BACKGROUND Non-antifungal drugs appear promising in treatment of opportunistic infections of Candida spp. that are often resistant to current antifungals. METHODS The broth macrodilution method (NCCLS M27-P document) was used to compare the antifungal activity of trifluoperazine, propranolol, and lansoprazole with that of ketoconazole and amphotericin B, using 50 yeast isolates from the GI tr...

It is frequently not possible to type group A streptococei. Only 33% of group A streptococei from Nashville children in a recent study (Quinn and Martin, Am. J. Hyg. 73:193, 1961) were typable, and there have been years when as few as 5% could be typed. This study was designed to test one possible reason for failure to type certain strains of group A streptococci, namely, inadequacy of growth m...

The Isolator 1.5 Microbial tube (E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc., Wilmington, Del.) is a commercially available blood culture system for use in pediatrics. The methodology is based on blood lysis followed by direct plating of the sample on culture media to detect bacteria and fungi. Comparative recovery rates of pathogens from blood collected in this and a conventional broth system were si...

In the present study, we have reported the biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using aqueous leaf extract prepared by hot percolation treatment of wheat varities (PBW343, Triticum durum and Aegilops tauschii )for the reduction of silver ions to silver nanoparticles. Bioreduction of Ag+ to Ag0 was observed when aqueous extract augmented with silver nitrate (AgNO3) was incubated ...

OBJECTIVES To determine the correlation between various vancomycin MIC testing methodologies and explore the phenomenon of MIC creep. METHODS A total of 417 consecutive non-duplicate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream isolates from Liverpool Hospital between 1997 and 2008 were retrieved. All isolates were classified using PFGE and underwent susceptibility testing f...

Standard methods for the methyl red (MR) test are not practical for routine use in clinical laboratories because of the necessarily prolonged incubation period. When read after overnight incubation, the usual MR test is often equivocal or falsely positive. The present study demonstrates the importance of standardizing the total volume of broth, the size of the vessel in which the cultures are i...

The National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) proposed macrobroth reference method (M27P) for susceptibility testing of yeasts is technically difficult. We evaluated Etest, a simple agar-based MIC methodology, as a possible alternative. In studies of six yeast quality control strains, Etest yielded results identical to those obtained by the NCCLS reference method for both amp...

In the present study, we have reported the biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using aqueous leaf extract prepared by hot percolation treatment of wheat varities (PBW343, Triticum durum and Aegilops tauschii )for the reduction of silver ions to silver nanoparticles. Bioreduction of Ag+ to Ag0 was observed when aqueous extract augmented with silver nitrate (AgNO3) was incubated ...

Coliform group has been extensively used as an indicator of drinking water quality and historically led to the public health protection concept. Multiple tube fermentation technique has been currently used for assessment of the microbial quality of drinking water. This method, however, has limitations. Enzymatic assay constitute an alternative approach for detecting indicator bacteria, namely t...

OBJECTIVES To develop a rapid flow-cytometric antifungal susceptibility test and to compare results with the standard methods. METHODS Reference and laboratory strains of Candida were tested for susceptibility to fluconazole and echinocandin by fluorescent flow cytometry using Acridine Orange as indicator of viability. Flow cytometry results were compared with MICs as determined by macrodilut...