The in-vitro activity of levofloxacin was compared with ofloxacin and D-ofloxacin against 130 isolates of Staphylococcus aureaus and 117 isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci, using the agar dilution method. In general, levofloxacin was equally active or up to fourfold more active than ofloxacin against all staphylococci, including 61 methicillin-resistant S. aureus. In contrast, D-oflox...

Staphylococcus aureus is a common colonizer in pigs, with methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in particular being a potential health risk to humans. To reduce the exposure to humans, the colonization in pigs should be reduced. The aim of this study was to quantitatively compare the susceptibility of pig lineages for S. aureus colonization, and if the absence of S. aureus could be associated ...

This study concerns the cloning, characterization, and expression of the lysin (LysK) from staphylococcal phage K in Lactococcus lactis. Lactococcal lysates containing recombinant LysK were found to inhibit a range of different species of staphylococci isolated from bovine and human infection sources, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. LysK thus has potential as an antimicro...

An increase in oxacillin activity was observed against methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (MRCNS) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the presence of a sub-MIC of vancomycin. Vancomycin and oxacillin were synergistic against 14 of 21 strains of MRCNS and MRSA. A pattern of enhanced killing was also supported by time-kill studies. These results suggest t...

Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis are two major skin associated bacteria, and Substance P (SP) is a major skin neuropeptide. Since bacteria are known to sense and response to many human hormones, we investigated the effects of SP on Staphylococci virulence in reconstructed human epidermis model and HaCaT keratinocytes. We show that SP is stimulating the virulence of S. aureus...

Two new selective media, oxacillin resistance screening agar base (ORSAB) and CHROMagar Staph aureus (CSA), were evaluated for identification of Staphylococcus aureus and for screening of methicillin resistance by addition of antimicrobial agents to these media. A well-defined collection consisting of 1,140 staphylococci was used. A total of 624 were S. aureus, of which 358 were methicillin sus...

background and objectives: infection is the most common cause of death among burnt patients and infection control decrease the rate of mortality. the use of sticky mat can control contamination by preventing the entrance microorganisms into the hospital wards. this study was designed to evaluate the sticky mats effect in reduction of microorganism’s entry by personnel shoes to burn intensive ca...

Staphylococci represent the most commonly encountered blood culture isolates. Differentiating Staphylococcus aureus from coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) is important in guiding empirical therapy, especially since the majority of CoNS are contaminants. This study evaluated three rapid methods for the direct identification of S. aureus from blood cultures. A total of 157 patient blood cul...

The major aims of this study were to estimate the infection rate and recognize the risk factor for ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt infections in children. To analyze shunt infection rate and identify risk factors, a retrospective cohort analysis of 333 consecutive VP shunt series was performed at Seoul National University Children's Hospital in Korea between January 2005 and February 2011. Over...

Four isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and 98 isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci representing six species all obtained from endocervical cultures were examined for antimicrobial susceptibility and for the presence of plasmids. More than 80% of the isolates were susceptible to each of 12 antimicrobial agents tested, whereas only 33% were susceptible to penicillin G, 30% were susceptibl...