OBJECTIVES Early microbiological diagnosis of deep sternal wound infections (DSWI) could improve outcomes by allowing targeted antibiotic treatment. This study aims to analyse the utility of superficial sternal wound swabs and blood cultures. METHODS From January 2005 to June 2011, 70 patients were prospectively identified with DSWI. Microbiological data were obtained retrospectively to study...

BACKGROUND Microbiological characteristics of sepsis and antimicrobial resistance are well studied, although in State University of Campinas, no data has been published yet. METHODS The main agents related to sepsis and antimicrobial resistance were analyzed. The blood culture records requested from 4,793 hospitalized patients were analyzed. The samples were processed using the Bact/Alert sys...

Eggerthella lenta is an emerging pathogen that has been underrecognized due to historical difficulties with phenotypic identification. Until now, its pathogenicity, antimicrobial susceptibility profile, and optimal treatment have been poorly characterized. In this article, we report the largest cohort of patients with E. lenta bacteremia to date and describe in detail their clinical features, m...

This study validated abbreviated methods for the presumptive identification of Staphylococcus lugdunensis and studied the antibiotic susceptibilities of 106 isolates. The combination of positive responses to ornithine and pyrrolidonyl arylamidase identified all S. lugdunensis isolates. Resistance to penicillin and methicillin was detected in 27 and 5% of isolates, respectively.

OBJECTIVE Necrotizing fasciitis is a life threatening soft-tissue infection with a high morbidity and mortality. Prompt treatment based on extensive surgical debridement and antibiotic therapies are the therapeutic principles. METHODS The medical records of patients with necrotizing fasciitis (n = 26) from 1996 to 2005 were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS The localization of necrotizing f...