European Journal of Microbiology & Immunology最新文献

The use of antibiotics has provoked an emergence of various multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. Infectious diseases that cannot be treated sufficiently with conventional antibiotic intervention strategies anymore constitue serious threats to human health. Therefore, current research focus has shifted to alternative, antibiotic-independent therapeutic approaches. In this context, vitamin E constitutes a promising candidate molecule due to its multi-faceted modes of action. Therefore, we used the PubMed database to perform a comprehensive literature survey reviewing studies addressing the antimicrobial properties of vitamin E against bacterial pathogens including MDR bacteria. The included studies published between 2010 and 2020 revealed that given its potent synergistic antimicrobial effects in combination with distinct antibiotic compounds, vitamin E constitutes a promising adjunct antibiotic treatment option directed against infectious diseases caused by MDR bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Burkholderia cenocepacia and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In conclusion, the therapeutic value of vitamin E for the treatment of bacterial infections should therefore be investigated in future clinical studies.

Introduction: The study was performed to assess the infection risk of German police officers on predominantly tropical deployments, mostly United Nations missions, with gastrointestinal pathogens.

Methods: Police officers were offered PCR-based screening for gastrointestinal pathogens before and after deployment. The screening panel comprised enteroinvasive bacteria (Salmonella spp., Shigella spp./enteroinvasive Escherichia coli, Campylobacter jejuni, and Yersinia spp.), enteropathogenic protozoa (Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp., and Cyclospora cayetanensis), as well as enteric helminths (Ancyclostoma spp., Ascaris lumbricoides, Enterobius vermicularis, Hymenolepis nana, Necator americanus, African Schistosoma spp., Strongyloides stercoralis, Taenia saginata, Taenia solium, and Trichuris trichiura).

Results: G. duodenalis (n = 3), C. jejuni (n = 2), Salmonella spp. (n = 1), Shigella spp./enteroinvasive E. coli (n = 3), and S. stercoralis (n = 3) were detect in 12 out of 133 (9.0%) police officers. The majority had shown gastrointestinal symptoms on deployment and all were asymptomatic at the time of medical assessment. The major infection sites were Sub-Saharan Africa followed by Northern Africa and the Middle East.

Conclusions: Deployment of police officers to tropical deployment sites on United Nations missions is associated with a considerable acquisition risk of gastrointestinal pathogens in a quantitatively relevant minority. Post-deployment screening is advisable to facilitate therapeutic and hygiene-related consequences.

To have a successful publication in a peer-reviewed journal, a collection of factors and items is needed. Some of them directly and the others indirectly have important roles in scholarly publication. However, a well-designed scientific investigation together with a powerful academic English language may guarantee the publication of a manuscript. In other words, a standard and professional methodology which is expressed by an influent academic English language constitutes the soul of the manuscript's body. Obviously, the accuracy and fluency of the English language of the manuscript is the author(s)' responsibility and neither the reviewers' nor the editor's and the journal's. As publication of a research paper is the complementary section of a scientific study, it is recognized as an academic criterion for academicians. Thus, this review focuses on the all of items which are necessary and vital for a successful scholarly publication.

Introduction: To efficiently monitor the COVID-19 pandemic for surveillance purposes, reliable serological rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are desirable for settings where well-established high-throughput bench-top solutions are not available. Here, we have evaluated such an RDT.

Methods: We have assessed the Xiamen AmonMed Biotechnology COVID-19 IgM/IgG test kit (Colloidal gold) and the EUROIMMUN benchtop assay with serum samples from patients with polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 disease. Samples from patients with Epstein-Barr-virus (EBV) infection and blood donors were used for specificity testing.

Results: For the colloid gold rapid test and the EUROIMMUN assay, the study indicated overall sensitivity of 15.2% and 67.4%, respectively, while specificity of 99.0% and 97.9% with the blood donor sera, as well as 100% and 96.8% with the EBV-patients, were observed, respectively. An association of the time period between positive PCR results and serum acquisition with serological test positivity could be observed for the immunologlobulin G subclass of the EUROIMMUN assay only.

Conclusions: In spite of acceptable specificity of the assessed RDT, the detected poor sensitivity leaves room for improvement. The test results remain difficult to interpret and therefore the RDT can currently not be recommended for routine diagnostic or surveillance use.

Infections with multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria including carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae are emerging worldwide but are difficult to treat with the currently available antibiotic compounds and therefore constitute serious threats to human health. This prompted us to perform a literature survey applying the MEDLINE database and Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials including clinical trials comparing different treatment regimens for infections caused by carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae. Our survey revealed that a combined application of antibiotic compounds such as meropenem plus vaborbactam, meropenem plus colistin and carbapenem plus carbapenem, resulted in significantly increased clinical cure and decreased mortality rates as compared to respective control treatment. However, further research on novel antibiotic compounds, but also on antibiotic-independent molecules providing synergistic or at least resistance-modifying properties needs to be undertaken in vitro as well as in large clinical trials to provide future options in the combat of emerging life-threatening infections caused by MDR bacteria.

