Background: Colistin is a last resort antibiotic for the treatment of carbapenem-resistant Gram negative infections. Until recently, mechanisms of colistin resistance were limited to chromosomal mutations which confer a ...

Introduction: Group A β-haemolytic Streptococcus (GAS), a Gram-positive bacterium, also known as Streptococcus pyogenes, causes pyoderma, pharyngitis and invasive disease. Repeated GAS infections may lead to autoimmune ...

Background: Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) is a rare idiopathic inflammatory childhood myopathy of uncertain aetiology. The demographic and clinical presentation of JDM may differ by race and geographic regions. Few ...

Background: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) has established itself over the years as a major cause of morbidity and mortality both within the community and in healthcare settings. Methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) ...

Background. The benchmark for contaminated blood cultures (BCs) is 3%. The South African (SA) guideline aims to optimise BC yield and reduce contamination. Data on BC collection practices in SA since the publication of the ...

Cryptococcal meningitis is the most frequent cause of meningitis and a major cause of mortality in HIV-infected adults in Africa. This study evaluated the performance of the lateral flow assay (LFA) on cerebrospinal fluid ...

South African women and children remain at the centre of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pandemic, and maternal well-being plays a critical role in child health. In this study, we evaluated the impact of the paediatric ...

Cancer biomarkers have provided great opportunities for improving the management of cancer patients by enhancing the efficiency of early detection, diagnosis, and efficacy of treatment. Every cell type has a unique molecular ...

The Tigecycline Evaluation and Surveillance Trial (T.E.S.T.) was established in 2004 to monitor longitudinal changes in bacterial susceptibility to numerous antimicrobial agents, specifically tigecycline. In this study, ...

Background. The increasing rates of antimicrobial resistance observed in the nosocomial pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae are of major public health concern worldwide. Objectives. To describe the antibiotic susceptibility ...

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Objectives: The ability to form biofilms contributes significantly to the virulence of Staphylococcus aureus. Virulence factors may be associated with certain S. aureus lineages. However, the contribution ...

The Staphylococcus aureus regulatory saePQRS system controls the expression of numerous virulence factors, including extracellular adherence protein (Eap), which amongst others facilitates invasion of host cells. The saePQRS ...

Background Antibiotic consumption is a major driver of bacterial resistance. To address the increasing burden of multi-drug resistant bacterial infections, antibiotic stewardship programmes are promoted worldwide to ...

Abstract Background Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is an important cause of hospitalization and mortality in HIV-infected children. However, the incidence of PCP has been underestimated ...

The key issues in the successful management of malaria are early and accurate diagnosis and urgent treatment with effective drugs. Disease presentation is, however, not specific – progression to complicated disease may ...

The first year of life represents a time of marked susceptibility to infections; this is particularly true for regions in sub-Saharan Africa. As innate immunity directs the adaptive immune response, the observed increased ...

ABSTRACT: Background. Elizabethkingia spp. are opportunistic pathogens often found associated with intravascular device-related bacteraemias and ventilator-associated pneumonia. Their ability to exist as biofilm structures ...

Uricult dip slide urine cultures were compared with standard laboratory plate cultures. Good agreement of bacterial counts was obtained after incubation at 37°C but not at room temperature. Tests of therapeutic activity ...

[No abstract available]

Over a 12-month period, 74 isolates of Serratia marcescens were obtained from various sources at Tygerberg Hospital. The majority of these isolates were from catheterized patients with urinary tract infections, and ...

[No abstract available]

Background. Tuberculosis (TB) is a major health problem in the Western Cape, with an incidence exceeding 900 per 100 000 people. Nosocomial transmission of TB, and particularly drug-resistant TB, is a potential risk that ...

Differentiation of 625 strains of bacteria which fulfilled the requirements laid down for the definition of Klebsielleae was carried out using 6 biochemical tests. 546 strains were identified as members of the genus ...

Background: There is little information on nasopharyngeal (NP) flora or bacteremia in HIV-infected children. Our aim was to describe the organisms and antimicrobial resistance patterns in children enrolled in a prospective ...