Edwardsiella tarda is a member of the family Enterobacteriaceae and unusually causing human disease most often in gastroenteritis. E. tarda have rarely been associated with neonatal infections. Herein report a case of sepsis and meningitis caused by E. tarda isolates belonging to the same clone in preterm newborn infant, with a gestational age of 35 weeks. Maternal habits that could be correlated with the acquisition of this bacterium were investigated and pinpointed, such as: contact with marine environments, eating raw fish, immersion in a contaminated body of water and penetrating trauma from the colonized vector. All these factors were not observed. Histopathological examination of the placenta was performed and revealed consistent results with chorioamnionitis, which may suggest the acquisition of intrauterine infection. The newborn had a good treatment outcome at 21 days with cefepime and neurological involvement was not observed. In summary, in this report we describe the first case of neonatal meningitis by E. tarda in Latin America with possible intrauterine infection acquisition with no clear maternal risk factors associated.

Halophilic bacteria were isolated and purified from marine water of Okha region of Gujarat, India and further subjected to screen for extracellular hydrolytic enzyme production. Two strains (R1 & R2) showed extracellular hydrolytic enzyme activities, such as amylases, proteases, lipases and gelatinase, where as optimum activity observed with amylase. They were characterized on the basis of morphology, physiology and biochemical tests. The phylogenetic tree revealed that the strains R1 & R2 fit in to an evolutionary cluster comprising members of Salinicoccus roseus with 99% similarity. 16S rDNA sequence was submitted at NCBI and named as Salinicoccus roseus strain rvscokh1 & rsk1 respectively. The DNA G+C content rvscokh1 & rsk1 was 55.6 & 55.7 mol% respectively. The GenBank accession number of the 16S rDNA sequences of strain rvscokh1 & rsk1 is HQ190916 & HQ258884 respectively. Salinicoccus roseus is gram positive coccus bacteria. Strain rvscokh1 & rsk1 sustain to 10% and 6% NaCl concentration respectively while optimum pH was 7.4 for growth. Optimum amylase activity was found at temperature 37°C, pH 8 and 5% salt concentration for both the strains reveals that these strains can produce potentially industrially important enzymes.

Introduction: Increasing frequency of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infections and changing patterns in antimicrobial resistance have led to concern in the use of macrolide lincosamide streptogramin type B (MLSB) antibiotics to treat such infections. However, their widespread use has led to an increase in the number of S. aureus strains resistant to MLSB antibiotics. Clindamycin is an appealing option because of its proven efficacy, safety and convenience of parental and oral administration in patients. The possibility of inducible resistance to clindamycin is a concern and has left very few therapeutic options for clinicians. Material and Methods: A total of 100 S. aureus strains were isolated from various clinical samples and were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility testing by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method and detection of iducible MLSB were detected by double disc diffusion D-zone test method. Results: Of the total 100 S. aureus strains all were sensitive to vancomycin and linezolid while 50% were resistant to Oxacillin. Of the total 100 S. aureus 68 % were resistant to erythromycin of that 30 were inducible clindamycin resistant showed D-zone test positive and 90% isolates were isolated from pyogenic infections. Of the total 30 % inducible clindamycin positive isolated, 10 (33.33%) were methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) while 20 (66.66%) were mithicillin sensitive S. aureus (MSSA). Of the total inducible clindamycin positive isolates 7 (70%) isolates were HA-MRSA and 3(30%) were CA-MRSA. Conclusion: Double disc diffusion D- zone test should be used as a mandatory method in routine disc diffusion testing to detect inducible clindamycin resistance.

Background- Vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) pose an emerging problem in hospitals worldwide. This study was to determine the prevalence of Vancomycin Resistant enterococci (VRE) isolated from various clinical specimens. Materials and Methods- Between time periods of June 2014 to May 2015, total 208 Enterococcal strains were isolated from various clinical samples and confirmed by standard biochemical test methods. Antibiotic susceptibility assay was performed by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method and results were interpreted according to the Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) guidelines 2014. For all the isolates initial Vancomycin Resistant enterococci screening by disc diffusion method was done and later confirmed by determination of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) by Epsilometer test. Results- 208 isolates of enterococcal spp. were obtained from various clinical specimens .76 (36.53%) accounted for E.faecalis and 128 (61.53%) for E.faecium and 4(1.92%) isolates were other enterococcal spp. 84.14% of isolated Enterococcus were resistant to ampicillin, followed by amikacin(73.08%), ciprofloxacin (66.83%), Levofloxacin(30.77%), HLG (High Level Gentamicin) (12.01%), vancomycin (4.81%). All Vancomycin Resistant enterococci showed high Minimum Inhibitory Concentration value for vancomycin by Epsilometer test. Conclusion- Our study reveals the emerging problem of Vancomycin Resistant enterococci thus all laboratories should have prompt and appropriate detection methods for Vancomycin resistance to restrict the spread of infection, which is a real threat to the community, Treatment of infection by VRE with drugs such as Quinupristin-Dalfopristin, Linezolid & Tigecycline.

Background: The epidemiology of blood stream infection (BSI) is constantly changing. BSIs are associated with the syndrome requiring admission to intensive care unit (ICU) such as sepsis and septic shock and remains one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality. BSI prolongs patients stay in an ICU and in hospital leads to increased health care expenses. Methods: This laboratory based retrospective study was conducted for a period of two years (January 2011 to December 2012) in a 1470 bed tertiary care hospital in India. A total of 2999 samples were analyzed from the hospitalized patients for whom blood culture were routinely processed in the department of Microbiology Laboratory. Results: The present retrospective study demonstrated 966 (32.21%) culture positivity. Of the total culture positive episodes, 374 (38.81%) were GNP and 573 (59.31%) were GPP while 19 (1.96%) were Candida spp.. Of the total 573 GPP, 258 (45.02%) were MSSA while 228 (39.79%) were MRSA. Among 486 S. aureus strains isolated from BSIs, 129 (26.54%) strains were inducible clindamycin producers of which 99 (76.74%) strains were isolated from patients admitted in various ICU. All S. aureus strains were susceptible to linezoilid and tigecycline and vancomycin. Present study revealed that 431 (44.61%) positive culture episodes were from patients admitted in various ICU of which 239 (55.45%) were GNP and 192 (44.54%) were GPP. Maximum patients were from MICU 162 (37.58%) and NICU 153 (35.49%) followed by medicine ward and orthopedic ward. Conclusion: The surveillance of BSI pathogen in a hospital is important in monitoring the spectrum of microorganism that invades the blood stream and to improve efficacy of empirical treatment protocols. It helps to clinicians to recognize the emerging pathogens that may be threat to the community. Collaboration between physicians, clinical microbiologists and infectious disease consultants should produce significant positive outcome.