Plague and Plague Vaccines

Plague is a zoonosis caused by the Gram-negative bacillus, Yersinia pestis, a member of the Enterobacteriaceae family. Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Peru are still considered highly endemic for plague; however, the bacterium also exists in some regions in Asia and the USA. First symptoms occur 1 to 7 days after exposure. There are three clinical forms of plague: bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic plague. Transmitted as an aerosol, Y. pestis has been developed as a biological weapon. There are adjuvanted whole-cell vaccines which need repeated dosing, and which are highly reactogenic; subunit vaccines are in development.

Agrobacterium radiobacter Endophthalmitis Associated with Baerveldt Tube Exposure

<i>Agrobacterium radiobacter</i> is a Gram-negative bacillus and a rare cause of endophthalmitis. An 85-year-male presented with late-onset endophthalmitis associated with exposure of an inferonasal Baerveldt tube. The patient was initially treated with anterior chamber paracentesis and intravitreal antibiotics. Aqueous humor culture revealed <i>A. radiobacter</i> resistant to cefazolin, ceftazidime, amikacin, tobramycin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Subsequently, the patient underwent explantation of the glaucoma drainage implant (GDI). After initial improvement, the patient had clinical worsening and was diagnosed with recurrence. Subsequent treatment involved explantation of the second GDI in addition to pars plana vitrectomy with silicone oil infusion, intraocular lens removal, and administration of intravitreal antibiotics. Visual acuity improved but remained at count fingers at 2 weeks. This is the first reported patient with <i>A. radiobacter</i> endophthalmitis associated with an exposed GDI. This report illustrates the resistant nature of this organism in addition to the efficacy of silicone oil administration and intraocular prosthesis explantation.

Helcococcus kunzii, a skin-colonising microorganism with pathogenic capacity: a case of polymicrobial intracranial empyema

Helcococcus kunzii is a Gram-positive anaerobic facultative coccus that colonises the skin. Human infection is rare, with very few cases being described in the literature. The authors present the case of a 17-year-old man, with a history of cholesteatoma, diagnosed with mastoiditis complicated by intracranial empyema. After urgent surgical drainage, Gram staining revealed a Gram-negative bacillus and a Gram-positive coccus. The latter exhibited fastidious growth, presented as small grey colonies in blood agar, and was afterwards identified as H. kunzii. The patient was started on intravenous antibiotics, switched to oral route after 8 weeks and fully recovered. To the best of our knowledge, this is the third case of an intracranial infection in which H. kunzii is involved, two of them occurring in patients with cholesteatoma.

Lesser Sac Haematoma – Meliodosis: A Surgical Surprise

ABSTRACT Meliodosis, a potentially fatal disease endemic in south east asia and northern Australia is caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, a motile ,aerobic , non spore forming gram negative bacillus. It can present with asymptomatic infections to localized abscesses to fulminating diseases with multi organ involvement and eventual death. Mycotic aneurysm is a very rare presentation of meliodosis. Although isolation of

Lemierre’s Syndrome

Fusobacterium necrophorum is a non-spore forming anaerobic gram-negative bacillus and has traditionally been associated with Lemierre’s syndrome, an infectious thrombophlebitis of the internal jugular vein.Fusobacterium necrophorum is commonly associated with pharyngitis, tonsillitis and peritonsillar abscesses similar to that of group A streptococcus, and is accounted for up to 10% of cases of pharyngitis in adolescents and young adults

Plesiomonas shigelloides septic shock following ingestion of Dojo nabe (loach hotpot)

Plesiomonas shigelloides is a gram-negative bacillus that commonly causes self-limited diarrhea in humans. We present the case of P. shigelloides bacteremia in a 49-year-old man with alcoholic cirrhosis who developed septic shock a day after eating Dojo nabe (loach hotpot), a Japanese traditional dish.

Multidrug-resistant klebsiella pneumoniae-induced sepsis with multiple abscesses: A case report

Klebsiella pneumoniae, a Gram-negative bacillus which exists widely in nature, is generally colonized in the human intestine and oral cavity and does not cause disease [1]. However, the emergence and global expansion of hypervirulent and multidrug-resistant clones of K. pneumoniae have been increasingly reported in community-acquired and nosocomial infections. Management of antimicrobial resistance in multi-drug-resistant-K. pneumoniae (MDR-KP) is a major challenge for clinicians [2]. The optimal treatment option for MDR-KP infections is still not well established, which brings huge challenges to clinical treatment [2].

Silver Nanoparticles Enhance Antimicrobial Efficacy of Antibiotics and Restore That Efficacy against the Melioidosis Pathogen

Melioidosis is an infectious disease caused by Gram-negative bacillus bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei. Due to the emerging resistance of B. pseudomallei to antibiotics including ceftazidime (CAZ), the development of novel antibiotics and alternative modes of treatment has become an urgent issue. Here, we demonstrated an ability to synergistically increase the efficiency of antibiotics through their combination with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Combinations of four conventional antibiotics including CAZ, imipenem (IMI), meropenem (MER), and gentamicin sulfate (GENT) with starch-stabilized AgNPs were tested for their antibacterial effects against three isolates of B. pseudomallei. The combination of each antibiotic with AgNPs featured fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) index values and fractional bactericidal concentration (FBC) index values ranging from 0.312 to 0.75 µg/mL and 0.252 to 0.625 µg/mL, respectively, against the three isolates of B. pseudomallei. The study clearly showed that most of the combinatorial treatments exhibited synergistic antimicrobial effects against all three isolates of B. pseudomallei. The highest enhancing effect was observed for GENT with AgNPs. These results confirmed the combination of each antibiotic with AgNPs restored their bactericidal potency in the bacterial strains that had previously been shown to be resistant to the antibiotics. In addition, morphological changes examined by SEM confirmed that the bacterial cells were severely damaged by combinations at the FBC level. Although bacteria produce fibers to protect themselves, ultimately the bacteria were killed by the antibiotic–AgNPs combinations. Overall, these results suggest the study of antibiotic–AgNPs combinations as an alternative design strategy for potential therapeutics to more effectively combat the melioidosis pathogen.