Bacterial Infections and Mycoses Commons^™

Pneumonia: Not Getting Vaccinated May Take Your Breath Away, Rodney Richmond

Faculty Research ​and Publications

No abstract provided.

Treatment Outcomes For Infections Caused By “Spice” (S–Serratia, P–Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, I–Indole Positive Proteus, C–Citrobacter, E– Enterobacter) Organisms: Carbapenem Versus Non-Carbapenem Regimens, Stanley Moy, Roopali Sharma

Touro College of Pharmacy (New York) Publications and Research

Background. Techniques to identify AmpC β-lactamases in SPICE organisms are not yet optimized for the clinical laboratory and are not routinely done. Clinicians are often left with an uncertainty on the choice of antibiotic when a SPICE organism is isolated. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outcomes of carbapenem versus non-carbapenem regimens in treating bacteremia or urinary tract infection (UTI) from a SPICE organism in a “real-world” setting.

Methods. This was a single-center, retrospective, case-cohort study consisting of adult patients who had clinical infection with a SPICE organism isolated from blood or urine cultures. Patients …

Tuberculosis As A Metaphor For Isolation: An Interdisciplinary Examination Of Tuberculosis, Stefanie Pavlick 15

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Multiplexed Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Of The 16s Rrna Gene For The Diagnosis Of Neonatal Sepsis In Resource-Limited Environments, Griffin T. Sonaty

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Sepsis, or dysregulated inflammation caused by bacterial infection, places a disproportionately high burden on newborns in developing countries. This is due in part to a lack of diagnostic tools suitable for sustainable use in resource-limited nurseries. One potential vehicle for a new diagnostic assay is loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), a high-yield DNA amplification method. LAMP has previously been used to detect genes from single species of bacteria in blood serum samples to aid in sepsis diagnosis. LAMP could be adapted to detect a broad set of bacteria, while retaining a degree of specificity that allows clinicians to begin directed antimicrobial …

The Effect Of Antibiotics On Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilm Production, Courtney Paige Turpin

Online Theses and Dissertations

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have become an increasing burden worldwide. A highly resistant species is Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a nosocomial pathogen that produces a biofilm that enhances its resistance. This project examined the possibility of using bacteriocin, an internal protective toxin produced by some species of bacteria, as a potential treatment for resistant bacteria. In this study, standard broad spectrum antibiotics were used to treat P. aeruginosa to prevent biofilm formation. The biofilm was then analyzed to determine if the biofilm is inhibited or facilitated by each treatment. Optimal concentrations of antibiotics were determined to be effective at a concentration of 0.07mg/mL for …

Characterization Of A Novel Protease In Staphylococcus Aureus, Adam L. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

A newly discovered cysteine protease, Prp, has been shown to perform an essential, site-specific cleavage of ribosomal protein L27 in Staphylococcus aureus. In Firmicutes and related bacteria, ribosomal protein L27 is encoded with a conserved N-terminal extension that must be removed to expose residues critical for ribosome function. Uncleavable and pre-cleaved variants were unable to complement an L27 deletion in S. aureus, indicating that this N-terminal processing event is essential and likely plays an important regulatory role. The gene encoding the responsible protease (prp) has been shown to be essential, and is found in all organisms …

The Genesis And Emergence Of Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (Ca-Mrsa): An Example Of Evolution In Action?, Alan L. Gillen, Jason Conrad, Michael Cargill

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Staphylococcus aureus infections are a common cause of disease, particularly in colonized persons. Recently, a series of published articles have reported that community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus (CA-MRSA) strains are evolving and increasingly becoming prevalent in households while health care acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA) is declining in the USA. The changing superbugs have often been used as an example of evolution in action. Although MRSA infections have become increasingly reported in the community, population-based studies of students preparing for the health professions having S. aureus and MRSA colonization are lacking. During the 2014–2015 school year 544 students were tested for MRSA carriage …

Development Of A Multivalent Subunit Vaccine Against Tularemia Using Tobacco Mosaic Virus (Tmv) Based Delivery System, Sukalyani Banik, Ahd Ahmed Mansour, Ragavan Varadharajan Suresh, Sherri Wykoff-Clary, Meenakshi Malik, Alison A. Mccormick, Chandra Shekhar Bakshi

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Pharmacy

Francisella tularensisis a facultative intracellular pathogen, and is the causative agent of a fatal human disease known as tularemia. F. tularensis is classified as a Category A Biothreat agent by the CDC based on its use in bioweapon programs by several countries in the past and its potential to be used as an agent of bioterrorism. No licensed vaccine is currently available for prevention of tularemia. In this study, we used a novel approach for development of a multivalent subunit vaccine against tularemia by using an efficient tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) based delivery platform. The multivalent subunit vaccine was formulated …

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa-Induced Bleb-Niche Formation In Epithelial Cells Is Independent Of Actinomyosin Contraction And Enhanced By Loss Of Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane-Conductance Regulator Osmoregulatory Function, Amber L. Jolly, Desire Takawira, Olufolarin O. Oke, Sarah A. Whiteside, Stephanie W. Chang, Emily R. Wen, David J. Evans

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Pharmacy

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa can infect almost any site in the body but most often targets epithelial cell-lined tissues such as the airways, skin, and the cornea of the eye. A common predisposing factor is cystic fibrosis (CF), caused by defects in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane-conductance regulator (CFTR). Previously, we showed that when P. aeruginosa enters epithelial cells it replicates intracellularly and occupies plasma membrane blebs. This phenotype is dependent on the type 3 secretion system (T3SS) effector ExoS, shown by others to induce host cell apoptosis. Here, we examined mechanisms for P. aeruginosa-induced bleb formation, focusing on its …

Is The Use Of Itraconazole Effective In The Treatment Of Patients Diagnosed With Tinea Versicolor And If So, What Is The Optimal Dosage?, Ashley B. Pachutski

PCOM Physician Assistant Studies Student Scholarship

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not itraconazole is effective in the treatment of patients diagnosed with tinea versicolor and if so, what is the optimal dosage.

STUDY DESIGN: Review of three peer-reviewed, randomized control trials (RCTs), two of which were published in 2002 and one in 2010.

DATA SOURCES: Studies were researched through PubMed and selected based on the type of study (RCT), their relevance to the clinical question, and if they were POEMS (patient oriented evidence that matters).

OUTCOME(S) MEASURED: Patient’s subjective measurement of the severity of pruritis, erythema, scaling, and …

Enhancement Of Antimicrobial Activity Of Naturally Occuring Phenolic Compounds By Nano-Particle Mediated Delivery Against Listeria Monocytogenes, Escherichia Coli O157:H7, And Salmonella Typhimurium, Madhuram Ravichandran

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food-borne illnesses are of major concern in the U.S. and worldwide. Salmonella,Listeria,E. coli O157:H7 continue to be some of the major foodborne pathogens. Recurring recalls due to these pathogens demand critical antimicrobial strategies to decontaminate the food through its procession from farm to fork. In our study, we combined the effectiveness of naturally occurring phenolic compounds individually, with/ without ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and/or Nisin and nanoparticle delivery to improve the antimicrobial potential of the compounds against Listeria monocytogenes (L.m.), Salmonella Typhimurium (S.T.), and Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E.c.), in brain …

Chip-Seq And In Vivo Transcriptome Analyses Of The Aspergillus Fumigatus Srebp Srba Reveals A New Regulator Of The Fungal Hypoxia Response And Virulence, Dawoon Chung, Bridget M. Barker, Charles C. Carey, Brittney Merriman

Dartmouth Scholarship

The Aspergillus fumigatus sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP) SrbA belongs to the basic Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH) family of transcription factors and is crucial for antifungal drug resistance and virulence. The latter phenotype is especially striking, as loss of SrbA results in complete loss of virulence in murine models of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). How fungal SREBPs mediate fungal virulence is unknown, though it has been suggested that lack of growth in hypoxic conditions accounts for the attenuated virulence. To further understand the role of SrbA in fungal infection site pathobiology, chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by massively parallel DNA sequencing (ChIP-seq) was …

