The role of microbiology laboratories in the care of patients with suspected or known infections has been described in previous articles in this series of medical microbiology updates. This review addresses the broader role of clinical microbiology laboratories in the quality of care and patient safety. The importance of microbiology laboratories in the care of patients with infectious diseases...

In 2006, the first isolate of KPC-2-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the world was identified in Colombia. Recently, similar strains have been reported in Puerto Rico. We now report KPC-2-producing P. aeruginosa in Trinidad and Tobago. Surveillance for similar strains is warranted, considering their wide geographic spread and known association with mobile genetic elements.

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infections of the cerebrospinal shunts and other neurosurgical structures are not uncommon in the clinical practice. these infections are mostly clinical emergencies carrying negative prognostic impacts on the patients as well as spending healthcare resources. the low pathogenicity nature of some implicated pathogens results in minimal physical signs that may complicate the diagnosis and mislea...

The use of photograms provides a permanent record of microbiological assays in which diffusion of a substance in agar is measured. The accuracy of this procedure is comparable to direct measurement. This technique is inexpensive, does not require special photographic equipment, and is applicable to many tests commonly employed in clinical microbiology and immunology laboratories.

Microbiology is a relatively modern scientific discipline intended to objectively study microorganisms, including pathogens and nonpathogens. However, since its birth, this science has been negatively affected by anthropocentric convictions, including rational and irrational beliefs. Among these, for example, is the artificial separation between environmental and medical microbiology that weake...

My long-term goals are to advance understanding of sediment transport processes. In this context, the long-term goal of this project is to advance understanding of the reference concentration, i.e. concentration of suspended sediments at a small distance above the seafloor. The scientific interest is in relating this reference concentration to the forcing conditions of waves and currents. The n...

This study compares the scope and nature of the gang problem in two communities: one in the United States and one in Trinidad and Tobago, a small-island developing state in the eastern Caribbean that has experienced a serious outbreak of violence over the past decade. Data drawn from surveys of adult arrestees reveal that among respondents, 3.2% of those in the U.S. sample and 5.1% of those in ...