Clinical and microbiological evaluation of temocillin for bloodstream infections with Enterobacterales: a Belgian single-centre retrospective study.

Background: Expanding the use of temocillin could be an important weapon in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. However, EUCAST defined clinical breakpoints for a limited number of species and only for urinary tract infections (UTI), including urosepsis but excluding severe sepsis and septic shock. Moreover, a dosage of 2 g q8h is advised in most cases. Objectives: Evaluation of temocillin use for the treatment of bacteraemia, correlating clinical and microbiological outcomes with infection site, infection severity, temocillin dosage, Enterobacterales species and MIC. Patients and methods: All adult patients with blood cultures positive for temocillin-susceptible Enterobacterales and treated with temocillin for ≥72 h from June 2018 until June 2021 were considered for inclusion. The primary outcome was clinical success, defined as resolution of infection signs, no relapse of the same infection and no antibiotic switch due to insufficient clinical improvement. The secondary outcome was microbiological success. Results: In total, 182 episodes were included [140 UTI versus 42 non-UTI, 171 Escherichia coli, Klebsiella species (except Klebsiella aerogenes) and Proteus mirabilis (EKPs) versus 11 non-EKPs]. Clinical and microbiological failure were low (8% and 3%, respectively). No difference in outcome was observed for dosages of 2 g q12h versus 2 g q8h, either for EKP versus non-EKP isolates or MIC values ≤8 versus 16 mg/L. Considering only bacteraemia episodes of UTI origin, using the 16 mg/L breakpoint, there was no difference in success rate between regimens of 2 g q12h and 2 g q8h. Conclusions: Temocillin 2 g q12h can be successfully used for the treatment of systemic UTI. Prospective studies are needed to assess outcomes and evaluate non-inferiority compared with other broad-spectrum antibiotics in non-UTI infections, including bacteraemia.

Distribution of HCV genotypes in Belgium from 2008 to 2015.

BACKGROUND: The knowledge of circulating HCV genotypes and subtypes in a country is crucial to guide antiviral therapy and to understand local epidemiology. Studies investigating circulating HCV genotypes and their trends have been conducted in Belgium. However they are outdated, lack nationwide representativeness or were not conducted in the general population. METHODS: In order to determine the distribution of different circulating HCV genotypes in Belgium, we conducted a multicentre study with all the 19 Belgian laboratories performing reimbursed HCV genotyping assays. Available genotype and subtype data were collected for the period from 2008 till 2015. Furthermore, a limited number of other variables were collected: some demographic characteristics from the patients and the laboratory technique used for the determination of the HCV genotype. RESULTS: For the study period, 11,033 unique records collected by the participating laboratories were used for further investigation. HCV genotype 1 was the most prevalent (53.6%) genotype in Belgium, with G1a and G1b representing 19.7% and 31.6%, respectively. Genotype 3 was the next most prevalent (22.0%). Further, genotype 4, 2, and 5 were responsible for respectively 16.1%, 6.2%, and 1.9% of HCV infections. Genotype 6 and 7 comprise the remaining <1%. Throughout the years, a stable distribution was observed for most genotypes. Only for genotype 5, a decrease as a function of the year of analysis was observed, with respectively 3.6% for 2008, 2.3% for 2009 and 1.6% for the remaining years. The overall M:F ratio was 1.59 and was mainly driven by the high M:F ratio of 3.03 for patients infected with genotype 3. Patients infected with genotype 3 are also younger (mean age 41.7 years) than patients infected with other genotypes (mean age above 50 years for all genotypes). The patients for whom a genotyping assay was performed in 2008 were younger than those from 2015. Geographical distribution demonstrates that an important number of genotyped HCV patients live outside the Belgian metropolitan cities. CONCLUSION: This national monitoring study allowed a clear and objective view of the circulating HCV genotypes in Belgium and will help health authorities in the establishment of cost effectiveness determinations before implementation of new treatment strategies. This baseline characterization of the circulating genotypes is indispensable for a continuous surveillance, especially for the investigation of the possible impact of migration from endemic regions and prior to the increasing use of highly potent direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents.