Invasive pneumococcal diseases in adults admitted to the Na Bulovce Hospital: Serotype replacement after the implementation of general childhood pneumococcal vaccination.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyse epidemiological and clinical characteristics of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in adults before and after the introduction of the general childhood conjugate pneumococcal vaccination programme in the Czech Republic. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The retrospective observational sentinel study included adults with IPD admitted to the Na Bulovce Hospital in Prague from 1/2000 through 12/2019. A case of IPD was defined as isolation of Streptococcus pneumoniae from a primarily sterile site. RESULTS: A total of 304 IPD cases were diagnosed during the study period, with a male to female ratio of 1.49:1 and age median of 58 years (IQR 43-73). The most prevalent clinical forms were bacteraemic pneumonia (185 cases; 60.9%) and purulent meningitis (90; 29.6%). A total of 157/293 patients (53.6%) required intensive care, and the case fatality rate was 25.3% (n = 77). The serotype was determined in 292 (96.0%) isolates, the most prevalent being serotypes 3 (38; 12.5%), 4 (28; 9.2%), 7F (24; 7.9%), 8 (21; 6.9%), and 1 (18; 5.9%). Both clinical and epidemiological characteristics of IPD caused by the most prevalent serotypes differed considerably. Patients diagnosed with serotype 3 were older, more frequently required intensive care, and showed higher mortality. The proportion of IPD caused by non-PCV13 serotypes increased from 28.8% (19/66) in 2000-2005 to 54.8% (40/70) in 2015-2019 (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that invasive diseases caused by the most prevalent pneumococcal serotypes differ in their epidemiological and clinical characteristics and case fatality rate. During the study period, there was a significant increase in IPD caused by non-PCV 13 serotypes, limiting the effect of vaccination in adults.

Corynebacterium sp. isolated from blood culture of a bacteremic patient. Will the assumptions about a new corynebacterium be confirmed?

A case report is presented of a patient with suspected septicaemia from whose blood culture a new strain of Corynebacterium sp. was isolated. Until now, no report of this strain isolated from human clinical materials has been available in the literature. In addition to a brief clinical description of the case, the article also features morphological, biochemical properties as well as antibiogram of the bacterium. It describes also methods used for the identification of this isolate. The aim of the work was to highlight a novel and rare coryneform strain.

The first confirmed detection of Staphylococcus argenteus in the Czech Republic.

Staphylococcus argenteus (S. argenteus) is a novel species of coagulase-positive staphylococci described in 2015. This species is phenotypically highly similar and genetically closely related to Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Until recently, differentiation was only possible by molecular genetic methods, multilocus sequence typing and whole-genome sequencing, which are not generally used in routine laboratories due to time-consumingness and expensiveness. A major improvement in the identification of S. argenteus is the application of MALDI-TOF MS, if the available updated mass spectrum reference database is used. In the short report, we would like to present the first confirmed S. argenteus strain isolated from a patient in the Czech Republic and probably the first published S. argenteus strain in Central and Eastern Europe.

Surveillance of antibiotic resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae in the Czech Republic, respiratory study results, 2010-2017.

AIM: The purpose of the surveillance performed from October to December in 2010-2017 was to monitor the trends in the susceptibility to beta-lactam and macrolide antibiotics in Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from respiratory tract infections in the Czech Republic. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between 42 and 55 laboratories participated in the study every year. Consecutive non-duplicate pneumococcal isolates from relevant microbiological specimens from patients with community-acquired bacterial respiratory tract infection were sequentially included in the study. Laboratories recorded qualitative results of penicillin and erythromycin susceptibility testing; susceptibility to antibiotics was determined by the disk diffusion method. Penicillin non-susceptible and/or erythromycin resistant isolates were referred to the National Reference Laboratory for Antibiotics, where the minimum inhibitory concentration of each antibiotic was tested using the broth microdilution method, and their serotyping was performed in the National Reference Laboratory for Streptococcal Infections. Twenty-six isolates from 2017 were analysed by the multilocus sequence typing method. RESULTS: In total, 7 491 pneumococcal strains were examined, of which 53.7% (4 023) were from the upper respiratory tract and 47.7% (3 573) from children under 15 years of age. Non-susceptibility to penicillin decreased from 2.6% in 2010 to 1.2% in 2017, while resistance to erythromycin increased from 7.4% to 9.7% over the same period. Penicillin non-susceptible isolates were mostly of serotypes 19A, 19F, and 15A. Macrolide resistant but penicillin susceptible isolates were predominantly represented by serotypes 19A and 3. The presence of the Taiwan19F-14 clone was confirmed in penicillin non-susceptible isolates by MLST, and the most frequently identified sequence type (ST) in macrolide resistant isolates was ST416 classified into the Netherlands15B-37 clone. CONCLUSIONS: The respiratory study of antibiotic resistance in S. pneumoniae confirmed the decreasing trend of resistance to penicillin but revealed a growing resistance to macrolide antibiotics in the Czech Republic. The results of our study confirm that antibiotic resistance in the vaccination era is associated primarily with the non-vaccine serotypes, and the clonal expansion of macrolide resistant serotype 19A was apparently supported by the growing prescription of macrolide antibiotics.

Diagnosis and treatment of Bartonella endocarditis.

The Bartonella genus comprises more than 20 species of Gram-negative rods which are difficult to culture. These are facultative intracellular bacteria. Humans are reservoir hosts for B. quintana and B. bacilliformis or accidental hosts for other species. Bartonella is a cause of zoonosis. Bartonella infection can be completely asymptomatic or can be linked to various conditions. Our experience with Bartonella endocarditis from 2012-2017 is presented. The most effective diagnostic method for Bartonella endocarditis is PCR detection of DNA of the pathogen from excised valve tissue. The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in the guidelines from 2015 recommends the combination doxycycline gentamycin for the treatment of Bartonella endocarditis.

Results from the Survey of Antibiotic Resistance (SOAR) 2014-16 in the Czech Republic.

Objectives: To determine the antibiotic susceptibility of isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae collected in 2014-16 from patients with community-acquired respiratory infections in the Czech Republic. Methods: MICs were determined by CLSI broth microdilution and susceptibility was assessed using CLSI, EUCAST and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) breakpoints. Results: S. pneumoniae isolates (n = 200) showed high rates of susceptibility (>95%) to amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, penicillin [intravenous (iv) non-meningitis], ceftriaxone, cefuroxime and the fluoroquinolones using CLSI breakpoints. Susceptibility to cefaclor and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole was 94%-94.5%, to penicillin (oral) 91.5% and to the macrolides 89.5%. Susceptibility of H. influenzae (n = 197) to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, ceftriaxone, cefuroxime, azithromycin and the fluoroquinolones was ≥98% by CLSI criteria. Rates of susceptibility to the remaining agents were ≥75% except for clarithromycin at 37.1%. Great variability was seen across breakpoints, especially for the macrolides, cefaclor and cefuroxime (oral), 98.0% of H. influenzae showing susceptibility to the latter by CLSI criteria, 69.5% by PK/PD and 1.5% by EUCAST standards. The ß-lactamase rate was 13.7% with no ß-lactamase-negative-ampicillin-resistant (BLNAR) isolates by CLSI criteria. Conclusions: Antibiotic resistance among the two major respiratory pathogens remained low in the Czech Republic. These findings support local clinicians in continuing the historically restrictive use of antibiotics in the Czech Republic, with selection of narrower-spectrum agents for the empirical therapy of community-acquired respiratory tract infections. This highlights one of the great benefits of continuous surveillance of antimicrobial resistance: knowledge of current local resistance patterns reduces the need to choose broad-spectrum agents that contribute to increasing resistance worldwide.

Viridans group streptococci bloodstream infections in neutropenic adult patients with hematologic malignancy: Single center experience.

