Pathogens最新文献

Due to the limited treatment options and increased mortality rates, infection prevention and control strategies have been implemented for many years to mitigate dissemination of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) within healthcare settings. The overview provides an insight into the most recent research, particularly the pathogen's resilience in the healthcare environment, and the critical need for infection control strategies, which are currently being scrutinized by some researchers. The notable resilience of enterococci to various environmental conditions highlights the necessity for investigations into innovative technologies capable of effectively targeting the biofilm produced by enterococci on hospital surfaces. A critical approach to traditional infection control strategies is becoming more accepted worldwide, taking into account the epidemiological situation in the given healthcare setting as well as specific characteristics of a patient. For certain high-risk patient populations, traditional infection control strategies including CP and screening should not be omitted. Additionally, further investigation into the resistance mechanisms of available antimicrobial agents is essential, as is research into their potential association with specific successful clones through WGS genotyping, to pre-emptively mitigate their spread before it escalates.

Clostridioides difficile is widely recognised as one of the most common causes of healthcare-associated C. difficile infections due to the ability of spores to survive for prolonged periods in the hospital environment. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of UV-C 254 nm light in the inactivation of the spores of different C. difficile ribotypes on brain heart infusion (BHI) agar plates or in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) with varying spore densities. Furthermore, the effectiveness of a sporicidal surface disinfectant against C. difficile spores was determined on different surfaces. Spore suspensions of different C. difficile strains in the range of 10⁵-10⁷ colony-forming units (CFUs) mL^-1 were inoculated on BHI agar plates or in PBS and exposed to UV-C light for up to 30 min. Additionally, a spore suspension of 10³-10⁵ CFUs was spread over a 1 cm² test area on different surfaces, and sporicidal surface wipes were used according to the manufacturer's instructions. The findings demonstrated that spores of C. difficile ribotypes exhibited a complete reduction in log₁₀ CFU on BHI agar plates and PBS following 20 min of exposure to a UV-C dose of 2208 mJ cm^-2. The surface wipes with sporicidal properties demonstrated efficacy in reducing the number of C. difficile spores on the Formica, stainless steel, and plastic surfaces by 2.03-3.53 log₁₀. The present study demonstrates that moist surfaces or liquids can enhance the efficacy of UV-C treatment in reducing C. difficile spores. This approach may be applicable to the surfaces of healthcare facilities and to water disinfection systems.

Antimicrobial resistance is a globally recognised health emergency. Intensive care is an area with significant antimicrobial consumption, particularly increased utilisation of broad-spectrum antibacterials, making stewardship programmes essential. We aimed to explore antibacterial consumption, partnered with pathogen surveillance, over a five-year period (2018 to 2023) in a tertiary referral adult general intensive care unit (ICU). The mean number of admissions was 1645 per annum. A comparison between the ICU populations admitted before and after the COVID-19 pandemic peak (2020/21) identified several notable differences with increased average daily unit bed occupancy (21.6 vs. 25.2, respectively) and a higher proportion of admissions with sepsis (28.4% vs. 32.5%, respectively) in the post-pandemic period. Over the entire five years, the overall proportion of antibacterial use by the WHO AWaRe classification was 42.6% access, 54.7% watch and 2.6% reserve. One hundred and forty-seven positive blood culture isolates were reported, with the most concerning antibacterial resistance identified in 7.5% (9 Escherichia coli and 2 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates). The COVID-19 pandemic peak year was associated with increased ICU bed occupancy, as well as a greater number of positive blood cultures but lower antibacterial consumption. Despite an increasingly complex workload, a large proportion of overall antibacterial consumption remained within the access category. However, the mortality rate and the incidence of most concerning antimicrobial resistance with respect to pathogens remained satisfyingly consistent, suggesting the positive consequences of real-world antibiotic stewardship in an intensive care setting.

