
Mathias PletzUniversitätsklinikum Jena · Institut für Infektionsmedizin und Krankenhaushygiene
Mathias Pletz
Prof. Dr. med.
About
764
Publications
141,284
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Introduction
We focus on novel strategies against difficult to treat bacterial infections. This includes e.g. developement of fast diagnostic tests for antimicrobial resistance, PK/PD optimized antibiotic treatment and novel approaches to eradicate biofilms. Our research covers the entire range from bench to bedside.
A second research focus comprises pneumonia and pneumococcal vaccines.
Additional affiliations
January 2018 - July 2018
September 1995 - November 2000
June 2000 - September 2000
Education
May 2000 - September 2000
August 1997 - September 1997
June 1997 - July 1997
Publications
Publications (764)
Pneumococcal infections elicited by Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) (pneumonia, otitis media, sinusitis, meningitis) are frequently occurring diseases that are associated with considerable morbidity and mortality even in developed countries. Pneumococci colonise the nasopharynx of up to 50% of children, and up to 5% of adults are pneumococc...
Background:
The unfavourable safety profile of aminoglycosides and the synergistic effects observed in vitro have prompted the development of novel dual β-lactam therapies, e.g. ampicillin/ceftriaxone or ampicillin/ceftaroline, for the treatment of Enterococcus faecalis endocarditis.
Objectives:
For comparison with in vitro chequerboard assay re...
In 2019, the American Thoracic Society (ATS) / Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) issued a substantial revision of the 2007 guideline on community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Despite generalization of infectious disease guidelines is limited due substantial geographic differences in microbiological etiology and antimicrobial resistance, th...
Background: For patients with bacteraemia caused by methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus anti-staphylococcal penicillins (ASPs) or cefazolin are agents of choice. While ASPs are potentially nephrotoxic, cefazolin may be less effective in some S. aureus strains due to an inoculum effect. Objectives: To perform a systematic literature review a...
Background
Surgical site infections (SSI), mainly caused by Staphylococcus aureus, represent a significant economic burden in Europe, leading to an increase in length of hospitalization, mortality and treatment costs, especially with drug-resistant strains. such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. A new case-control study in high-volume...
Introduction
Accurately assessing biofilm viability is essential for evaluating both biofilm formation and the efficacy of antibacterial treatments. Traditional SYTO9 and propidium iodide (PI) live/dead staining in biofilm viability assays often ace challenges due to non-specific staining, limiting precise differentiation between live and dead cell...
Given the rapid cross-country spread of SARS-CoV-2 and the resulting difficulty in tracking lineage spread, we investigated the potential of combining mobile service data and fine-granular metadata (such as postal codes and genomic data) to advance integrated genomic surveillance of the pandemic in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. We sequen...
The Gram-positive cocci Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus spp., and Enterococcus spp. are the most frequent causative organisms of bloodstream infections and infective endocarditis. “Complicated bacteremia” is a term used in S. aureus bloodstream infections and originally implied the presence of metastatic infectious foci (i.e. complications of...
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major global health concern as it is a leading cause of morbidity, mortality and economic burden to the health care systems. In Germany, more than 15,000 people die every year from CAP. Climate change is altering weather patterns, and it may influence the probability and severity of CAP. The increasing freque...
In our prior research, polymer nanoparticles containing tobramycin displayed robust
antibacterial efficacy against biofilm-embedded Pseudomonas aeruginosa and
Burkholderia cenocepacia cells, critical pathogens in cystic fibrosis. In the current
study, we investigated the deposition of a nanoparticulate carrier composed of poly(D,Llactic-co-glycolic...
Given the rapid cross-country spread of SARS-CoV-2 and the resulting difficulty in tracking lineage spread, we investigated the potential of combining mobile service data and fine-granular metadata (such as postal codes and genomic data) to advance integrated genomic surveillance of the pandemic in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. We sequen...
