We assessed the ability of three commercial systems to infer carbapenem resistance mechanisms in 39 carbapenemase-producing and 16 other carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. The sensitivity/specificity values for "flagging" a likely carbapenemase were 100%/0% (BD Phoenix), 82 to 85%/6 to 19% (MicroScan), and 74%/38% (Vitek 2), respectively. OXA-48 producers were poorly detected, but all systems reliably detected isolates with KPC and most with metallo-carbapenemases.

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A patient with chronic moderate neutropenia, acute hemolysis, and pyrexia was found to be infected with a novel hemoplasma species. A clinical response to doxycyline was noted, and moxifloxacin was added subsequently to aid infection clearance. This represents the first report of hemolysis in association with confirmed hemoplasma infection in a human.

The present study demonstrates the significant influence of the prosthetic load on bacterial adherence. In patients at increased risk of infection, low prosthetic load materials, i.e., lightweight meshes with large pores, may be beneficial. Furthermore self-fixing meshes, which avoid increasing the prosthetic load and antibacterial impregnated meshes, may have an advantage in this setting.