In a culture survey, we found that 42% of hospital privacy curtains were contaminated with vancomycin-resistant enterococci, 22% with ethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and 4% with Clostridium difficile. Hand imprint cultures demonstrated that these pathogens were easily acquired on hands. Hospital curtains are a potential source for dissemination of healthcare-associated pathogens.

The development of algorithms to optimize reaction pathways between reactants and products is an active area of study. Existing algorithms typically describe the path as a discrete series of images (chain of states) which are moved downhill toward the path, using various reparameterization schemes, constraints, or fictitious forces to maintain a uniform description of the reaction path. The Var...

Glycopeptide antibiotics containing a hydrophobic substituent display the best activity against vancomycin-resistant enterococci, and they have been assumed to be poor inducers of the resistance system. Using a panel of 26 glycopeptide derivatives and the model resistance system in Streptomyces coelicolor, we confirmed this hypothesis at the level of transcription. Identification of the structu...

Sixty-three stool samples and five bile samples were prospectively collected from 33 patients receiving intravenous vancomycin therapy and were quantitatively analyzed for vancomycin by a competitive immunoassay. Vancomycin was excreted via bile into the stools of almost all patients at concentrations of 3.3 to 94.8 microg/ml after >/=5 days of a therapy of 1 g every 12 h.

BACKGROUND Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) recently have emerged as a nosocomial pathogen among dialysis patients. This study aims to appraise the prevalence, incidence density and risk factors for VRE colonization among these patients. METHODS In this prospective study, 782 stool or rectal swab specimens were collected from 250 chronic hemodialysis patients with an interval of at leas...

Five chromogenic agars, evaluated using 400 stool specimens, were found to be superior in sensitivity (range, 89.9 to 93.9%) to bile esculin azide agar with vancomycin (BEAV) agar (84.8%) for detecting vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and the results were available 24 to 48 h sooner. The time to detection, need for supplemental testing, color distinction, and breakthrough of non-VRE orga...

Lactonamycin (1) was isolated from a culture broth of Streptomyces rishiriensis MJ773-88K4. Antibiotic 1 exhibited antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive bacteria including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE).

We compared ChromID VRE medium with Enterococcosel containing vancomycin for the detection of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus in 1,007 specimens. ChromID VRE in combination with Gram straining provided a higher specificity than Enterococcosel, irrespective of the incubation time and enrichment.

BACKGROUND Little is known about the effect of meteorological conditions and geographical location on bacterial colonization rates particularly of antibiotic-resistant Gram-positive bacteria. We aimed to evaluate the effect of season, meteorological factors, and geographic location on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) colonization. M...

This paper examines common issues thrown up by the four successful responses to the JISC VRE development programme made by academics working within the Arts and Humanities. It focuses on the general strategic benefits to, and user needs in, these communities that VREs bring, VREs as agents of resource discovery and enhancement, integration with existing infrastructure, and the development of ne...