Background: In many countries, an increase in influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined how attitude, risk perception and knowledge towards influenza and pneumococcal vaccines of at-risk patients developed when the COVID-19 pandemic subsided and if COVID-19 vaccination attitude (VA) was stil...
Phage therapy has been proposed as a therapeutic alternative to antibiotics for the treatment of chronic, biofilm-related P. aeruginosa infections. To gain a deeper insight into the complex biofilm–phage interactions, we investigated in the present study the effect of three successive exposures to lytic phages of biofilms formed by the reference st...
Background
Brucellosis is a bacterial zoonosis causing severe illness in humans and animals and leading to economic losses in the livestock production in Türkiye and other endemic countries.
Aim
We aimed at investigating genomic differences of Brucella isolates from animals and humans in Türkiye.
Methods
We used whole genome sequencing (WGS) to a...
Klebsiella pneumoniae is a ubiquitous nosocomial pathogen associated with various types of infections in hospitalized patients and different animal species. In the current study, 49 Klebsiella strains isolated from humans, dogs, and cats were investigated using NGS technology. MALDI-TOF failed to identify newly discovered K. variicola and K. quasip...
Long-Covid (LC), Post-Sepsis-Syndrome (PSS) and Post-Intensive-Care-Syndrome (PICS) show remarkable overlaps in their clinical presentation. Nevertheless, it is unclear if they are distinct syndromes, which may co-occur in the same patient, or if they are three different labels to describe similar symptoms, assigned on the basis on patient history...
Purpose
This executive summary of a German national guideline aims to provide the most relevant evidence-based recommendations on the diagnosis and treatment of nosocomial pneumonia.
Methods
The guideline made use of a systematic assessment and decision process using evidence to decision framework (GRADE). Recommendations were consented by an inte...
Background
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains a leading cause of infectious disease mortality globally, necessitating intensive care unit (ICU) admission for approximately 10% of hospitalised patients. Accurate prediction of disease severity facilitates timely therapeutic interventions.
Methods
Our study aimed to enhance the predictive cap...
Phage therapy has been proposed as a therapeutic alternative to antibiotics for treatment of chronic, biofilm-related P. aeruginosa infections. To get a deeper insight into the complex biofilm-phage interactions, we investigated in the present study the effect of three successive exposures to lytic phages of biofilms formed by the reference strains...
Purpose
This study assessed the frequency, clinical significance, and risk factors for Herpes simplex virus (HSV) reactivation in immunocompetent patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).
Methods
The study included adult CAP-patients who were enrolled in the CAPNETZ study between 2007 and 2017 and had a residual sputum sample available for...
Introduction
Tick-borne pathogens, such as Borreliella spp., Rickettsia spp., and Anaplasma spp., are frequently detected in Germany. They circulate between animals and tick vectors and can cause mild to severe diseases in humans. Knowledge about distribution and prevalence of these pathogens over time is important for risk assessment of human and...
Given the high levels of resistance in Gram-negative bacteria, phage therapy is garnering increasing attention. In Germany, a clinical study is already underway investigating a phage cocktail for the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. In our study, we examined susceptibility to virulent phages and the PF1-like pro...
Objectives
Scalable teaching through apps and artificial intelligence (AI) is of rising interest in academic practice. We focused on how medical students could benefit from this trend in learning antibiotic stewardship (ABS). Our study evaluated the impact of gamified learning on factual knowledge and uncertainty in antibiotic prescription. We also...
Objective
To provide a comprehensive characterization of Clostridioides difficile antimicrobial resistance (AMR) data in veterinary medicine based on the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of all antimicrobial agents tested in relation to the techniques used.
Methods
A systematic scoping review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred...
Background: RSV is a leading cause of ARI, including CAP, in older adults, but available data often substantially underestimate incidence. We estimated RSV-related ARI hospitalization incidence from a prospective CAP study and adjusted for undiagnosed RSV infections due to use of nasopharyngeal/nasal swab testing only.
Methods: We conducted active,...
Purpose
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and non-COVID-19 community-acquired pneumonia (NC-CAP) often result in hospitalization with considerable risks of mortality, ICU treatment, and long-term morbidity. A comparative analysis of clinical outcomes in COVID-19 CAP (C-CAP) and NC-CAP may improve clinical management.
Methods
Using prospectively...
Background
An important component in fostering the responsible use of antibiotics is training of new and future prescribers in this interdisciplinary topic. Because podcasts are playing an increasing role in medical education, we aimed to develop and evaluate a podcast format with practice and guideline-oriented learning content on antibiotic thera...
The emergence of Klebsiella (K.) pneumoniae as a leading cause of nosocomial infections in Southeast Asia is of concern. Vietnam has an outstanding position with regard to antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) pathogens and is a hotspot for carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae. In the current study, 19 clinical K. pneumoniae strains isolated from patients in...
Given the rapid cross-country spread of SARS-CoV-2 and the resulting difficulty in tracking lineage spread, we investigated the potential of combining mobile service data and fine-granular metadata (such as postal codes and genomic data) to advance integrated genomic surveillance of the pandemic in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. We sequen...
Given the rapid cross-country spread of SARS-CoV-2 and the resulting difficulty in tracking lineage spread, we investigated the potential of combining mobile service data and fine-granular metadata (such as postal codes and genomic data) to advance integrated genomic surveillance of the pandemic in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. We sequen...
Introduction
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is frequently detected in the respiratory tract of mechanically ventilated patients and is associated with a worse outcome. The aim of this study is to determine whether antiviral therapy in HSV-positive patients improves outcome.
Methods and analysis
Prospective, multicentre, open-label, randomised, control...
Given the rapid cross-country spread of SARS-CoV-2 and the resulting difficulty in tracking lineage spread, we investigated the potential of combining mobile service data and fine-granular metadata (such as postal codes and genomic data) to advance integrated genomic surveillance of the pandemic in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. We sequen...
Myokines, released from the muscle, enable communication between the working muscles and other tissues. Their release during physical exercise is assumed to depend on immune–hormonal–metabolic interactions concerning mode (endurance or resistance exercise), duration, and intensity. This meta‐analysis aims to examine the acute changes of circulating...
Q fever, a worldwide-occurring zoonotic disease, can cause economic losses for public and veterinary health systems. Vaccines are not yet available worldwide and currently under development. In this regard, it is important to produce a whole cell antigen, with preserved structural and antigenic properties and free of chemical modifications. Thus, i...
Staphylococcus aureus is a highly successful pathogen infecting various body parts and forming biofilms on natural and artificial surfaces resulting in difficult-to-treat and chronic infections. We investigated the secreted cytokines and proteomes of isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy volunteers exposed to methicillin-...
Background
The Co-FriSero study describes a COVID-19 outbreak at the Friedrichroda hospital in Thuringia, Germany, with 185 beds and 404 employees, at the onset of the pandemic between March 30th, 2020, and April 13th, 2020. This study aimed to analyze potential sources of SARS-CoV-2 transmission amongst hospital employees.
Methods
After the outbr...
Objectives
To investigate, whether inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) inpatients are at higher risk to develop a severe course of SARS-CoV-2 infections compared to the general population, data from the German COVID-19 registry for IRD patients and data from the Lean European Survey on SARS-CoV-2 (LEOSS) infected patients covering inpatients from...
Galleria mellonella larvae have emerged as an invertebrate model for investigating bacterial pathogenesis and potential therapies, addressing ethical concerns related to mammalian models. This model has the advantage of having a simple gut microbiome, which is suitable for gut colonization studies. Intestinal colonization by Enterobacteriaceae sign...
We report the case of a young female with steroid-dependent ulcerative colitis (UC) who developed a complex systemic infection with Aspergillus flavus. This occurred following a UC relapse while vacationing in the Middle East, leading to extended use of metamizole and subsequent agranulocytosis. On her return to Germany, she was hospitalized for ne...
