Gram-positive cocci are common causes of bloodstream and nosocomial infections, and their multi-drug resistance is an increasingly serious problem. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of multi-drug-resistant Gram-positive cocci in a Chinese population. In this retrospective study, data about Gram-positive cocci from in-patients (January 2006 and December 2013) at the Second Hospita...

Human alveolar macrophages (AM) have recently been reported to ingest and kill a strain of Staphylococcus (502A) in the absence of opsonins. To further investigate the mechanism of non-opsonic recognition, we studied phagocytosis of 23 clinical and laboratory strains of S. aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis by AM, and by blood polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and monocytes (MN). In the abs...

One hundred reference strains and 1,240 clinical isolates representing 26 species of the family Micrococcaceae were used to evaluate the potential of tests for synergistic hemolysis, adherence to glass, pyroglutamyl-beta-naphthylamide hydrolysis, and susceptibility to a set of five antimicrobial agents for differentiating these species and strains within the species. Sixty-eight percent of the ...

DURING the winter of 1939-40 a number of men working in a munition factory attended at the skin department of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, where they were seen by Dr. Ivan McCaw. They were suffering from staphylococcal lesions of the skin of the arms and thighs, which varied in severity from mild folliculitis with acne to severe boils. During work, the skin of the parts affected was in...

Staphylococci are common causes of healthcare-associated and community-associated infections. However, limited data are available on the prevalence, phenotypes and molecular characteristics of Staphylococci in metro system around the world. 320 surface samples were collected from the Guangzhou metro system to isolate and characterize Staphylococci strains. Of the samples, 75.6% (242/320) were c...

Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococcal isolates from various geographic areas in the United States were examined by using a conjugative transfer gene DNA probe in dot-blot hybridization assays. Of 175 S. aureus isolates, 47 (27%) hybridized with the probe, while 24 of 208 (11.5%) coagulase-negative staphylococci hybridized. However, among methicillin-resistant S. aureus 52%...

Background: Neutropenic patients are vulnerable to a wide spectrum of infectious agents. The aim of this study was to determine the current frequency of bacterial infections in patients with nosocomial fever and neutropenia. Methods: In a retrospective study, the neutropenic patients’ specimens with nosocomial fever were cultured on blood and MacConkey agar plates and evaluated at microbiology ...