Viridans group streptococci bloodstream infections (VGS BSI) remain a significant cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with severe neutropenia. The goal of our study was to evaluate clinical course and microbiological susceptibility of VGS BSI at our center. Retrospective analysis of all microbiologically documented bloodstream infections caused by VGS during the 9-year time period (from January 2006 until December 2014) was carried out. Only patients with severe neutropenia (< 500/µL) were included in the study. Clinical outcome and microbiological susceptibility pattern of isolates were recorded. Fifty-one individual patients with episode of VGS BSI were identified. The most frequent agent was Streptococcus mitis (23/51 cases, 45.1%). 88.2% (45/51) of patients were on recommended ciprofloxacin prophylaxis. 20/51 (39.2%) of patients suffered from mucositis at the time of diagnosis (10 patients had oral mucositis, 2 patients had bowel mucositis, and 8 patients both). Twenty-six patients (51.0%) had clinically relevant lung damage caused by VGS BSI (i.e., acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome). Twenty-four (47.0%) patients presented with bilateral lung infiltrated upon chest imaging, and two (4.0%) patients had unilateral lung infiltrates. Three patients (5.9%) died due to VGS BSI until day 28 of observation. No difference in signs of shock syndrome was observed in the patients during transplantation procedures compared to patients without transplantation as well as in a group received previous high-dose chemotherapy with cytosinarabinoside or in patients with mucositis. Only 3/51 of isolates (5.9%) were resistant to penicillin. All isolates were susceptible to empirical treatment. While the penicillin resistance of VGS remains low in middle Europe, initial antibiotic therapy of febrile neutropenia are still effective in most cases. The mortality and complication rates of VGS BSI were comparable to other studies, and no specific risk factor of shock presence could be identified.

Report on a transborder spread of carbapenemase-producing bacteria by a patient injured during Euromaidan, Ukraine.

Spread of carbapenemase-producing bacteria has been described all over the world. This phenomenon may be accelerated by many factors, including wars and natural disasters. In this report, we described an NDM-1-producing Klebsiella pneumonia ST11 recovered from a patient injured during the Maidan revolution in Ukraine. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in Ukraine and one of several reports describing wound colonization/infection of humans injured during war.

Prevalence study on carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates in Czech hospitals--results from Czech Part of European Survey on Carbapenemase--Producing Enterobacteriaceae (EuSCAPE).

OBJECTIVE: One of the most important threats of current medicine is the spread of multiresistant Gram-negative bacteria. We report here data from a six-month prevalence study on carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae and E. coli performed in Czech hospitals participating on European Survey on Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae (EuSCAPE). METHODS: Ten hospitals covering all regions of the Czech Republic were selected. During the study period (1st November 2013 to 30th April 2014), first ten carbapenem non-susceptible isolates of K. pneumoniae or E. coli isolated from non-surveillance specimens (i.e., blood, lower respiratory tract secretions, urine, puncture fluids, and wound secretions) of single successive patients were collected. Successive carbapenem-susceptible isolates of the same species were also preserved as controls. Susceptibility to 15 antibiotics was determined using EUCAST recommendations. Carbapenemase activity was detected by MALDI-TOF MS meropenem hydrolysis assay. Positive isolates were subjected for molecular typing (multi-locus sequence typing, identification of carbapenemase gene). RESULTS: During the study period, thirty non-susceptible isolates (K. pneumoniae n=28, E. coli n=2) were identified in 5 hospitals. Only two of them were confirmed to be carbapenemase producers. A NDM-1-producing K. pneumoniae ST11 was recovered from a patient, transferred from Ukraine, being injured during a Maidan revolution. The second isolate, an OXA-48-producing K. pneumoniae, belonging to ST101, was recovered from a patient admitted to a hospital for an ischemic stroke. CONCLUSIONS: This study again confirmed that the Czech Republic still belongs to the countries with low prevalence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE). Cases of CPE are usually restricted to an import from high-prevalence countries or countries with unknown epidemiological situation.

Staphylococcus aureus spa type t437: identification of the most dominant community-associated clone from Asia across Europe.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) belonging to the multilocus sequence type clonal complex 59 (MLST CC59) is the predominant community-associated MRSA clone in Asia. This clone, which is primarily linked with the spa type t437, has so far only been reported in low numbers among large epidemiological studies in Europe. Nevertheless, the overall numbers identified in some Northern European reference laboratories have increased during the past decade. To determine whether the S. aureus t437 clone is present in other European countries, and to assess its genetic diversity across Europe, we analysed 147 S. aureus t437 isolates from 11 European countries collected over a period of 11 years using multiple locus variable number tandem repeat fingerprinting/analysis (MLVF/MLVA) and MLST. Additionally 16 S. aureus t437 isolates from healthy carriers and patients from China were included. Most isolates were shown to be monophyletic with 98% of the isolates belonging to the single MLVA complex 621, to which nearly all included isolates from China also belonged. More importantly, all MLST-typed isolates belonged to CC59. Our study implies that the European S. aureus t437 population represents a genetically tight cluster, irrespective of the year, country and site of isolation. This underpins the view that S. aureus CC59 has been introduced into several European countries, not being restricted to particular geographical regions or specific host environments. The European S. aureus t437 isolates thus bear the general hallmarks of a high-risk clone.