Wastewater monitoring for SARS-CoV-2 is a valuable tool for surveillance in public health. However, reliable analytical methods and appropriate approaches for the normalization of results are important requirements for implementing state-wide monitoring programs. In times of insufficient case reporting, the evaluation of wastewater data is challeng...
The Co-FriSero study (COVID-Friedrichroda seroprevalence study) describes a COVID-19 outbreak in a German hospital with 185 beds (Friedrichroda/Thuringia) and 404 employees at the beginning of the pandemics, which was followed up with a questionnaire and seroprevalence study of the entire hospital staff. Seroprevalence was assessed using two differ...
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) inflicts severe illness and courses of infections not only in neonates, infants, and young children, but also causes significant morbidity and mortality in older adults and in people with immunosuppression, hemato-oncologic disease, chronic lung disease, or cardiovascular disease. In June and August 2023, effective...
Introduction
The World Health Organization (WHO)'s Research and Development (R&D) Blueprint for Action to Prevent Epidemics, a plan of action, highlighted several infectious diseases as crucial targets for prevention. These infections were selected based on a thorough assessment of factors such as transmissibility, infectivity, severity, and evolu...
Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI) caused by SARS-CoV-2 continue to be a cause for medical consultations and absence from training among athletes. Over the past years, these infections have been associated with more severe symptoms and multi-systemic complications, as well as longer time needed to return to sports than common ARTI. Updated g...
Importance
The efficacy of vitamin C for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 is uncertain.
Objective
To determine whether vitamin C improves outcomes for patients with COVID-19.
Design, Setting, and Participants
Two prospectively harmonized randomized clinical trials enrolled critically ill patients receiving organ support in intensive care units...
Background
Quarantine is one of the most effective interventions to contain an infectious disease outbreak, yet it is one of the most disruptive. We investigated the quarantine of an entire village to better understand risk communication requirements for groups.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional, mixed-methods survey study on a single cohort...
Objective
To determine the overall and procedure-specific incidence of surgical site infections (SSI) caused by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) as well as risk factors for such across all surgical disciplines in Europe.
Methods
This is a retrospective cohort of patients with surgical procedures performed at 14 European centres in 2016, with a ne...
Background
Our study investigated the effectiveness of Oxford Nanopore Technology for accurate outbreak tracing by resequencing a three-year-long Klebsiella pneumoniae outbreak with Illumina short-read sequencing data as the point of reference.
Results
We detected considerable base errors through cgMLST and phylogenetic analysis of genomes sequenc...
Zusammenfassung
Hintergrund Seit Beginn der Corona-Pandemie im Frühjahr 2020 stehen Krankenhäuser vor der Herausforderung, die erforderlichen Kapazitäten für krankenhaus- bzw. intensivpflichtige COVID-Erkrankte sicherzustellen und gleichzeitig Patienten mit anderen Erkrankungen angemessen zu versorgen. Dies hat eine sehr starke Belastung des pflege...
Purpose
This study aimed to compare treatment outcomes for bloodstream infections (BSI) caused by a piperacillin/tazobactam (PIP/TAZ)-susceptible E. coli among three patient groups: BSI caused by ampicillin/sulbactam (AMP/SLB)-resistant isolates treated with PIP/TAZ, BSI caused by AMP/SLB-sensitive isolates treated with PIP/TAZ, and BSI caused by A...
Objectives:
The objective of this study was to identify the pathogen spectrum of community acquired pneumonia in people living with HIV (PLWH), and to compare it with a matched HIV negative group in order to reassess therapeutic strategies for PLWH.
Methods:
Seventy-three (n = 73) PLWH (median CD4 3-6 months before CAP: 515/µl; SD 309) with comm...
Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) is a highly problematic pathogen with an enormous capacity to acquire or upregulate antibiotic drug resistance determinants. The genomic epidemiology and resistome structure of 46 A. baumannii clinical isolates were studied using whole-genome sequenc-ing. The isolates were chosen based on reduced susceptibilit...