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The diving beetle genus Microdytes J. Balfour-Browne, 1946 in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia is reviewed, and five new species are described: Microdytes eliasi Wewalka & Okada, sp. nov. (Thailand, Cambodia), M. jeenthongi Okada & Wewalka, sp. nov. (Thailand), M. maximiliani Wewalka & Okada, sp. nov. (Laos, China), M. sekaensis Okada & Wewalka, sp. nov. (Thailand, Laos), M. ubonensis Okada & Wewalka, sp. nov. (Thailand, Laos). Two species are the first country records: M. balkei Wewalka, 1997 (Laos, Cambodia) and M. wewalkai Bian & Ji, 2009 (Laos). For 12 and 8 species, the first provincial records from Thailand and Laos, respectively, are given. A checklist, a key to the 25 known Microdytes species from these countries, and habitus images and illustrations of diagnostic characters are provided. Distribution maps of the recorded species are presented, and species distribution patterns are also briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydroglyphus sinuspersicus sp. nov. is described from the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Iran. It is very similar to H. major (Sharp, 1882). Hydroglyphus gujaratensis (Vazirani, 1973) known previously only from Gujarat (India) is redescribed, based on recently collected material from Rajasthan (India), Iran and Oman. The first national records are given for Hydroglyphus major from Libya and for H. infirmus (Boheman, 1848) from Oman and Yemen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using two studies of a simple design it has been possible to furnish proof of the influence of hand hygiene prior to insertion of peripheral venous catheters on the incidence of complications. In the first study detailed data were collected anonymously for each patient on the procedure used for catheter insertion or on any complications. Data were collected for around 64% of patients in one hospital. Evaluation of the questionnaires revealed that there was a significant increase in the incidence of complications in line with an increasing duration of the indwelling period of between 24 and 96 hours. The unexpected finding of this evaluation study was that in the case of catheters with an indwelling period of more than two days there were highly significantly lower complication rates in those cases in which hand disinfection was carried out or gloves donned before catheter placement. The second study, based on the former, documented the cases giving rise to complications. The proportion of peripheral venous catheters implicated in complications was 24%. Here, too, there was a sharp rise in the risk of complications in line with the duration of the indwelling period. Catheters placed in the OR during the patient's hospital stay showed a significantly lower risk of complications than those inserted on wards, or even in the outpatient department. Conductance of hygienic hand disinfection or the wearing of disposable gloves resulted in significantly lower complication rates compared to normal handwashing or omission of a hand hygiene measure. The most plausible explanation for this positive effect exerted by the wearing of disposable gloves or conductance of hygienic hand disinfection prior to catheter placement is that there was no recontamination during repalpation, as often seen, of the prepared venepuncture site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Little is known about prevailing ribotypes of Clostridium difficile infection in Romania where CDI is not a mandatory notifiable disease. Methodology: We studied 64 non-duplicate C. difficile isolates from patients hospitalised at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Bucharest, Romania between March 2011 and March 2012. Results: Sixty-three of the 64 C. difficile isolates produced toxins A and B whereas 44 (69%) isolates produced a binary toxin. Ribotype 027 accounted for 43 (68%) of the 63 toxigenic strains. The remaining 20 isolates belonged to ribotypes 018 (n = 9), 012 (n = 3), and, with one isolate each, 014, 031, 081, 416, 433, 500, 507 and PR03035 (new ribotype). Information on hospital mortality was available for 62 of the 64 patients; among these 62 cases, 4 (6.4%) ended fatal. Recurrence was documented for 11 (18.3%) of the 60 patients for whom this information was available. Multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis of the 43 isolates of ribotype 027 yielded a unique cluster for the Romanian isolates when compared to Austrian or Italian isolates. Conclusion: Our findings sustain the hypothesis of a recent emerged outbreak of C. difficile PCR ribotype 027 infections in the area of Bucharest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Currently, to our knowledge, quality of output water of dental chair units is not covered by specific regulations in the European Union, and national recommendations are heterogeneous. In Germany, water used in dental chair units must follow drinking water quality. In the United States of America, testingfor aerobic heterotrophic bacteria is recommended. The present study was performed to evaluate whether the counts of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria correlate with the presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria such as Legionella spp. or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methods: 71 samples were collected from 26 dental chair units with integrated disinfection device and 31 samples from 15 outlets of the water distribution pipework within the department were examined. Samples were tested for aerobic heterotrophic bacteria at 35°C and 22°C using different culture media and for Legionella spp. and for Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Additionally, strains of Legionella pneumo-phila serogroup 1 were typed with monoclonal antibodies and repre-sentative samples of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 were typed by sequence based typing. Results: Our results showed a correlation between different agars for aerobic heterotrophic bacteria but no correlation for the count of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria and the presence of Legionella spp. or Pseudo-monas aeruginosa. Conclusion: Testingfor aerobic heterotrophic bacteria in output water or water distribution pipework within the departments alone is without any value for predicting whether the water is contaminated with poten-tially pathogenic bacteria like Legionella spp. or Pseudomonas aeru-ginosa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]