocalcisomes of prokaryotes and unicellular organisms as well as in the dense granules of human plate...

to review what current knowledge exists on the impact of antimicrobial bacterial resistance and address the methodologic obstacles to its assessment. Simply to state that a patient died of an infection caused by a resistant organism does not prove that the death was due to the resistance. To prove the statement as to cause of death, two approaches— " imputable death " and " attributable death "...

Bacterial enzymes have been isolated that catalyze the hydrolysis of organophosphate nerve agents with high-rate enhancements and broad substrate specificity. Mutant forms of these enzymes have been constructed through rational redesign of the active-site binding pockets and random mutagenesis to create protein variants that are optimized for the detoxification of agricultural insecticides and ...

Seven species of bacterial biothreat agents were tested for susceptibility to UV light (254 nm). All gram-negative organisms tested required <12 mJ/cm(2) for a 4-log(10) reduction in viability (inactivation). Tailing off of the B. anthracis spore inactivation curves began close to the 2-log(10) inactivation point, with a fluence of approximately 40 mJ/cm(2), and 3-log(10) inactivation still was...