[Resistance monitoring working group: resistance to erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, and tetracycline in human isolates of Campylobacter spp. in the Czech Republic tested by the EUCAST standard method]. / Rezistence k erytromycinu, ciprofloxacinu a k tetracyklinu u humánních izolátu Campylobacter spp. v Ceské republice, vysetrená standardní metodou EUCAST.

STUDY AIM: To determine the frequency of Campylobacter spp. isolated from humans in the Czech Republic and to test their susceptibility to antimicrobials commonly used to treat campylobacteriosis by the standard EUCAST method. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Consecutive Campylobacter isolates recovered from clinical specimens in 49 microbiological laboratories within one month in 2013 were identified using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Susceptibility to erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, and tetracycline was tested by the microdilution method and the results were interpreted based on the EUCAST clinical breakpoints to differentiate between susceptible and resistant strains. RESULTS: Of the study set of 769 Campylobacter spp. strains, 90.1 % were assigned to C. jejuni, 9.8 % to C. coli, and a single strain to C. fetus (0.1 %). Except one blood isolate of C. jejuni, all other isolates were recovered from the stool. Ciprofloxacin resistance (MIC > 0.5 mg/l) was detected in 61.9 % strains of C. jejuni and in 72.0 % strains of C. coli, tetracycline resistance (MIC > 2 mg/l) was detected in 32.0 % of strains of both species, and erythromycin resistance was found in 0.3 % of strains of C. jejuni (MIC > 8 mg/l) and in 2.7 % of strains of C. coli (MIC > 4 mg/l). A C. coli strain was multidrug resistant (i.e. resistant to all three antimicrobials tested). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the fact that most Campylobacter infections in humans cure on their own, the resistance of the causative strains to the antimicrobials of choice and alternative agents needs to be studied because of its relevance to the treatment of severe cases that require antibiotics. Resistance to macrolides was found rather infrequently in this study in both C. jejuni (0.1 %) and C. coli (2.7 %) strains. Nevertheless, alarming is ciprofloxacin resistance confirmed in 61.9 % of C. jejuni strains and 72.0 % C. coli strains. As the species C. coli is more often resistant to antimicrobials than C. jejuni and ciprofloxacin along with other fluoroquinolones is commonly used to treat severe food-borne and generalized infections, it is crucial to identify the Campylobacter strains to the species level and to test their susceptibility to relevant antibiotics by a valid and reproducible method to be able to provide an effective therapy.

Carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in the Czech Republic in 2011.

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas spp. are increasingly reported in many countries all over the world. Due to the resistance of those bacteria to almost all antibiotics (e.g.beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, fluoroquinolones),treatment options are seriously limited. In the Czech Republic, the incidence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae seems to be low, restricted to only three cases detected between 2009 and 2010.Here, we describe molecular typing of 15 carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates identified in the Czech Republic during 2011. Five VIM-1-producing isolates belonging to sequence type (ST)11 and one VIM-4-producing isolate of ST1029 have been detected. blaVIM-1 and blaVIM-4 as a part of class 1 integrons were chromosomally located or carried by a plasmid belonging to A/C replicon type (blaVIM-4). KPC-3-producing isolates of ST512, recovered from six patients, caused an outbreak. Three more isolates producing KPC-2 enzyme belonged to ST258. Both blaKPCgenes were part of the Tn4401a transposon carried on plasmids of the pKpQIL type. The isolates were resistant to all antibiotics tested except colistin and/or gentamicin.Four of these 15 strains were recovered from patients repatriated to the Czech Republic from Greece and Italy. This is the first report of outbreaks caused by carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in the Czech Republic.

NDM-1 producing Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from a patient repatriated to the Czech Republic from Egypt, July 2011.

We describe the isolation of an NDM-1-producing Acinetobacter baumannii in a Czech patient repatriated in July 2011 from Egypt. The infection spread to another patient on the same ward. Both isolates showed the same resistance pattern and were susceptible only to colistin. They had an identical PFGE pattern and belonged to the same sequence type ST 1. Sequencing of the blaNDM gene identified the NDM-1 variant of the carbapenemase, surrounded by two copies of insertion sequence ISAba125.

[Interpretation of the susceptibility test results in enterobacteria producing 3rd- and 4th-generation cephalosporin- or carbapenem-hydrolyzing beta-lactamases]. / Interpretace výsledku vysetrení citlivosti k beta-laktamim u enterobakterií produkujících beta-laktamázy hydrolyzující cefalosporiny III. a IV. generace a karbapenemy.

The interpretation of the susceptibility of Gram-negative rods to beta-lactams is currently under discussion in CLSI and EUCAST--two authorities on determination of clinical breakpoints. This article summarizes the current knowledge about clinical breakpoints in enterobacteria and proposes guidance for clinical microbiology laboratories in the Czech Republic.

[Antibiotic resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus pyogenes in 1996-2009]. / Antibiotická rezistence Streptococcus pneumoniae a Streptococcus pyogenes v letech 1996-2009.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To analyze trends in the resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae to penicillin and macrolides and of S. pyogenes to macrolides over a 14-year period and to determine serotypes and molecular characteristics in a selected group of S. pneumoniae strains resistant to these antibiotics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Susceptibility to antibiotics was tested by the participating laboratories by the disk diffusion method in isolates of both bacterial species from the lower and upper respiratory tract from 1996-2009. The National Reference Laboratory for Antibiotics (NRL/ATB) determined the minimal inhibitory concentrations of penicillin and erythromycin for invasive pneumococcal isolates from 2000-2009 and performed multilocus sequence analysis of selected resistant strains. RESULTS: Over the 14-year period monitored, penicillin resistance of S. pneumoniae isolates from the upper and lower respiratory tract showed a slightly downward trend similarly to blood isolates monitored since 2000. Resistance to macrolides in S. pneumoniae isolates was lower than penicillin resistance, regardless of the sample origin until 2005, but became higher than penicillin resistance in 2006 to follow a continuously upward trend since then. In 2009, the penicillin resistance rates of S. pneumoniae isolates from the upper respiratory tract, lower respiratory tract and blood were 3.5%, 5.1% and 4.7%, respectively, while the respective erythromycin resistance rates reached 8.4%, 12.2% and 5.5%. When using the new clinical breakpoints for pneumococci from pneumonia cases depending on penicillin dose and administration interval, only two (0.1%) of 1528 strains from the blood were confirmed as penicillin resistant (MIC 4 mg/l). Resistance of S. pyogenes to macrolides, reported in 16.5% of strains in 2001, sharply decreased to 9% in 2003 as a result of an intervention to promote the use of penicillin for the treatment of tonsillopharyngitis, and reached 11.1% in 2009. Among penicillin resistant strains of S. pneumoniae, the spread of clone Spain9V-3 (ST156) was confirmed, and among S. pneumoniae strains resistant to erythromycin alone, the spread of clones Poland6B-20 (ST315) and England9V-14 (ST9) was found. CONCLUSIONS: The favourable low prevalence of penicillin resistance among S. pneumoniae strains, which in addition is negligible in the light of the new clinical breakpoints for penicillin resistance in strains from patients with pneumonia, contrasts with the ever increasing resistance of this species to macrolides. The highest rates of resistance to macrolides found in the strains isolated mainly from the sputum of adult patients confirm the preference for macrolides over the drugs of choice amoxicillin or penicillin G in the treatment of adults with pneumococcal pneumonia. Further spread of successful multiresistant clones of S. pneumoniae, the presence of which has been revealed in the Czech Republic, can only be prevented by a radical reduction in overuse or misuse of antibiotics.

[Nocardia farcinica as the causative agent of a brain abscess in a patient with interstitial lung disease]. / Nocardia farcinica jako puvodce abscesu mozku u pacienta s intersticiálním onemocnením plic.

