The aim of the present study was to investigate the colonization status of Clostridium difficile in healthy individuals. In total, 139 healthy adults from two study groups were examined at intervals of 3 months. Among the 18 positive subjects, the number of subjects from whom C. difficile was isolated once, twice, three times or four times was 10 (55.6%), three (16.7%), two (11.1%) and three (1...

INTRODUCTION Catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs) associated with short-term central venous catheters (CVCs) in intensive care unit (ICU) patients are a major clinical problem. Bacterial colonization of the skin at the CVC insertion site is an important etiologic factor for CRBSI. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of medical-grade honey in reducing bacterial skin colo...

Invasive candidiasis is an opportunistic infection that occurs in medical and surgical patients and carries a high mortality rate. Because its process always follows from colonization to amplification and to invasion, understand the colonization status is important to understand the likelihood of invasion. Screening for fungal colonization was performed with specimens from urine, throat, anus, ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To evaluate the impact of 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine on Streptococcus pneumoniae colonization in the upper airway of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 in Taiwan. METHODS 302 HIV-infected patients aged 15 years or older underwent swab cultures of the posterior pharynx and tonsils for S. pneumoniae between June 1, 2000 and June 30, 2002...

BACKGROUND Bacterial colonization and recurrent infections of the respiratory tract contribute to the progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). There is evidence that exacerbations of COPD are provoked by new bacterial strains acquired from the environment. Using a murine model of colonization, we examined whether chronic exposure to cigarette smoke (CS) promotes nasopharynge...

BACKGROUND Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) "colonization pressure" (CP) predicts infections in hospitals. We applied the CP concept to staphylococcal transmission within households. We tested the hypothesis that children with S aureus skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI) plus colonization ("cases") with higher baseline household CP (HHCP) would be at greater risk for persist...

The identification and eradication of Helicobacter Pylori (HP) is vital to prevent gastric cancer. After the detection of the HP colonization, accompanying histopathological findings belonging the gastric carcinogenesis should also be considered. According to the widely accepted proofs, although the presence of HP colonization initiates the sequential changes of carcinogenesis, the success rate...

BACKGROUND Staphylococcus aureus infections are increasing among pregnant and postpartum women and neonates, but risk factors for S. aureus colonization in pregnancy and the association between maternal colonization and infant infections are not well defined. We sought to identify risk factors for maternal S. aureus rectovaginal colonization and assess colonization as a risk factor for infectio...

BACKGROUND The duration of colonization and factors associated with clearance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) after community-onset MRSA skin and soft-tissue infection (SSTI) remain unclear. METHODS We conducted a prospective cohort study of patients with acute MRSA SSTI presenting to 5 adult and pediatric academic hospitals from 1 January 2010 through 31 December 2012. ...