Diarrhoea is a frequent symptom associated with travelling to tropical regions, but the cause is often not found. Epidemiology was assessed including up-to-date real-time PCR approaches.We analysed datasets of 528 patients who presented at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany, between 2006 and 2010 for screening purposes or because of diarrhoea. Stool samples were obtained and investigated by microscopy, bacterial culture, two PCR assays targeting Entamoeba histolytica, Entamoeba dispar, Giardia duodenalis, and Cryptosporidium parvum, or Salmonella spp., Shigella/EIEC spp., Campylobacter jejuni, and Yersinia spp.Among patients with gastrointestinal symptoms, 51% tested positive for bacteria or parasites, of which 66% had a known enteropathogenic potential. In patients without diarrhoea, 53% (n = 80) were positive, and 33% of these cases harboured agents of pathogenic potential. Association with clinical symptoms was primarily found for bacterial infections. Blastocystis hominis, however, was more frequent in asymptomatic than in symptomatic travellers.In conclusion, the study stresses the etiological relevance of bacterial gastroenteritis in travellers returning from the tropics, the need for molecular approaches to increase diagnostic sensitivity and demonstrates that asymptomatic carriage of enteropathogens after prolonged stays in the tropics is similarly frequent compared with symptomatic infections in travellers.

Control of canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL), a major zoonotic disease in Brazil and many other tropical and subtropical countries, remains difficult as an accurate and reliable diagnosis is still missing. In endemic regions, infected dogs are the main parasitic reservoir host of human Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) infection. Vaccination of dogs against Leishmania infection constitutes an important strategy to prevent or to better control CVL, thus, a serological test that can discriminate between antibodies induced by immunization versus infection is highly desirable in order to improve and simplify diagnosis. Here, four recombinant proteins were evaluated for their ability to detect and differentiate between dogs that are infected with Leishmania or have been immunized with the anti-Leishmania vaccine Leish-Tec®. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of the four Leishmania-specific IgG ELISA revealed superior performance of rK28, followed by rKLO8, rK39 and rLb6H. The rK28-based ELISA revealed not only the best accuracy against CVL, but also the lowest cross-reactivity with sera from Leish-Tec® immunized dogs. Our data show that the rK28-based ELISA is highly suitable for CVL screening as it shows high sensitivity with simultaneous low cross-reactivity. Further, the high specificity of the rKLO8 indicates its suitability for the confirmation of CVL diagnosis.

Introduction: To evaluate the automated cartridge-based PCR approach ARIES SARS-CoV-2 Assay targeting the ORF-sequence and the N-gene of SARS-CoV-2.

Methods: In line with the suggestions by Rabenau and colleagues, the automated ARIES SARS-CoV-2 Assay was challenged with strongly positive samples, weakly positive samples and negative samples. Further, intra-assay and inter-assay precision as well as the limit-of-detection (lod) were defined with quantified target RNA and DNA. The Cepheid Xpert Xpress SARS-Cov-2 Assay was used as gold standard.

Results: Concordance between the ARIES assay and the Cepheid assay was 100% for strongly positive samples and for negative samples, respectively. For weakly positive samples as confirmed applying the Cepheid assay, a relevant minority of 4 out of 15 samples (26.7%) went undetected by the ARIES assay. Intra- and inter-assay precision were satisfactory, while the lod was in the 103 DNA copies/reaction-range, in the 103 virus copies/reaction-range, or in the 103-104 free RNA copies/reaction-range in our hands.

Conclusions: The automated ARIES assay shows comparable test characteristics as the Cepheid assay focusing on strongly positive and negative samples but a slightly reduced sensitivity with weakly positive samples. Decisions on diagnostic use should include considerations on the lod.

We report a case of a chronic mesotympanic otitis media with a smelly purulent secretion from both ears and recurrent otalgia over the last five years in a six-year-old girl after swimming in the German Baltic Sea. Besides Staphylococcus aureus a non-O1/non-O139 Vibrio cholerae strain could be isolated from patient samples. An antibiotic therapy with ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone was administered followed by atticotomy combined with tympanoplasty. We conclude that V. cholerae should not be overlooked as a differential diagnosis to otitis infections, especially when patients present with extra-intestinal infections after contact with brackish- or saltwater aquatic environments.

Carvacrol, a primary constituent of plant essential oils (EOs), and its antimicrobial activity have been the subject of many in vitro studies. Due to an increasing demand for alternative antimicrobials and an emerging number of antibiotic resistant bacteria, the use of essential oils has played a major role in many recent approaches to reduce Campylobacter colonization in poultry before slaughter age. For that purpose, the reducing effect of carvacrol on Campylobacter jejuni prevalence in broilers was determined in vivo in an experimental broiler chicken model during an entire fattening period. Carvacrol was added to the feed in a concentration of 120 mg/kg feed four days post hatch until the end of the trial. In this study, we demonstrated a statistically significant decrease of C. jejuni counts by 1.17 decadic logarithm (log10) most probable number (MPN)/g in cloacal swabs during starter and grower periods (corresponding to a broilers age between 1 and 28 days). Similar results were observed for colon enumeration at the end of the trial where C. jejuni counts were significantly reduced by 1.25 log10 MPN/g. However, carvacrol did not successfully reduce Campylobacter cecal colonization in 33-day-old broilers.