Search results for " Molecular epidemiology"
showing 8 items of 18 documents
Phylogenetic Analysis of isolates from new cases of HBV infection in Southern Italy.
2012
The level of endemicity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections in Italy is low and genotype D infections predominant. New HBV strains may however be introduced as a result of movements of people from regions of high endemicity. The aim of the present study was to determine whether strains from new cases of acute hepatitis B detected in southern Italy were due to endemic or new HBV strains. We studied 34 isolates from patients with acute hepatitis B infection, and 35 from chronic hepatitis B patients. A phylogenetic analysis of preS/S region was done by comparing the sequences from the acute and chronic cases with references sequences. The study showed that 44% of strain from acute hepatitis …
Potential association of specific Candida parapsilosis genotypes, bloodstream infections and colonization of health workers' hands.
2014
AbstractFungal nosocomial infections continue to be a serious problem among hospitalized patients, decreasing quality of life and adding millions of euros to healthcare costs. The aim of this study was to describe the pattern of fungi associated with the hands of healthcare workers and to genotype Candida parapsilosis isolates in order to understand whether their high clinical prevalence stems from endemic nosocomial genotypes or from the real emergence of epidemiologically-unrelated strains. Approximately 39% (50/129) of healthcare workers were positive for yeasts and among 77 different fungal isolates recovered, C. parapsilosis was the most frequent (44/77; 57%). Twenty-seven diverse geno…
Molecular characterization of Italian Candida parapsilosis isolates reveals the cryptic presence of the newly described species Candida orthopsilosis…
2012
The authors report the molecular characterization of Candida parapsilosis isolates recovered from the blood and venous central catheter tips of patients admitted to different care units of the Polyclinic Hospital, University of Messina, Italy. Among 97 presumed C. parapsilosis isolates examined, 94 were identified as C. parapsilosis sensu stricto and the remaining 3 isolates were found to belong to the cryptic species Candida orthopsilosis which was recovered only from blood cultures of neonates (<30 days old) born prematurely. No C. metapsilosis was found in this study. This study emphasizes the role of C. parapsilosis as an important nosocomial pathogen, and it also describes, for the fir…
Microsatellite-based genotyping of Candida parapsilosis sensu stricto isolates reveals dominance and persistence of a particular epidemiological clon…
2012
In this study, using multilocus microsatellite analysis, we report the genetic characterization of 27 Candida parapsilosis isolates recovered in two different periods of time (2007-2009 and 2011-2012) from infants hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital in Messina, Italy. The results revealed the persistence and dominance of a particular infectious genotype among NICU patients and highlight the power of the used microsatellite markers in clarifying epidemiologic associations, detect micro-evolutionary variations and facilitating the recognition of outbreaks. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.
A food borne outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Brandenburg as a hint to compare human, animal and food isolates identified in the years 2005-2…
2011
Introduction. There are only a few reported cases of Salmonella enterica serotype Brandenburg foodborne outbreaks in the literature. In Italy Brandenburg is consistently present among the top-ten serotypes from human source, but at low prevalences. Methods. Fifty-five S. Brandenburg isolates from human, animal, environmental and food sources, including twelve isolates from a foodborne outbreak, were genotyped by PFGE. Results and Discussion. Eight pulsogroups and 19 pulsotypes were detected, with a unique pulsotype being attributed to the outbreak strains. Molecular subtyping can reliably complement the epidemiological investigations. Moreover, mapping molecular types of Salmonella isolates…
Recent trends in salmonellosis epidemiology
1999
The taxonomy of the genus Salmonella and the recent trends in the epidemiology of salmonellosis have been reviewed. Global and Italian trends in salmonellae infections have been considered focusing on the application of molecular biology methods to the study of epidemic isolates, as in the case of S. Wien and the more recent S. Enteritidis pandemics. Interventions for salmonellosis prevention, and control measures including new rapid cultural methods for the detection of salmonellae in foods, have been summarized.
HCV genotypes in western Sicily: any evidence for a shift?
2008
Background: The relative prevalence of each HCV strain in a specific country is characterized by a predominant genotype and a number of other sub-prevalent types. Over the last decade a shift away from the prevalent HCV G1 towards G3 and G4 has been reported in some countries, and might affect the global management of HCV disease. Aim: In order to assess any possible variation in the prevalence of HCV genotypes in Sicily, we surveyed an hospital based cohort of subjects with chronic HCV infection observed over the last ten years. Patient and methods: 3209 Italian patients resident in Western Sicily, 1842/1367 M/F, between 1 and 89 years of age, presented at our tertiary referral Laboratory …
Phylogenetic analysis in the clinical risk management of an outbreak of hepatitis C virus infection among transfused thalassaemia patients in Italy
2021
Background: Occurrence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is reduced by effective risk management procedures, but patient-to-patient transmission continues to be reported in healthcare settings. Aim: To report the use of phylogenetic analysis in the clinical risk management of an HCV outbreak among 128 thalassaemia outpatients followed at a thalassaemia centre of an Italian hospital. Methods: Epidemiological investigation and root-cause analysis were performed. All patients with acute hepatitis and known chronic infection were tested for HCV RNA, HCV genotyping, and NS3, NS5A, and NS5B HCV genomic region sequencing. To identify transmission clusters, phylogenetic trees were built for each…