1181 LETTERS Her hemoglobin level had dropped further to 8.4 g/dL. Sputum culture yielded substantial growth of methi-cillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. RT-PCR results of throat and nasal swabs were positive twice for coronavirus, but coronavirus cultures from these areas were negative. One month after onset, her coronavirus antibody titer was 200. In view of pos...

The polarizing debate about how to control antimicrobial-resistant organisms in hospitals continues to focus on methi-cillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the use of active surveillance cultures. In the United States, MRSA infection causes an estimated 18,650 deaths annually among hospitalized patients [1] and likely cost billions of dollars [2]. The National Nosocomial Infections ...

To the Editor Amini et al. carried out an interesting systematic review about the effects of vitamin B12 supplementation in hyperhomocyste-inemia in individuals with end stage renal diseases, and highlighted the lack of expressive number of studies with random-ized controlled design (1). Vitamin B12 was administrated either by injection or orally, and some patients received folate as well. It i...

The influence of our environment on the development of malformation is well known and, again and again, discussed with great enthusiasm. For example, the supplementation of the diet with folic acid has been proven to prevent neural tube defects already in 1991 [1, 6]. However, despite this well–known fact, only 10.6% of women take folic acid at least four weeks before getting pregnant; although...

lence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among veterinarians: an international study.tis due to meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus originating from pigs Data collection on a proposal for technical specifi cations for a baseline survey on the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in breeding pigs. Development of a PCR test to differentiate between S...

Recently, several published papers aiming to isolate and characterize methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have had major bias. For example, an article titled " Microbial Susceptibility and Plasmid Profiles of Methi-cillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-Susceptible S. aureus " by Shahkarami et al. (1). Even though, the authors have spent respectable effort to repo...

The size and nature of the zone of inhibition round a benzylpenicillin disc have been widely used as guides to the sensitivity or resistance of a strain of Staphylococcus aureus. However, the diameter of the zone ofinhibition depends on many factors, including inoculum size, depth of medium, and potency of the antibiotic test disc. Inoculum size, in particular, may be difficult to standardise w...

A s described by Andrew Simor and colleagues 1 elsewhere in this issue (page 21), Canadian hospitals, like many hospitals elsewhere, have recently witnessed an increase in the proportion of Staphylococcus aureus isolates that are resistant to methicillin (known as methi-cillin-resistant S. aureus or MRSA). The rate has risen from 1% of all isolates in 1995 to 6% in 1999. 1 Despite the increase ...

Comparison of community-and health care-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection. JAMA. Staphylococcus aureus isolated in cases of impetigo produces both epidermolysin A or B and LukE-LukD in 78% of 131 retrospective and prospective cases. Lerakis S. Staphylococcus aureus bac-teremia and endocarditis: the Grady Memorial Hospital experience with methi-cillin-sensitive S. ...

Mediterranean spotted fever in liver trans-plantation: a case report. To the Editor: Unusual and multiresistant bacterial infections are increasingly reported in cystic fi bro-sis (CF) patients (1). On January 25, 2007, a 31-year-old man with CF (mutation ΔF 508 and I 507) was admitted to our institution in Marseille, France, for lung transplantation. His immuno-suppressive regimen included IV ...