Pasteurella canis soft tissue infection after a cat bite - A case report

Pasteurella canis is a Gram-negative facultative anaerobic bacterium that is a typical commensal of the oral cavity and enteric tract of domestic animals. Human infections caused by this species are most often associated with dog bites and rarely with other animal bites. In this report, we present a case of a 34-year-old man who developed P. canis soft tissue infection of the left hand after a cat bite. The patient was successfully treated by a surgical intervention and antibiotics. The species identification of the isolate was performed by a conventional automatic system and nucleic acid-based methods. The nucleic acid-based methods provide a powerful alternative to the conventional microbiological diagnostic of these bacteria.

Cherenkov Radiation in Optical Fibres as a Versatile Machine Protection System in Particle Accelerators

Machine protection systems in high power particle accelerators are crucial. They can detect, prevent, and respond to events which would otherwise cause damage and significant downtime to accelerator infrastructure. Current systems are often resource heavy and operationally expensive, reacting after an event has begun to cause damage; this leads to facilities only covering certain operational modes and setting lower limits on machine performance. Presented here is a new type of machine protection system based upon optical fibres, which would be complementary to existing systems, elevating existing performance. These fibres are laid along an accelerator beam line in lengths of ∼100 m, providing continuous coverage over this distance. When relativistic particles pass through these fibres, they generate Cherenkov radiation in the optical spectrum. This radiation propagates in both directions along the fibre and can be detected at both ends. A calibration based technique allows the location of the Cherenkov radiation source to be pinpointed to within 0.5 m with a resolution of 1 m. This measurement mechanism, from a single device, has multiple applications within an accelerator facility. These include beam loss location monitoring, RF breakdown prediction, and quench prevention. Detailed here are the application processes and results from measurements, which provide proof of concept for this device for both beam loss monitoring and RF breakdown detection. Furthermore, highlighted are the current challenges for future innovation.

Pediatric case of septic arthritis due to Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 19A

In recent years, the incidence of pediatric septic arthritis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae has been quite low. The pneumococcal conjugate vaccine PCV10 is the available vaccine included in the Bulgarian national immunization program. PCV10 reduces the incidence of invasive diseases, but non-vaccinal serotypes like 19A, the etiologic agent of the case of septic arthritis reported herein in a 3-year-old boy. The synovial fluid was positive for S. pneumoniae. The patient was treated with vancomycin during hospitalization and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole was recommended for at-home treatment. The isolate was subjected to latex agglutination, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, PCR detection for macrolide-resistance genes, and MLST. The strain revealed ST695 and a genotype previously associated with vaccine serotype 4. The incidence of pneumococcal infections caused by capsule-switching events and non-PCV10 serotypes is expected to increase.

Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infection in Hemodialysis Patient due to Atlantibacter hermannii

Atlantibacter hermannii, previously known as Escherichia hermannii, is a rare causative agent of human infections. Several reports testify that the most frequently infected patients are immunosuppressed, especially those undergoing hemodialysis. A 34-year-old man with an end-stage renal disease complained of chills, fever, and general fatigue at the end of a regular hemodialysis session. The echocardiographic examination showed vegetation located on the dialysis catheter in the right atrium. Empirical therapy was initiated with intravenous gentamicin, and after the isolation of the agent, the treatment was continued with intravenous imipenem/cilastatin. The blood cultures and the tip of the replaced catheter were positive for A. hermannii, identified by Vitek 2 Compact. Verification of the automated identification was performed using 16S sequencing. The 16S sequence product was used to query the NCBI bacterial database and revealed 99.75% identity to that of A. hermannii strain CIP 103176 16S ribosomal RNA in the NCBI GenBank database. The antimicrobial susceptibility results revealed resistance to aminopenicillins and susceptibility to all other tested antimicrobials. To our knowledge, this is the first report of catheter-related vegetation with echocardiographic confirmation and the successful eradication of A. hermannii infection in a patient undergoing hemodialysis with imipenem/cilastatin.