Molecular epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in South America.

One hundred and twenty-six epidemiologically sequential, unrelated, carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates from nine hospitals in six countries of South America were collected between July 2013 and June 2014. Genes coding for Ambler class D and B carbapenemases were sought by PCR. All isolates were typed using the 3-locus sequence typing and blaOXA-51-like sequence-based typing techniques. The blaOXA-23 gene was recovered in all the participating hospitals and in all the isolates of seven of nine medical centres. The blaOXA-72 gene was only recovered in the two medical centres from Guayaquil city, Ecuador. Trilocus sequence typing revealed the presence of sequence groups SG2, SG4 and SG5. blaOXA-51-like sequence-based typing revealed the presence of blaOXA-132, blaOXA-65, blaOXA-69 and blaOXA-64. Our results showed that the population of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii in South America was principally associated with ST79, ST25 and ST15 (92 %) and harboured the blaOXA-23 gene mainly. CC2 was not detected.

Detección serológica directa de hipotiroidismo congénito vs. método del papel filtro / Direct serological detection of congenital hypothyroidism vs. filter paper method

OBJETIVOS: demostrar la utilidad del método serológico directo para detección de hipotiroidismo congénito. MÉTODOS: es un estudio transversal, comparativo; destinado a comparar la capacidad diagnóstica de la técnica del papel filtro con la detección serológica directa de TSH neonatal en el mismo grupo de neonatos examinados. Se incluyó a 202 Recién Nacidos sanos del Hospital Materno Infantil Cochabamba, entre las 48 hrs. y los 21 días de vida; en el primer trimestre del año 2014. El análisis estadístico se realizó comparando las curvas de sensibilidad y especificidad con el Receiver Operating Characteristic (Característica Operativa del Receptor), del paquete estadístico especializado MedCalc, versión 12.7. El análisis descriptivo se realizó con el paquete estadístico SPSS-IBM STADISTIC, versión 19. RESULTADOS: ambas técnicas mostraron sensibilidad y especificidad altas, con un área bajo la curva de ambas, cercana a 0.972 (ROC), IC 0,941 - 0,989, al 95%. CONCLUSIONES: ambas técnicas demostraron ser eficientes en la pesquisa diagnóstica de hipotiroidismo congénito.

Objectives: to demonstrate the usefulness of direct serological method for direct detection of congenital hypothyroidism. Methods: a cross-sectional comparative study; for comparing the diagnostic performance of the technique of filter paper with the direct serological detection of neonatal TSH in the same group of infants examined. The study included 202 healthy newborns Hospital Materno Infantil Cochabamba, between 48 hrs. and 21 days of life; in the first quarter of 2014. The statistical analysis was performed comparing the curves of sensitivity and specificity with the Receiver Operating Characteristic (Receiver Operating Characteristic), specialized MedCalc statistical package, version 12.7. The descriptive analysis was performed using SPSS-IBM STADISTIC, version 19. Results: both techniques showed high sensitivity and specificity, with an area under the curve both close to 0.972 (ROC) IC 0.941 to 0.989, 95 %. Conclusions: both techniques proved effective in the diagnostic screening for congenital hypothyroidism.