Journal of clinical microbiology
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J. Clin. Microbiol. · Nov 1999
Case ReportsCase of peritonitis caused by Ewingella americana in a patient undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.
Reports of serious infections caused by Ewingella americana have been rare. A case of E. americana peritonitis in a patient receiving continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis is described. This is the first report of E. americana causing such an infection.
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J. Clin. Microbiol. · Nov 1999
Comparative StudyApplication of different genotyping methods for Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a setting of endemicity in an intensive care unit.
Colonization with Pseudomonas aeruginosa was studied by taking serial swab specimens from the oropharynges and anuses and tracheal and gastric aspirates from patients in an intensive care unit during a 10-month period in a setting of endemicity. Nineteen (10%) of the 192 patients included in the study were colonized on admission, while another 30 (16%) patients acquired P. aeruginosa while in the hospital. Typing of 353 isolates was performed by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis, and 56 strains were selected for further typing by RAPD analysis, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis. ⋯ The numbers of observed typing patterns and band differences between related isolates were counted for each typing method. AFLP analysis with primers without a selective base proved to be the most discriminatory method, followed by PFGE, AFLP analysis (with one selective base), and RAPD analysis. On the basis of a comparison with established strain differentiation criteria for PFGE, the criteria for differentiation of P. aeruginosa by AFLP analysis are presented.
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J. Clin. Microbiol. · Nov 1999
Value of PCR for detection of Toxoplasma gondii in aqueous humor and blood samples from immunocompetent patients with ocular toxoplasmosis.
Toxoplasma gondii infection is an important cause of chorioretinitis in the United States and Europe. Most cases of Toxoplasma chorioretinitis result from congenital infection. Patients are often asymptomatic during life, with a peak incidence of symptomatic illness in the second and third decades of life. ⋯ Interestingly, among all patients with ocular toxoplasmosis, a positive PCR result with the aqueous humor sample was accompanied by a positive PCR result with the blood sample. This result suggests that ocular toxoplasmosis should not be considered a local event, as PCR testing of blood samples from patients with ocular toxoplasmosis yielded the same result as PCR testing of aqueous humor samples. PCR testing may be useful for discriminating between ocular toxoplasmosis and other ocular diseases, and also can avoid the problems associated with ocular puncture.