Necrotizing Fasciitis, Holly Herron

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Necrotizing fasciitis also known as necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTIs) is a rare life-threatening infection that involves the skin and soft tissue. A rapid and accurate diagnosis of NSTIs must be identified by healthcare providers to diminish morbidity and mortality. NSTIs are characterized by progressive necrosis of subcutaneous tissue and fascia involving large areas of tissue (Lin, Chang, Lai, Lin, & Chen, 2013). Hippocrates (500 BC) described necrotizing fasciitis as “diffuse erysipelas caused by trivial accidents [where] flesh, sinews, and bones fell away in large quantities, [leading to] death in many cases” (Lancerotto, Tocco, Salmaso, Vindigni & Bassetto, 2012). In …

Necrotizing Fasciitis: The “Flesh Eating” Disease, John Neukam

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Necrotizing fasciitis, often referred to as the “flesh-eating disease”, is a rare bacterial infection with an extremely high mortality rate with symptoms that begin subtle but can quickly ravish the human body.1 While the prevalence of this disease is relatively low, evidence of this disease can be traced back as far as the 5th century BC where it was initially described by Hippocrates.2 It wasn’t until 1952 however that Dr. Bob Wilson termed the disease “necrotizing fasciitis”.3 The rapid progression of this disease and the acute deterioration it causes in a patient is extremely intriguing. This “flesh-eating disease” can present …

Enterococcus Faecalis Endocarditis: A Case Study, Torri Curtis

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Infectious endocarditis is an uncommon disease of the heart stemming from a bacterial or fungal infection on the endocardial surface of the heart or heart valve (Pierce, Calkins, & Thornton, 2012). From review of the literature, infective endocarditis is fairly uncommon and may be difficult to initially diagnose. Per Sabe, Shrestha, and Menon, occurrence of infective endocarditis (IE) is nearly 0.9-6.2 per 100,000 persons per year (2013). Several preexisting conditions such as aging, heart valve disease, implantable cardiac devices, a history of heart disease such as rheumatic fever, and invasive procedures can put a patient at higher risk for IE …

Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of A Newly Implemented, Proactive Approach To Legionellosis Investigations Conducted By The Southern Nevada Health District, Devin Charlotte Raman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This project is an evaluation of a new, more proactive approach to legionellosis investigations conducted by the Southern Nevada Health District. The new protocol was conceived, written and adopted in April of 2012 with the goal of preventing outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease that can have a significant impact on public health and the resort industry of Las Vegas. The objectives of this project were to determine if the remediation methods were successful at eliminating the target organism from water systems and maintaining a negative status throughout the monitoring period, to conduct a cost/benefit analysis, and to compare this protocol with …

Infectious Diseases, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides information about the role of infectious diseases in the early years of U.S. History, with particular emphasis on how they impacted injuries sustained in military conflict.

Bacteria On Shared Mobile Phones Can Lead To Infections, Roberta Basol, Jean Beckel, Judy Gilsdorf-Gracie, Amy Hilleren-Listerud, Terri Mccaffrey, Sherri Reischl, Pamela Rickbeil, Mary Schimnich, Kirsten Skillings, Mary A. Struffert

Articles

It's now a common practice for hospital-owned mobile phones to be shared among healthcare employees from shift to shift. Despite the benefit of increased, timely communication between caregivers, sharing mobile devices can lead to the spread of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) if they aren't properly disinfected. The Guidelines for Disinfection and Sterilization in Healthcare Facilities describe "non-critical environmental surfaces" as items that are frequently touched by the hand and may pose a risk of secondary infection transmission.

Trends And Disparities In Tb Among U.S.-Born Black And White Chicago Residents, 1998-2008, Susan A. Lippold, Lori Armstrong, Jennifer M. Carter, Xiomara Hardison

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To describe the decline of tuberculosis (TB) cases among U.S.-born non-Hispanic (NH) black and white Chicago residents.

