An etiological and antifungal profile of candidemia in children

Background: Candidemia causing increased mortality rates and emergence of antifungal drug resistance needs an urgent intervention to salvage immunocompromised and severely ill patients. This study aimed to isolate and identify Candida species and evaluate their antifungal susceptibility profile from blood stream infections in children.Methods: Fungal cultures from blood recovered positive for yeasts were subcultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar. Suspected purified colonies of Candida were confirmed and identified upto species level by both conventional and automated techniques. Antifungal susceptibility testing of isolates was evaluated using agar based E-test method for fluconazole, voriconazole and caspofungin on Mueller-Hinton agar supplemented with 2% glucose.Results: Total of 43 isolates of Candida species were recovered from blood samples. Non albicans Candida species accounted for 88.30% of cases; whereas 11.60% of cases were caused by C. albicans, C. tropicalis (39%) was the most frequent isolate recovered in candidemia patients followed by C. parapsilosis (18%), C. albicans (12%), C. glabrata (12%), C. kefyr (9%), C. pelliculosa (5%), and C. krusei (5%). Antifungal susceptibility results revealed Caspofungin demonstrated good activity against all Candida spp. C. parapsilosis followed by C. tropicalis and C. glabrata demonstrated high resistance to fluconazole. For voriconazole, maximum resistance was shown by C. tropicalis as compared to others.Conclusions: Candidemia is a threatening prognostic sign in children and an important entity in our hospital. Identification of Candidaspecies and antifungal sensitivity testing is a must to select a suitable and effective antifungal therapy to abrogate the emerging resistance to antifungals.

A study of HIV-concordant and -discordant couples attending voluntary counselling and testing services at a tertiary care center in North India.

A large number of Indian couples are exposed to the risk of heterosexual human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. The present records-based study was undertaken at the voluntary counselling and testing facility of a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi, India to determine HIV prevalence among Indian couples; to assess the magnitude of seroconcordance and discordance among HIV-affected couples; and to compare the concordant and discordant partnerships for sociodemographic determinants and cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) counts. Of the 1309 couples included in the study, 249 (19%) were HIV-affected, and of them 113 (45.4%) were concordantly and 136 (54.6%) discordantly affected by HIV. Males were the HIV-infected partners in 72% of the serodiscordant partnerships analyzed. Seroconcordance was significantly associated with the occupation status of being a housewife (P = 0.009). The contribution of discordant partnerships to the burden of HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is significant, warranting novel couple-targeted counselling strategies and preventive measures, including safe sexual behavior and possibly preexposure HIV prophylaxis of the uninfected partner.

A case of extended spectrum beta-lactamase producing Salmonella enterica serotype paratyphi A from India.

Enteric fever caused by Salmonella enterica is a systemic infection with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Increasing antibiotic resistance in S. enterica has led to shift in the choice of antibiotics used against this organism from chloramphenicol and ampicillin to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, fl uoroquinolones, and extendedspectrum cephalosporins. Resistance to cephalosporins, due to the production of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs), is the cause of serious concern worldwide. So far, these enzymes have been detected in many species of the family Enterobacteriaceae including different serotypes of S. enterica. To the best of our knowledge, however, ESBL production in Salmonella Paratyphi A has not yet been reported from India. We present here a case of ESBL producing Salmonella Paratyphi A from India. This is a worrisome fi nding with grave clinical implications, since the dissemination of this resistance trait would further limit the therapeutic options available for the treatment of enteric fever.

Standardization of first and second-line antitubercular susceptibility testing using BacT Alert 3D system: a report from a tertiary care centre in India

Resurgence of multidrug resistant tuberculosis has lead to demand for rapid susceptibility testing. Conventional methods take > 3 weeks and are tedious. Automated methods have superseded them for first line drug susceptibility testing. An attempt was made to standardize first and second line susceptibility testing using the BacT Alert 3D system (Biomerieux). And compare results with Lowenstein Jensen's (LJ) method. 121 isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, 67 pulmonary and 54 extra pulmonary were subjected to sensitivity to first and second line drugs. Multidrug resistance was detected equally by both methods at 15.7 percent. 100 percent agreement was observed between the two methods for aminoglycosides, rifampicin, ethionamide and ciprofloxacin. 91.5 percent agreement was observed for isoniazid, 85 percent for pyrazinamide and 72.4 percent for ethambutol. The time taken by LJ method was 18-32 days and BacT Alert 3D system took 4-12 days. In the lesser developed nations where tuberculosis is rampant a rapid effective method for confirming multidrug resistant tuberculosis is definitely desirable and the BacT Alert 3D system was found an effective method when compared to the 'gold standard' LJ proportion.

