Surveillance Study - Incidence of Antibiotic Resistance in Serial Gram-negative Bloodstream Isolates

Overview

This research is important because it allows for the determination of resistance rates to antibiotics that may not be frequently tested by the clinical microbiology laboratory at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)-Presbyterian. It also will provide antibiotic minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for these pathogens which may help in identifying the best empiric antibiotic option for gram-negative blood stream infections based on known pharmacodynamic parameters.

Bacterial cultures will be ordered in the normal clinical course of the management of patients in the liver transplant ICU by the medical team. These cultures are then processed by the clinical Microbiology laboratory in the normal manner. If these cultures grow a Gram-negative bacteria, they are eligible for this study. Typically the clinical Microbiology laboratory saves these bacteria for a period of time after the final microbiology report. At this time, unless asked otherwise, the bacteria will be placed in biohazardous waste containers for proper disposal. If these cultures have grown a Gram-negative bacteria, they are eligible for this study, and will not be disposed of but will be given to the investigators without identifiers for this study. The antibiotic susceptibility of these organisms will be tested by the investigators in a separate research laboratory. Mechanisms of antibiotic resistance may also be assessed.

Conditions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes