ABSTRACT
In the province of Quebec, Canada, from 1996 to 1998, 3,650 invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae infections were reported. A total of 1,354 isolates were serotyped and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility. The distribution of serotypes remained stable over the 3 years, with serotypes 14, 6B, 4, 9V, 23F, and 19F accounting for 61% of the isolates. Overall, 90% of isolates were included in the current 23-valent vaccine and 67% were included in the 7-valent conjugate vaccine. We were able to determine that resistance to penicillin and to other antibiotics is increasing.
Subject(s)
Pneumococcal Infections/epidemiology , Streptococcus pneumoniae/classification , Adolescent , Adult , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Child , Drug Resistance, Microbial , Humans , Incidence , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Pneumococcal Infections/diagnosis , Pneumococcal Infections/physiopathology , Quebec/epidemiology , Seasons , Serotyping , Streptococcal Vaccines , Streptococcus pneumoniae/drug effects , Streptococcus pneumoniae/isolation & purification , Vaccines, ConjugateSubject(s)
Anti-Infective Agents/pharmacology , Ciprofloxacin/pharmacology , Neisseria gonorrhoeae/drug effects , Adult , Drug Resistance, Microbial , Female , Gonorrhea/drug therapy , Gonorrhea/epidemiology , Humans , Male , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Neisseria gonorrhoeae/isolation & purification , Quebec/epidemiologyABSTRACT
The European suspension test was applied to compare the in vitro activity of three glutaraldehyde-based disinfectants: a 1:10 dilution of a 10% glutaraldehyde solution containing 0.5% phenylphenol-0.1% amylphenol, a 2% acid glutaraldehyde solution, and a 2% alkaline glutaraldehyde solution. The microbicidal effect of the disinfectants was evaluated by counting surviving cells of three indicator microorganisms (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Mycobacterium chelonae and phage f2) after exposure times of 5, 10, 20 and 40 min to the agents at 20 degrees C. An inactivation factor (IF) of > or = 5 log10 was used as the criterion for effective disinfection. This IF was achieved with every microorganism/disinfectant combination after 5 min exposure except in experiments with phage f2 and the 1% glutaraldehyde-based disinfectant. The diminished inactivation noticed with the 1% glutaraldehyde-based disinfectant supports the recommendation to use a disinfectant containing a minimum of 2% glutaraldehyde for high level disinfection.
Subject(s)
Bacteria/drug effects , Bacteriophages/drug effects , Disinfectants/pharmacology , Endoscopes , Equipment Contamination/prevention & control , Glutaral/pharmacology , Drug Evaluation, Preclinical , Solutions , Time FactorsABSTRACT
A total of 234 strains of Neisseria meningitidis obtained from hospitalized patients living in the province of Québec during the period 1991 to 1992 were characterized according to their serogroup, serotype, subtype, electrophoretic type, and antimicrobial susceptibility. All these strains were recovered from sterile body fluids, except for one strain that was isolated postmortem from a cutaneous lesion. For both years, serogroup C was the most prevalent (69.7%), followed by serogroup B (27.4%). Serotype 2a represented 80.3% of serogroup C isolates, and P1.2 was the most common subtype associated with this serotype. Clone ET 15 accounted for 76.5% of serogroup C isolates and 90.0% of serotype 2a strains. Although meningococcal disease occurred mostly in children under the age of 5 (9.7 cases per 100,000 children), with a peak incidence for children under 1 (20.3 cases per 100,000 children), most fatalities occurred among teenagers (12 to 19 years old). The total fatality rate was 11.5%, and serogroup C strains were responsible for 88.9% of these fatalities. Thirteen strains had a reduced susceptibility to penicillin G, and 28 strains were resistant to sulfadiazine. One strain was resistant to both rifampin and sulfadiazine and showed a reduced susceptibility to penicillin G.
Subject(s)
Disease Outbreaks , Meningococcal Infections/microbiology , Neisseria meningitidis/classification , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Humans , Immunization Programs , Infant , Inpatients , Meningococcal Infections/epidemiology , Meningococcal Infections/mortality , Meningococcal Infections/prevention & control , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Middle Aged , Neisseria meningitidis/drug effects , Neisseria meningitidis/immunology , Neisseria meningitidis/isolation & purification , Penicillin G/pharmacology , Quebec/epidemiology , Retrospective Studies , Rifampin/pharmacology , Serotyping , Sulfadiazine/pharmacologyABSTRACT
The serogroup/serotypes (SGTs) and antimicrobial susceptibilities to 10 antimicrobial agents of 110 clinical strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae were determined. Strains intermediately resistant or highly resistant to penicillin G (80 of 110) belonged predominantly to SGTs 23 (45.0%), 19 (13.7%), 6 (10.0%), 9 (6.2%), and 14 (3.7%). The MICs of all cephalosporins, tetracycline, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and chloramphenicol increased along with the MICs of penicillin G. However, erythromycin resistance and clindamycin resistance were observed more frequently among the intermediately penicillin-resistant strains. Multiple resistance was observed for 32 strains, of which 25 were highly resistant to penicillin G and belong to SGT 23F. All strains were susceptible to vancomycin.
