Occurrence and antibiotic-resistance of Pseudomonas species isolated from drinking water in southern Greece.

A total of 194 samples of drinking waters consisting of 88 tap waters and 106 non-carbonated bottled waters were processed for isolation of Pseudomonas species during a 4-month period according to standard methods. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the predominant isolated Pseudomonas species. Twenty-eight (14.4%) P. aeruginosa were isolated from 194 samples. Eight (9%) were isolated from 88 tap water samples and 20 (18.8%) from 106 bottled water samples. Eight (9%) tap waters yielded non-P. aeruginosa strains while bottled waters yielded 22 (20.7%) non-P. aeruginosa strains (P < 0.05). Antibiotic-resistant strains of Pseudomonas species have been isolated from the drinking waters. All but Pseudomonas stutzeri species had a multiple chloramphenicol-erythromycin resistance phenotype. Streptomycin and tetracycline resistance for P. aeruginosa was invariably accompanied by chloramphenicol, tetracycline, erythromycin and nalidixic acid resistance. The susceptibility of Pseudomonas species to newer antimicrobial agents (beta lactams, aminoglycosides, third generation cephalosporins and quinolones) was also evaluated. Ceftazidime and ciprofloxacin seemed to be the most active molecules. There were no resistant P. aeruginosa and P. stutzeri strains to all newer antibiotics tested while Pseudomonas maltophilia was the most resistant among the tested species (69.2% resistance for the newer antibiotics).

Screening for asymptomatic gonorrhea in males: a comparison of four techniques.

A total of 729 asymptomatic men were screened for gonococcal urethritis with four techniques: culture of urethral specimens, culture of first-catch urine sediment (FCUS), an enzyme immunoassay method (Gonozyme, Abbot Laboratories) for detection of gonococcal antigen in urethral specimens (EIA-Sb) and first-catch urine sediment (EIA-FCUS). The positivity rates of the aforementioned techniques were 0.13%, 0%, 2.33%, and 0.82%. In view of reduction of time and patients' discomfort as well as the closely comparable positivity rate (p less than 0.05) associated with the use of the EIA-FCUS technique, the latter method appears to be the simplest, most practical and reliable diagnostic tool for screening asymptomatic gonococcal urethritis.

Prevalence of asymptomatic carriers of Chlamydia trachomatis among pregnant and non-pregnant women in south-western Greece.

One-hundred-ninety-three pregnant and seventy five non-pregnant women, aged 18-35 years, were examined for endocervical infection with Chlamydia trachomatis using an enzyme immunoassay technique on cervical specimens. Chlamydia trachomatis was discovered in 7.2% of the pregnant women and in 10.6% of the non-pregnant ones. There was no correlation between chlamydia infection and either previous vulvovaginitis, previous pregnancies or pregnancy outcome. However, younger, more highly educated women with high sexual promiscuity tended to be more frequently colonized.