The epidemiology and etiologies of respiratory tract infection in Northern Taiwan during the early phase of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) manifests symptoms as common etiologies of respiratory tract infections (RTIs). During the pandemic of COVID-19, identifying the etiologies correctly from patients with RTI symptoms was crucial in not only disease control but preventing healthcare system from collapsing. By applying sensitive PCR-based molecular assays, we detected the etiologic agents and delineated the epidemiologic picture of RTIs in the early phase of COVID-19 pandemic.

In vitro susceptibilities of clinical isolates of ertapenem-non-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae to cefotaxime, ceftazidime, cefepime and aztreonam.

Objectives: To investigate the in vitro susceptibility of ertapenem-non-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae (ENSE) isolates to cefotaxime, ceftazidime, cefepime and aztreonam.

Methods: Clinical isolates of ENSE tested in this study were obtained from 10 major teaching hospitals in Taiwan during the period January 2008 to October 2010. MICs of ertapenem, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, cefepime and aztreonam were determined by the agar dilution method and were interpreted based on 2011 MIC interpretive criteria recommended by the CLSI and EUCAST.

In vitro activities of tigecycline, ertapenem, isepamicin, and other antimicrobial agents against clinically isolated organisms in Taiwan.

This study evaluated the in vitro activities of tigecycline, ertapenem, isepamicin, and other comparators against 861 bacterial isolates recovered from patients treated in three major teaching hospitals in 2003. MICs to antimicrobial agents were determined by the agar dilution method. High rates of oxacillin resistance (58%) in Staphylococcus aureus (60 isolates), and vancomycin resistance (21%) and quinupristin-dalfopristin non-susceptibility (39%) in Enterococcus faecium (34 isolates) were found.

Clinical characteristics of fatal patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome in a medical center in Taipei.

Background: The clinical spectrum of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) varies widely in the way that asymptomatic carriers are believed to exist in the community. Still there are severe forms of illness in which the patients deteriorate unexpectedly within hours. This study delineates clinical characteristics of such fatal cases of SARS for the purpose of identifying patients with poor outcome.