No abstract

Presented here are two cases of multidrug-resistant Nocardia farcinica infection that occurred in immunocompromised patients. One of the patients developed the infection despite being on trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole prophylaxis for Pneumocystis jiroveci. These cases demonstrate the propensity of Nocardia spp. to cause disseminated disease and to develop resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents used in the initial treatment of serious Nocardia infection. These factors lead to the conclusion that empiric monotherapy with trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole may not be sufficient. Treatment with a combination regimen of imipenem and amikacin may be a more promising initial therapy.

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Enterobacter meningitis is an uncommon form of meningitis whose treatment poses a therapeutic dilemma because of the development of resistance to the third-generation cephalosporins while the patient receives therapy. In recent years, we have been using trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMZ) as treatment for this infection. In this report, we reviewed 13 episodes of enterobacter meningitis that were treated with various antibiotic regimens and 33 episodes from the literature. We found that the development of resistance to beta-lactam agents may be much higher than that seen in bacteremias (approximately 30%), that the case-fatality rate is lower among our patients than among those described previously, and that all patients who received TMP-SMZ were cured, compared with about 70% of those receiving beta-lactam agents. TMP-SMZ appears to be an acceptable alternative to the cephalosporins for the treatment of enterobacter meningitis.

Bacterial endocarditis secondary to Panton-Valentine leukocidin producing community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections is rare. We report 5 previously healthy patients who presented with endocarditis after developing furunculosis due to CA-MRSA. A retrospective chart review of all patients with MRSA positive blood cultures was conducted over a 12-month period. Patients with multiple positive blood cultures within 72 h of admission and who had no risk factors for MRSA acquisition were included. Modified Duke's criteria were used to define bacterial endocarditis. PCR detection of Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes as well as SCCmec typing was performed. In addition, strain typing of MRSA isolates was performed utilizing pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Five out of a total of 193 patients had features consistent with CA-MRSA infections and met modified Duke's criteria for bacterial endocarditis. Blood culture isolates were found to be PVL gene positive and carried the type IV SCCmec element. PFGE confirmed that skin isolate was identical to the isolate cultured from his blood. Bacterial endocarditis in patients with CA-MRSA furunculosis is an emerging entity. In areas where CA-MRSA skin infections are prevalent, inappropriate initial antibiotics remain a major problem and may result in significant morbidity.