METHODS: Data from the National TB Surveillance System was used to analyze trends and characteristics of reported TB cases among U.S.-born NH black and U.S.-born NH white Chicago residents from 1998-2008.

RESULTS: Chicago reported a total of 3,821 TB cases over the 11-year time period. Of these, 1,916 were U.S.-born NH black and 235 were U.S.-born NH white. The proportion of cases attributable to U.S.-born NH blacks was 63% (294/469) in 1998 and 34% in 2008 (72/213). Analysis for trends from …

Application Of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Based Metabolomics To Study The Central Metabolism Of Staphylococci, Bo Zhang

Department of Chemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Metabolomics studies the collection of small molecules (metabolites) involved in enzymatically catalyzed reactions, cell signaling and cellular structure. Perturbations in metabolite concentrations have been used to reflect the activity of corresponding enzymes or proteins. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a well-known approach for the structure determination of biological macromolecules. Alternatively, NMR has recently been established as a valuable tool of metabolomics, in which NMR spectral signals correlate small molecules with cellular activities. This has been accomplished through the chemometric analysis of high-throughput one dimensional ¹H spectra (metabolic fingerprinting) and quantitative metabolite identification based on two dimensional ¹H, …

Investigating The Viability Of Two Stenotrophomonas Maltophilia Isolates After Air-Drying, Samantha Lane, Joanna Brooke

DePaul Discoveries

Abstract

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a water-borne infectious bacterium that is found in both clinical (hospitals) and non-clinical environments. This human pathogen is commonly recovered from respiratory tract infections. A recent study at a hospital in Taiwan suggested that dry patient charts can serve as a vehicle of transmission of this bacterium⁷. As S. maltophilia is not commonly isolated from dry surfaces, this current study tested the hypothesis that this pathogen can remain viable for some time on a dry surface. This study was designed to determine how long S. maltophilia could remain viable after air-drying by observing …

Characterizing The Response Of Multidrug-Resistant Klebsiella Pneumoniae Species To The Application Of A Phage Cocktail, Steven Liu

Symposium

Project Summary: The application of bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections is known as phage therapy, which takes advantage of bacteriophage’s natural ability to infect and lyse bacterial hosts. Phages have been shaped by billions of years of evolution to be highly specialized deliverers of bactericidal agents to the cytoplasm of their target bacteria. Ever since discovery of bacteriophages in 1915, phage therapy was recognized as a potentially powerful tool for eliminating bacterial infections. The effectiveness of phage therapy can be increased by creating a mixture of multiple phages to target a wider variety of bacterial strains. Furthermore, phage therapy has …

Sirt1 Deletion Leads To Enhanced Inflammation And Aggravates Endotoxin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury, Rong Gao, Jiao Chen, Yuxin Hu, Zhenyu Li, Shuxia Wang, Sreerama Shetty, Jian Fu

Toxicology and Cancer Biology Faculty Publications

Bacterial endotoxin has been known to induce excessive inflammatory responses and acute kidney injury. In the present study, we used a mouse model of endotoxemia to investigate the role of Sirt1 in inflammatory kidney injury. We examined molecular and cellular responses in inducible Sirt1 knockout (Sirt1-/-) mice and wild type littermates (Sirt1+/+) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced kidney injury. Our studies demonstrated that Sirt1 deletion caused aggravated kidney injury, which was associated with increased inflammatory responses including elevated pro-inflammatory cytokine production, and increased ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expression. Inflammatory signaling such as STAT3/ERK phosphorylation and NF-κB activation was markedly elevated in kidney tissues …

Robust System For Infection Control: An Industrial Systems Engineering Approach, Sundaravel Vinay Swarup Achudhan

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Health care delivery in the United States needs improvement. Each year about 98,000 people die as a result of medical errors and the United States is outranked by a number of developed countries in life expectancy, mortality and comorbidity. Healthcare quality is determined based on the quality of the service provided to the patient during their visit. Apart from the traditional problem solving design and development tools used to improve healthcare quality, The National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine recommend systems engineering principle and systems engineering tools to be used in health care to improve the industry. …

