Search results for "molecular epidemiology"

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nasal colonization in a level III neonatal intensive care unit: Incidence and risk factors

2015

Objective: To describe epidemiologic features and identify risk factors for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) acquisition in a level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Setting: A prospective, cohort study in a university-affiliated NICU with an infection control program including weekly nasal cultures of all neonates. Methods: Demographic, clinical, and microbiologic data were prospectively collected between June 2009 and June 2013. Molecular characterization of MRSA isolates was done by multilocus variable number tandem repeat fingerprinting, staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec typing, and on representative isolates by multilocus sequence typing and s. pa typing. …

tst1-positive ST22-MRSA-IVa in healthy Italian preschool children

2013

A survey was performed in May 2013 to assess methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nasal colonization in healthy children attending 26 municipal daycare centres in Palermo, Italy. Of the 500 children, ten (2 %) tested positive. Eight MRSA isolates were tst1-positive ST22-MRSA-IVa, spa t223; the other two isolates were identified as ST1-IVa and ST398-V, respectively. tst1-positive ST22-MRSA, spa t223 has been previously identified only in the Middle Eastern area.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization: a three-year prospective study in a neonatal intensive care unit in Italy.

2014

Background: Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major etiological agent of infection in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Routes of entry of this organism can be different and the transmission pathway complex. Colonized neonates are the main endogenous reservoir. Methods and Results: We conducted a prospective three-year study on MRSA colonization recruiting 722 neonates admitted between 2009 and 2012. Nasal swabs were cultured weekly and MRSA isolates were submitted to molecular typing. The annual incidence density of acquisition of MRSA ranged from a maximum of 20.2 cases for 1000 patient-days during the first year to a minimum of 8.8 cases in the second one to ra…

Legionellosis Outbreak Associated with Asphalt Paving Machine, Spain, 2009

2010

From 1999 through 2005 in Alcoi, Spain, incidence of legionellosis was continually high. Over the next 4 years, incidence was lower, but an increase in July 2009 led health authorities to declare an epidemic outbreak. A molecular epidemiology investigation showed that the allelic profiles for all Legionella pneumophila samples from the 2009 outbreak patients were the same, thus pointing to a common genetic origin for their infections, and that they were identical to that of the organism that had caused the previous outbreaks. Spatial-temporal and sequence-based typing analyses indicated a milling machine used in street asphalt repaving and its water tank as the most likely sources. As oppos…

Molecular epidemiology of astrovirus infection in Italian children with gastroenteritis

2004

A 1-year study involving 157 gastroenteritis samples was conducted to investigate the role of human astrovirus, (HAstV) as a cause of gastroenteritis in Italian children aged < 2 years. The overall incidence of HAstV was 3.1%. Most cases occurred between March and May, and four of the five isolates were of the HAstV-1 type, the other being HAstV-3. Analysis of genetic variability showed that the three HAstV-1 isolates collected in 2000 clustered together, but separately from the 1999 isolate. The results indicated that HAstV should be considered as a potential diarrhoeal pathogen in Italian children. © 2004 Copyright by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Escherichia coli of human and avian origin: detection of clonal groups associated with fluoroquinolone and multidrug resistance in Italy

2012

Objectives: Poultry have been suggested as a reservoir for fluoroquinolone-resistant extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC). Our aim was to investigate whether genotypes associated with ciprofloxacin and multidrug resistance were shared among human and avian E. coli. Methods: We compared 277 human ExPEC isolates from urinary tract infection (UTI) and sepsis (142 susceptible and 135 ciprofloxacin resistant) and 101 avian isolates (68 susceptible and 33 ciprofloxacin resistant) by antimicrobial resistance phenotype, phylogenetic group and multilocus sequence type (ST). Results: Most ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates from both human and avian sources were multidrug resistant. Human…

Emerging Trends in CRF02_AG Variants Transmission Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Spain

2013

Molecular surveillance of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) viruses circulating in Italy from May 2009 to February 2010: association between haemagglutinin …

2010

Haemagglutinin sequences of pandemic influenza A(H1N1) viruses circulating in Italy were examined, focusing on amino acid changes at position 222 because of its suggested pathogenic relevance. Among 169 patients, the D222G substitution was detected in three of 52 (5.8%) severe cases and in one of 117 (0.9%) mild cases, whereas the D222E mutation was more frequent and evenly distributed in mild (31.6%) and severe cases (38.4%). A cluster of D222E viruses among school children confirms reported human-to-human transmission of viruses mutated at amino acid position 222.

Sequence variants at CHRNB3-CHRNA6 and CYP2A6 affect smoking behavior

2010

Contains fulltext : 89305.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Smoking is a common risk factor for many diseases. We conducted genome-wide association meta-analyses for the number of cigarettes smoked per day (CPD) in smokers (n = 31,266) and smoking initiation (n = 46,481) using samples from the ENGAGE Consortium. In a second stage, we tested selected SNPs with in silico replication in the Tobacco and Genetics (TAG) and Glaxo Smith Kline (Ox-GSK) consortia cohorts (n = 45,691 smokers) and assessed some of those in a third sample of European ancestry (n = 9,040). Variants in three genomic regions associated with CPD (P < 5 x 10(-8)), including previously identified SNPs at 15q25 repre…

Phylogenetic reconstruction of HCV genotype 1b dissemination in a small city centre: The Camporeale model

2008

Several seroepidemiological population-based surveys carried out in Italy have shown a high prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Camporeale (CP), a small Sicilian town with a 10.4% prevalence of HCV mostly genotype 1b, probably represents a specific context, since intravenous drug addiction, and sexual promiscuity are almost absent. In order to reconstruct the pattern of introduction and diffusion of HCV in this ecological niche, the NS5 genomic region of 72 HCV genotype 1 isolates (39 from CP and 33 collected throughout Sicily) was amplified and sequenced. Sequences were aligned and analyzed by BioEdit, PAUP and BEAST, and their molecular evolution compared. Thirty-eight HCV ge…