This case report describes a two-step protocol for the identification of the causative agent of nocardiosis in a patient with brain abscess, antibiotic susceptibility testing and etiological treatment after neurosurgery. The patient treated with corticosteroids for pulmonary fibrosis and presenting with multiple neurological manifestations was admitted to a neurosurgery clinic. CT and contrast MRI revealed an expansive multilocular lesion 45 x 35 mm in size in the left parietal lobe, differentially diagnosed as malignant glioma. The lesion was biopsied and the histology showed a brain abscess containing white blood cells and dead tissue. The aspirated pus culture yielded bacteria of the genus Nocardia that were further identified, in the first step, by phenotypic methods (Gram positivity, partial acidoresistance, airborne mycelium detection, growth at 45 degrees C, lysozyme resistance and antibiotic resistance phenotype) as belonging to resistance phenotype V., v.s. N. farcinica (resistance to aminoglycosides except amikacin and to third-generation cephalosporins). In the second step of the polyphasic identification, rDNA was isolated and a 1000 bp part of the 16S rRNA gene was sequenced. Sequence comparison with the GenBank database using BLAST software identified the agent as N. farcinica (100%). The isolate was tested for susceptibility by the NCCLS /CLSI dilution method and showed good susceptibility to co-trimoxazole, amikacin and imipenem. The patient was treated with long-term intravenous cotrimoxazole acid in combination with amikacin and his clinical condition and laboratory parameters of inflammation improved. N. farcinica is among the three most frequently isolated Nocardia species in Europe as well as in the Czech Republic where it was repeatedly recovered from the lungs and respiratory tract of immunocompromised patients with systemic nocardiosis.

[The use of molecular genetics techniques in clinical microbiology--final report from the workshop of the Molecular Microbiology Working Group TIDE]. / Aplikace metod molekulární genetiky v klinické mikrobiologii: zpráva z jednání Pracovní skupiny molekulárni mikrobiologie--TIDE.

In the last decade, there has been a rapid development in the use of molecular genetics methods in clinical microbiology. Novel technologies bring new knowledge and approaches to various disciplines of microbiology--taxonomy, identification of microbes, clinical diagnosis, epidemiology of infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance. This article summarizes the conclusions from the workshop of the Molecular Microbiology Working Group TIDE held during the Second Annual Meeting of the Society for Medical Microbiology of the J. E. Purkyne Czech Medical Association.

Identification of Plesiomonas spp.: serological and MALDI-TOF MS methods.

Biochemical and serological profiles of isolates of Plesiomonas shigelloides were assayed using standard procedures in isolates from various clinical samples. Seventy-four isolates, including P. shigelloides type strain, were further characterized by MALDI-TOF MS using 3-methoxy-4-hydroxycinnamic acid as matrix. Multiple ions in the 3- to 12-kDa mass range were found in the spectra of each strain, from which the "species-identifying" unique biomarker ions were identified. After creating the species-specific patterns, a spectral database was generated for reliable, rapid, reproducible and accurate identification of Plesiomonas strains. The classical strain description (biochemical and serological) was thus complemented with the metabolic (proteomic) characterization.

First identification of metallo-beta-lactamase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the Czech Republic.

Since 2005, invasive isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been collected in the Czech Republic as part of the European Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance System (EARSS). Forty-eight microbiology laboratories throughout the country including approximately 81% of the population provide consecutive isolates from blood and cerebrospinal fluid. Surprisingly, no metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) was found in 1,259 invasive isolates tested over the past three years until the detection of two MBL-producing strains in mid-2008. Both strains were isolated from patients hospitalised in one regional hospital. The MBL was identified as IMP-7, which had been seen previously in Canada, Japan, Malaysia and Slovakia.

Carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in veterinary personnel.

A survey of 280 attendees at a veterinary meeting in the Czech Republic in 2008 revealed a carriage rate of 0.7% for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The two strains isolated were of distinct genetic lineages, carried type IV SCCmec determinants and were negative for Panton-Valentine leukocidin genes. The MRSA positivity rates for veterinarians in the Czech Republic is considerably lower than reported elsewhere.