The Reduction Of Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections In Intensive Care Units Through The Implementation Of The Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program, Michael Andrew Basinger

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) are one of the most significant healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) setting resulting in increased lengths of stay, increased healthcare costs, and higher mortality rates (Institute of Healthcare Improvement [IHI], 2012). Evidence that CLABSIs are largely preventable has created opportunities for healthcare organizations to implement evidence-based bloodstream infection prevention practices to reduce or eliminate these infections (Lissauer, Leekisa, Prease, Thom, & Johnson, 2012). Other efforts to reduce CLABSIs include implementation of safety programs to improve the safety culture in ICUs (Lissauer et al., 2012). One program, the comprehensive unit-based safety program …

Eculizumab In The Successful Treatment Of Postpartum Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome - A Case Report, Craig A. Mackaness Do, Frederick S. Fleszler Md

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Septic Arthritis Of The Shoulder In A Dental Patient - A Case Report And Review, Elana Dolin Dmd, Leigh D. Perlmutter Dmd, Stuart L. Segelnick Dds, Mea A. Weinberg Dmd, Robert Schoor Dds

Individual Scholarship

Septic arthritis of the glenohumoral joint is rare following dental procedures, comprising approximately 3% of all joint infections. Septic arthritis following bacteremia from dental procedures is uncommon and generally occurs in prosthetic joints. Predisposing causes may include immunocompromising diseases such as diabetes, HIV infection, renal failure and intravenous drug abuse. We report a rare case of unilateral glenohumoral joint septic arthritis in a 60-year-old male patient (without a prosthetic joint) secondary to a dental procedure. The insidious nature of the presentation is highlighted. Septic arthritis infections, though rare, require a high level of clinical suspicion. Vague symptoms of shoulder pain …

The Gut Reaction: How The Intestinal Microbiota Respond To Citrobacter Rodentium Colonization, Cassandra Black

Senior Honors Theses

The human intestine hosts a diverse community of bacteria known as the intestinal microbiota. The intestinal microbiota have a symbiotic relationship with the host organism. Current research does not clearly define the effect these commensal microorganisms have on the overall maintenance of gastrointestinal health, including protection from the invasion and pathogenesis of foreign bacteria known as pathogens. EHEC O157:H7 causes severe sickness and can be life-threatening, but is difficult to study in vivo. One challenge is that EHEC does not colonize the preferred animal model for human GI studies: the murine intestine. However, the murine pathogen Citrobacter rodentium has …

Age Related Clinical Manifestation Of Acute Bacterial Meningitis In Children, Jabeen Fayyaz, Arshalooz Rehman, Akhter Hamid, Munawar Khursheed, Nukhbha Zia, Asher Feroze

Department of Emergency Medicine

Objective: To determine the signs and symptoms of acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) in different age grops of a paediatric population.

Methods: The retrospective study comprised patients who had been admitted through the Emergency Department of Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi with the relevant diagnosis from September 2009 to September 2011. Case record forms were used to collect data from patient files. Data was collected using variables such as age, gender, presenting complaints, clinical signs and symptoms, computed tomography scan findings and final outcome of patients. There was a minimal risk of breach in patient confidentiality. SPSS 19 was used for …

Vaccine-Preventable Diseases In Travelers, Edith Mirzaian, Jeffery A. Goad, Ani Amloian, Fady Makar

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Travel to the developing world is increasing among those from developed countries, placing them at risk for vaccine preventable and non-vaccine preventable diseases. From 2007-2011, the GeoSentinel Network reported 737 returned travelers with a vaccine preventable disease. While it is essential that clinicians use vaccines when available for a disease of risk, they should also be aware that the vast majority of diseases acquired by travelers are non-vaccine preventable. The vaccine preventable diseases can be divided into routine travel vaccines, special travel vaccines and routine vaccines used for travel. The routine travel vaccines include Hepatitis A and B, typhoid; special …