This study evaluated the relationship between previous colonization of the oropharynx and development of ventilator-associated pneumonia through the classification of genomic fingerprint pattern by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of both oxacillin-resistant and oxacillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus isolates obtained from hospitalized patients in an intensive care unit.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most common nosocomial infection in the intensive care unit and is associated with major morbidity and attributable mortality. Strategies to prevent VAP are likely to be successful only if based upon a sound understanding of pathogenesis and epidemiology. The major route for acquiring endemic VAP is oropharyngeal colonization by the endogenous flora ...

To the Editor—Gottfredsson et al. [1], in a cross-sectional study of oropharyngeal Candida colonization in 83 patients with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection, reported that only plasma HIV-1 load was predictive of Candida load; neither CD4 lymphocyte level nor use of antiretroviral therapy was associated with colonization [1]. They hypothesized that high levels of HIV-1 may ...

A group B streptococcus recovered from a blood specimen from a neonate with sepsis was used to evaluate the use of mice for studies characterizing the hematogenous virulence and the asymptomatic mucosal colonization of the vagina or of the respiratory tract by these bacteria. When injected intravenously, the 50% lethal dose for mice was 10(6); however, as few as 10(2) organisms produced septic ...

This study evaluated the role of periodontal pathogens in 50 hospitalized patients with hospital acquired pneumonia compared with 30 healthy controls. Specimens of oropharyngeal aspirate, dental plaque bronchoalveolar lavage and blood cultured 1 or more pathogens in around 80% of patients, predominatel Staphylococcus aureus, followed by coagulase-negative staphylococci, Streptococcus pneumonia...

BACKGROUND: Oropharyngeal candidiasis is a common infection in patient receiving radiotherapy for head and neck cancer. Accurate and rapid identification of candida species is very important in clinical laboratory, because the incidence of candidiasis continues to rise after radiotherapy. The genus Candida has about 154 species that show different level of resistance to antifungal drugs and hav...

Healthy carriers of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) play an important role in the spread of invasive disease. The aim of this study was to assess the need for Hib vaccination in Iranian children by estimating the prevalence of Hib oropharyngeal colonization among children in Tehran. Cultures were prepared from oropharyngeal swabs of 1000 children in 25 day-care centres in Tehran from Octobe...

Colonization of the oropharynx by Kingella kingae is currently considered to be a prerequisite for later development of invasive infections. However, the oropharyngeal K. kingae DNA bacterial load in children with osteoarticular infections caused by this microorganism is not different than that of asymptomatic carriers.