The study aimed to investigate the effects of thifluzamide (2.67 mg/L) on 'Huangguan' pear fruit rot caused by Rhizoctonia solani during storage, as well as the activities of polygalacturonase (PG), pectin methylesterase (PME), polygalacturonic acid trans-eliminase (PGTE), pectin methyl trans-eliminase (PMTE), xylanase, and pectate lyase (PL) secreted by R. solani. The results showed that thifluzamide treatment significantly inhibited the activities of PG, PME, PGTE, PMTE, xylanase, and PL secreted by R. solani after 3 days in vitro culture, compared to the control. Thifluzamide also increased the activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), cinnamate-4-hydroxylase (C4H), and 4-coumarate CoA ligase (4CL), and the contents of flavonoids and total phenolic compounds in pear fruit. Furthermore, thifluzamide increased the expression of PcPAL, PcC4H, Pc4CL, Pcβ-1,3-GA, PcLCH, PcF3H, and PcDFR involved in phenylpropanoid metabolism in pear fruit. In conclusion, thifluzamide treatment reduced the infection ability of R. solani by inhibiting the expression of the genes encoding cell wall-degrading enzymes in R. solani. At the same time, it inhibited the activities of cell wall-degrading enzymes induced resistance against R. solani infection in 'Huangguan' pears by promoting phenylpropane metabolism.

The tertiary stage of syphilis appears to be the most diverse of the three recognized, with a number of cardiovascular, gummatous, neurological and psychiatric symptoms. This systematic review's aim is to analyze cases of organic psychoses secondary to tertiary syphilis, inspect the diagnostic procedures and assess the effectiveness of treatment. Case studies from Pubmed and MEDLINE Ultimate were sought out with the Boolean expression '((neurosyphilis) OR (syphilis) OR (treponema pallidum)) AND (case report) AND ((psychosis) OR (psychotic))' to later undergo screening for exclusion criteria (according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines). Each report was accepted independently by two authors. Case reports were later appraised using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Case Reports. Finally, 11 case reports were included in the study. The most frequently reported psychiatric symptoms were delusions (91%) and hallucinations (81%), disorientation (about 42%) and sleep disturbances and memory loss (36%). Several inconsistencies in diagnostic processes were found in some of the case reports, while treatment procedures were more in line with the guidelines. A disease as complex as neurosyphilis requires great awareness and cooperation between various medical specialties. Despite its mimicry and variability in presentation, the discussed case reports prove that it can be successfully dealt with.

Studies have demonstrated that methylene blue exhibits significant antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 or related coronaviruses at the cellular level, suggesting its potential as an anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug. Herein, we report that methylene blue does not exhibit noticeable antiviral activity in a lethal model involving SARS-CoV-2-related pangolin coronavirus GX_P2V (short_3UTR) infection in CAG-hACE2 transgenic mice. We employed plaque reduction assays and cell infection experiments to compare the extracellular virucidal activity of the compound and its ability to inhibit viral replication in cells to those of nirmatrelvir. Methylene blue demonstrated strong virucidal activity but did not inhibit viral replication in cells. The control compound nirmatrelvir lacked virucidal activity but exhibited strong abilities to inhibit viral replication. The virucidal activity of methylene blue was further tested in mouse plasma. Incubation in mouse plasma increased the virucidal EC₅₀ value of methylene blue, indicating that mouse plasma can affect the stability of the compound, although mouse plasma has some extent of natural virucidal activity. These findings elucidate why methylene blue lacks antiviral efficacy in vivo and provide insights for the development of antiviral drugs.

Monitoring the HIV epidemic in Romania has proven challenging due to many factors, including the reluctance of newly diagnosed patients to disclose relevant epidemiological aspects during the clinical interview, such as sexual orientation or the existence of previous issues with injectable drug usage. We propose in this study a molecular approach to mitigate this problem with the help of bioinformatic tools, such as cluster analysis of phylogenetic trees. Both a maximum likelihood estimation, as implemented with FastTree, and a Bayesian approach, as used in BEAST, have been applied to our data set of 312 HIV subtype F1 pol gene sequences. ClusterPicker was used in order to identify groups of sequences and indicate similarities possibly related to the route of transmission. An important observation from this analysis is that transmission between men who have sex with men (MSM) is likely occurring in networks significantly larger than previously assessed by self-reported data (65% from the phylogenetic tree versus 37% from self-declared affiliation). Cluster analysis can help identify risk factors, reveal transmission trends, and, consequently, advise prevention programs.

