OBJECTIVE To find out the frequency and susceptibility pattern of multi-drug resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa in clinical specimens. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional observational study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Department of Microbiology, Army Medical College, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Rawalpindi, from January to September 2010. METHODOLOGY Routine clini...

Imipenem-cilastatin and piperacillin-tazobactam are two antibiotics with broad antimicrobial coverage. Besides the many well established adverse effects of these drugs, there have been few case reports of hypokalemia. Here we present an interesting case of resistant hypokalemia caused by these drugs leading to Torsades de Pointes which has never been reported in the past. Hypokalemia resolved w...

In vitro synergy testing using levofloxacin (LVX) plus piperacillin/tazobactam (TZP) was performed by Etest and time-kill assay (TKA) for 31 unique fluoroquinolone-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates. The Etest method showed synergy for 9/31 (29%) of isolates, while TKA showed synergy with 14/31 (45%) of isolates. When comparing the Etest method and TKA, concordant results for synergy, an...

OBJECTIVES High levels of β-lactamase production can impact treatment with a β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combination. Goals of this study were to: (i) compare the mRNA and protein levels of CTX-M-15- and CTX-M-14-producing Escherichia coli from 18 different STs and 10 different phylotypes; (ii) evaluate the mRNA half-lives and establish a role for chromosomal- and/or plasmid-encoded factors;...

INTRODUCTION It is assumed that a direct relationship exists between the extent of use of any given antibiotic or antibiotic class and the degree of susceptibility or resistance on the part of various bacteria to that antibiotic or class. METHODS Pseudomonas aeruginosa susceptibility rates and utilization of key antipseudomonal antibiotics in a pediatric hospital, reflected as grams/1,000 pat...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Current recommendations for piperacillin-tazobactam dosing in patients receiving continuous renal replacement therapy originate from studies with relatively few patients and lower continuous renal replacement therapy doses than commonly used today. This study measured the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of piperacillin-tazobactam in patients treated...

TO THE EDITOR—We appreciate the response of King and Stover [1] to our recent article [2]. The authors bring up the important issue of piperacillin-tazobactam and its association with positive serum galactomannan index assays due to the presence of antigenic epitopes in many branded preparations. In our report, we did not comment on the use of branded or generic piperacillin-tazobactam in our p...