BACKGROUND Although the nares represent the most common carriage site for traditional hospital-associated strains of Staphylococcus aureus (SA), the predominant site of carriage of SA in the community is less certain. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study in 285 patients attending sexually transmitted diseases and inner-city clinics to evaluate the prevalence, body site colonisation an...

BACKGROUND Colonisation with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is a striking feature of lung involvement in cystic fibrosis. To identify the clinical consequences of the different steps of colonisation with PA under a defined therapeutic regime (no prophylactic antibiotic treatment as long as patients had no severe pulmonary disease), their influence on pulmonary function and on therapeutic intensity...

In cattle, the lymphoid rich regions of the rectal-anal mucosa at the terminal rectum are the preferred site for Escherichia coli O157:H7 colonisation. All cattle infected by rectal swab administration demonstrate long-term E. coli O157:H7 colonisation, whereas orally challenged cattle do not demonstrate long-term E. coli O157:H7 colonisation in all animals. Oral, but not rectal challenge of sh...

OBJECTIVES Pre-emptive fluconazole (fcz) anti-fungal therapy is often based upon Candida colonisation of at least 2 non-contiguous non-sterile sites. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between candidaemia and prior colonisation of non-sterile sites. METHODS A retrospective observational study was performed in the intensive care unit/high dependency unit (ICU/HDU) of a Univ...

Faeces from 24 neonates with proved necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), from 12 with clinically suspected NEC, and from 41 control infants were quantitatively cultured under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. An important difference in colonisation with Klebsiella was found between the NEC groups and the control group. Although the cause of NEC is unknown, colonisation with Klebsiella seems to incr...

Two fatal cases of invasive pneumococcal disease in the newborn are reported, both acquired from the maternal vagina. The rarity of vaginal carriage of pneumococcus suggests that this organism has a higher invasion to colonisation ratio than group B streptococcus and maternal carriage or neonatal colonisation should be more aggressively treated.

The image of the colonisation of the land by plants as a spectacular event, when barren wastes suddenly became verdant triggered by a change in some extrinsic environmental factor, is fading. It derived from the appearance and rapid diversification of vascular plants, unequivocal land colonisers, and, almost simultaneously, the earliest terrestrial arthropods, in the late Silurian and early Dev...

The cytokines interleukin-l and interleukin-2 participate in the inflammatory response, and may contribute to hypergammaglobulinaemia G and the development of lung injury in cystic fibrosis. Anti-inflammatory treatment with corticosteroids may attenuate this response. The effect ofa 12 week course of oral prednisolone on spirometry and serum concentrations of interleukin-la (IL-la), soluble int...

The bacterial flora of the female periurethral area was studied by impression cultures taken by polystyrene sponges, the results being recorded by photographic contact printing. With this technique it is possible to observe the preferential colonisation of different areas by different organisms and to detect persistent colonisation by pathogens. In assessing the possible aetiological importance...