[Prevalence among males from the general population of agents responsible of not ulcerative genital tract infections, assisted in specialized care]. / Prevalencia en varones de la población general de agentes productores de infecciones no ulcerativas del aparato genital, asistidos en atención especializada.

OBJECTIVE: Male genital infections are a major problem due to their high frequency and morbidity and their role in cases of male infertility. We studied the presence, in males assisted in specialized care, of non-ulcerative genital tract infections-producing agents. METHODS: We studied descriptively and retrospective microbiological results of 3,066 samples of male patients, with diagnosis of genital tract infection episode, received between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017. Detection of microorganisms in the sample was performed using techniques of artificial culture and PCR (BD-MAX). RESULTS: Positive results were obtained in 451 samples (14.71%). By culture, the most frequent pathogens were Enterobacterales (18.40%), Enterococcus (13.75%), Haemophilus (8.65%), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (8.43%), Ureaplasma (5.10%), and Candida (3.77%). By polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the most frequent were N. gonorrhoeae (28.37%), Chlamydia trachomatis (26.95%), Ureaplasma urealyticum (17.73%), Mycoplasma hominis/Ureaplasma parvum (10.64%), and Mycoplasma genitalium (7.10%). The age was older in patients infected with Enterobacterales, Candida, or Enterococcus and younger in those infected with N. gonorrhoeae. CONCLUSIONS: N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis are still more common in male genital infection pathogens, although other culturable microorganisms have an important role. These findings demonstrate the importance of systematically applying both conventional culture and PCR techniques for pathogen detection.

Streptococcus agalactiae: prevention and vaccine development.

Streptococcus agalactiae, group B Streptococcus (SGB), is the most important cause of morbi-mortality among newborn population, and an important pathogen among immunossupressed adult patients. Despite the advances in the treatment and prevention of neonatal infections as a consequence of implementation of national and international recommendations for prevention of infection, there are still some improvements for the final control of the disease. In this sense, the vaccination against SGB could be an effective measure for the prevention of disease in those cases where intrapartum prophylaxis is not useful and in adult patients with risk factors for invasive infection due to SGB. This review summarizes the efforts made until now in order to establish the control of the infection, and brings some information on the current state-of-the art of vaccines against SGB, in which different strategies in their design have been used.

[Detection of unusual uropathogens during a period of three years in a regional hospital]. / Detección de uropatógenos inusuales durante un periodo de 3 años en un hospital regional.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most frequent both in the community and in hospitals infectious diseases. The etiology of urinary tract infections is well established but may vary depending on various factors such as age, the presence of underlying diseases such as diabetes, instrumental procedures such as urinary catheterization or exposure to antibiotics or previous hospitalizations. UTIs diagnosed cases were retrospectively reviewed for unusual microorganisms over a period of 3 years (2011-2013) in the Microbiology Laboratory of the Hospital Virgen de las Nieves of Granada (Spain), following the standard operating procedure, which we describe four cases caused by Trichosporon asahii, Aerococcus urinae, Pasteurella bettyae and Neisseria sicca. Hence the importance of having in the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory of the tools necessary to detection UTIs and reach a correct identification in all cases.

MALDI-TOF MS, a useful instrument for differentiating metallo-ß-lactamases in Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas spp.

UNLABELLED: We have evaluated a matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) method for the identification of carbapenemases and for distinguishing metallo-ß-lactamases (MBLs). A total of 49 noncarbapenemase-producing and 14 carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical strains, previously characterized by PCR, were included in the study. With MALDI-TOF MS, the presence of carbapenemases was confirmed by the detection of ertapenem hydrolysis (lost of molecular peaks: 476·5 Da, 498·5 Da, 520·5 Da and presence of degradation products) in the mixture of the bacteria with the antibiotic, and classification was achieved by selective inhibition of carbapenemase activity (the ertapenem molecular peak was maintained) with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). We obtained a good concordance among the results of PCR and MALDI-TOF MS. This method appears to be simple, fast and reliable for distinguishing in few hours different classes of carbapenemases, which can be very useful for epidemiological studies or to establish a specific antimicrobial therapy. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry is increasingly present in microbiology laboratories due to its increasing use for bacterial identification. This study describes a method for detection of carbapenemase activity using MALDI-TOF, which is similar to the reference method: the detection of imipenem hydrolysis using UV spectrometry.