African swine fever (ASF), a highly infectious and devastating disease affecting both domestic pigs and wild boars, is caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV). ASF has resulted in rapid global spread of the disease, leading to significant economic losses within the swine industry. A significant obstacle to the creation of safe and effective ASF vaccines is the existing knowledge gap regarding the pathogenesis of ASFV and its mechanisms of immune evasion. The cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway is a major pathway mediating type I interferon (IFN) antiviral immune response against infections by diverse classes of pathogens that contain DNA or generate DNA in their life cycles. To evade the host's innate immune response, ASFV encodes many proteins that inhibit the production of type I IFN by antagonizing the cGAS-STING signaling pathway. Multiple proteins of ASFV are involved in promoting viral replication by protein-protein interaction during ASFV infection. The protein QP383R could impair the function of cGAS. The proteins EP364R, C129R and B175L could disturb the function of cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate (cGAMP). The proteins E248R, L83L, MGF505-11L, MGF505-7R, H240R, CD2v, E184L, B175L and p17 could interfere with the function of STING. The proteins MGF360-11L, MGF505-7R, I215L, DP96R, A151R and S273R could affect the function of TANK Binding Kinase 1 (TBK1) and IκB kinase ε (IKKε). The proteins MGF360-14L, M1249L, E120R, S273R, D129L, E301R, DP96R, MGF505-7R and I226R could inhibit the function of Interferon Regulatory Factor 3 (IRF3). The proteins MGF360-12L, MGF505-7R/A528R, UBCv1 and A238L could inhibit the function of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-Κb).

Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus, GAS) is a human-restricted pathogen that causes a wide range of diseases from pharyngitis and scarlet fever to more severe, invasive infections such as necrotising fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. There has been a global increase in both scarlet fever and invasive infections during the COVID-19 post-pandemic period. The aim of this study was the molecular characterisation of 17 invasive and non-invasive clinical non-emm1 GAS isolates from an Australian tertiary hospital collected between 2021 and 2022. Whole genome sequencing revealed a total of nine different GAS emm types with the most prevalent being emm22, emm12 and emm3 (each 3/17, 18%). Most isolates (14/17, 82%) carried at least one superantigen gene associated with contemporary scarlet fever outbreaks, and the carriage of these toxin genes was non-emm type specific. Several mutations within key regulatory genes were identified across the different GAS isolates, which may be linked to an increased expression of several virulence factors. This study from a single Australian centre provides a snapshot of non-emm1 GAS clinical isolates that are multiclonal and linked with distinct epidemiological markers commonly observed in high-income settings. These findings highlight the need for continual surveillance to monitor genetic markers that may drive future outbreaks.

The prevalence of infections amongst intensive care unit (ICU) patients is inevitably high, and the ICU is considered the epicenter for the spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Multiple studies have focused on the microbial diversity largely inhabiting ICUs that continues to flourish despite treatment with various antibiotics, investigating the factors that influence the spread of these pathogens, with the aim of implementing sufficient monitoring and infection control methods. Despite joint efforts from healthcare providers and policymakers, ICUs remain a hub for healthcare-associated infections. While persistence is a unique strategy used by these pathogens, multiple other factors can lead to persistent infections and antimicrobial tolerance in the ICU. Despite the recognition of the detrimental effects biofilm-producing pathogens have on ICU patients, overcoming biofilm formation in ICUs continues to be a challenge. This review focuses on various facets of ICUs that may contribute to and/or enhance biofilm production. A comprehensive survey of the literature reveals the apparent need for additional molecular studies to assist in understanding the relationship between biofilm regulation and the adaptive behavior of pathogens in the ICU environment. A better understanding of the interplay between biofilm production and antibiotic resistance within the environmental cues exhibited particularly by the ICU may also reveal ways to limit biofilm production and indivertibly control the spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens in ICUs.