Infective endocarditis due to Acinetobacter baumannii complex--a case report.

We report a case of infective endocarditis caused by Acinetobacter baumannii complex in a 27-year-old male patient. The patient presented with fever of five days duration, palpitation, dyspnea, cough and chest pain. He had undergone a surgical repair of ruptured aneurysm of sinus of valsalva a month before. The transthoracic echocardiogram revealed a large vegetation on the aortic valve. Three samples of blood for culture grew gram-negative pleomorphic coccobacilli within 24 hours which were identified by cultural and biochemical characteristics to be Acinetobacter baumannii complex. Antimicrobial susceptibility was performed by Kirby-Bauer method and the isolate were found to be resistant to ampicillin, Ciprofloxacin, Ceftriaxone, Gentamicin, Amikacin, Augmentin, Levofloxacin, Piperacillin-Tazobactam, Netilimicin and sensitive to Imipenem. Patient was initially treated with Ceftraixone and Gentamicin and subsequently with Ampicillin and Amikacin but did not respond to treatment and died of sepsis before therapy with Imipenem could be started.

Rapid discrimination between strains of beta haemolytic streptococci by intact cell mass spectrometry.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Beta haemolytic streptococci belonging to Lancefield group A, B, C and G cause a wide spectrum of clinical diseases. Hence there is a need for rapid and accurate typing of these strains. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the use of intact cell matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) for rapid discrimination between strains of beta haemolytic streptococci. METHODS: Colonies of beta haemolytic streptococci were emulsified with chemical matrix on the sample slide, dried and analyzed by MALDI-TOF-MS. RESULTS: The reproducibility of results for all groups of beta haemolytic streptococci was good and spectra obtained for Lancefield group A, C and G streptococci showed discrimination between the groups on visual comparison. A finer difference in spectrum was observed among group A streptococci isolated from different locations at different periods of time. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: MALDI-TOF-MS may be a potential tool in discriminating between strains of beta haemolytic streptococci, and also in the characterisation of untypable strains of group A streptococci.

Group A streptococcal infections of the pharynx in a rural population in south India.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: There has been a resurgence in the incidence of rheumatic heart disease all over the world and hence surveillance and strain characterization are important. The aim of this study was to screen children in a rural community in south India for throat carriage of group A streptococci and to clinically assess them for signs of rheumatic heart disease. METHODS: Throat swabs were collected from children (5-14 yr) in the village of Orathur, Tamil Nadu and cultured on tryptose blood agar plates. Beta haemolytic streptococci were serogrouped using Streptex kit and biotyped based on their ability to ferment carbohydrates and production of beta-glucuronidase enzyme. Blood samples were also collected and antibodies to streptolysin O demonstrated by latex agglutination tests. All the children were examined by a paediatrician; ECG and echocardiography were performed to assess cardiac function. RESULTS: Eighty of the 310 children included in the study had symptoms of acute respiratory infections; 16 of them grew beta haemolytic streptococci of which 8 belonged to group A (10%). Biotype 4 was most common. Antistreptolysin O (ASO) test did not correlate with culture results. Two of 310 children had rheumatic heart disease but both were culture negative. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Pharyngeal carriage of group A streptococci was common in this population. The prevalence of rheumatic heart disease was 0.6 per cent. The study emphasizes the need for active surveillance and characterization of GAS isolates.

Occurrence of group C Streptococci in children in a South Indian village.

Throat swabs were collected from 310 children aged 5-14 years attending a rural health camp at Orathur near Chennai. Group C Streptococci were isolated from 13/310 (4.19%) cases. Seven out of 13 patients had symptoms of respiratory tract infection. Biochemical characterization of the isolates was done by hemolytic characteristics, Voges-Proskauer test, fermentation of trehalose and sorbitol and hydrolysis of 4-methylumbelliferyl-D-â-glucuronide. Four out of 13 strains were identified as S. equisimilis.

Familial primary pulmonary hypertension.

Primary pulmonary hypertension is a rare disease affecting mostly females. We report a family where 2 of the 3 male children born to consanguineous parents had severe pulmonary hypertension of unexplained cause. The occurrence of overtly manifest primary pulmonary hypertension is rare in males, especially at an early age.

5-fluorouracil-Induced cardiotoxicity.

Cardiotoxicity due to antineoplastic agents such as doxorubicin, daunorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristin, vinblastin, cisplatin and busulfan is well known. However, 5-fluorouracil-induced cardiotoxicity is yet to be widely recognized by cardiologists. We report a patient who developed 5-fluorouracil-induced cardiotoxicity syndrome.

Tolerance of Oscillatoria isolates to agrochemicals and pyrethroid components.

Four isolates of Oscillatoria sp from an Indian paddy field have been tested for their tolerance to agrochemicals and pyrethroid components. The isolates possessed considerable tolerance to agrochemicals and reduced toxicity of pyrethroid components towards fish.

Extracellular phosphate solubilization by the cyanobacterium Anabaena ARM310.

Endogenous polyphosphate depleted Anabaena ARM310, solubilized extracellular tricalcium phosphate through increased phosphatase activity.

OriVRK2 replicon function in the absence of trfA in Azotobacter vinelandii.

The oriVRK2 does not need the function of either trfA+ or trfA Operon for replication and maintenance of an oriVRK2-containing plasmid in Azotobacter vinelandii.