In vitro evaluation of a new cefixime-clavulanic acid combination for gram-negative bacteria.

The study was conducted to evaluate a new cefixime-clavulanic acid combination for in vitro susceptibility towards gram-negative bacteria. A total of 220 isolates of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeroginosa, Acinetobacter spp, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium were included in the study. The isolates were tested for susceptibility towards the new combination antimicrobial molecule cefixime with clavulanic acid by disk diffusion and Epsilometer strip (E-strip) Minimum Inhibitary Concentration (MIC) method. Of the 101 E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates, 62.4% were found to be extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producers. Almost half of these were from the community and 55.6% were hospital isolates. Of the ESBL isolates, 19% were AmpC (cephalosporinases that are poorly inhibited by beta lactamase inhibitor) producers while the remaining 81% were non AmpC ESBL producers. The AmpC producers were resistant to both cefixime and the combination, while the non-AmpC producers were sensitive to the combination. The addition of clavulanate to cefixime did not improve the sensitivities of P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter isolates. There were no ESBL isolates among the S. Typhi isolates, all of which were sensitive to cefixime. Of the S. Typhimurium, 88.9% were ESBL producers and all of these were resistant to cefixime but sensitive to the combination. The combination of cefixime with clavulanic acid offers the advantage of oral administration and appears to be a viable option for the treatment of uncomplicated community acquired infections caused by non-AmpC ESBL producing gram-negative bacteria.

Molecular epidemiology of rotavirus in Delhi.

Rotavirus is now established as an important cause of childhood diarrhoea throughout the world. Despite the availability of more advanced techniques for HRV characterization, electropherotyping was employed in this study to demonstrate the occurrence of diverse electropherotypes & any aberrant types thereof in isolates from children with acute gastroenteritis in Delhi, keeping in mind the ease of availability, performance and discriminatory power. Faecal specimens from 1172 children suffering from acute gastroenteritis were subjected to enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). A total of 158 rotavirus strains were detected and electropherotyped by PAGE. Rotavirus was detected in 13.48% of the samples. A total of 10 electropherotypic patterns were observed to be in circulation. There was predominance of the long type over the short type and long type G was the most common isolate. The present study highlights the simultaneous coexistence of different electropherotypes of Human rotavirus strains circulating in Delhi and stresses the need for constant monitoring of the genomic diversity resulting from extensive genomic variation among Rotaviruses.

Outbreak of Acinetobacter spp septicemia in a neonatal ICU.

An outbreak of Acinetobacter spp infection in the neonatal unit at Lok Nayak Hospital, New Delhi, India, is described. During a 6-month period, 68 strains of Acinetobacter baumannii were isolated from the blood and CSF of 47 neonates admitted to the intensive care unit. Diagnosis of clinically significant bacteremia was made in 36 patients. On environmental/personnel sampling, Acinetobacter spp isolates with similar antibiogram were recovered from intravenous catheter and washbasin. Control of the outbreak was possible only after strict infection control practices in the unit. It was concluded that any clinical multidrug resistant A. baumannii isolate can be a potential nosocomial outbreak strain.

Intestinal parasites in children with diarrhea in Delhi, India.

The parasitic causes of diarrhea in children in Delhi were determined by the direct smear technique; stool specimens of 127 children were examined for intestinal parasites. In 59 cases (46.5%) intestinal helminths and protozoa were demonstrated. Ascaris lumbricoides was observed in 1 (0.8%) case, while Trichuris trichiura was the finding in 3 (2.4%). Protozoal parasites included Giardia intestinalis and Entamoeba histolytica in 14 (11%) cases each, Balantidium coli in 3 (2.4%) cases and Cryptosporidium spp in 24 (18.9%) patients. Mixed infection was not seen in any of the cases. Intestinal parasites may increase susceptibility to infection with other intestinal pathogens and therefore with the help of a simple technique, like direct fecal smear examination. rapid diagnosis can be made and specific therapy instituted.