Pathogens and Global Health最新文献

Seasonal influenza, also known as the flu, causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. It constitutes a public health issue with mayor socioeconomic implications. Vaccination is the primary preventive measure against influenza. This study aimed to describe the 2022-23 flu vaccination campaign at the workplace of a financial company in Spain. This descriptive cross-sectional study included data from the 4,807 vaccinated employees, which represents 14% of the workforce. Statistical analysis was conducted based on gender, age, and workplace (Madrid, outside Madrid) using Pearson's Chi-square test, logistic regression, and Odds ratio. This paper reports an appointment adherence rate exceeding 90%. Employees working in Madrid were 3.41 times more likely to have been vaccinated compared to those outside Madrid (95% CI, 3.17 to 3.68). Compared to younger workers, individuals aged 44 and older were 1.57 times more likely to have received the vaccine (95% CI, 1.46 to 1.66). The workplace provides a convenient setting for flu vaccination campaigns. The geographical dispersion and remoteness of the Medical Centre's location affect the flu vaccination rate. Significant regulatory differences have been identified between the CDC and the Spanish Ministry of Health regarding vaccination in the working-age population.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is the major cause of hospital-acquired infections worldwide. Besides hospitals, it is widely prevalent in diverse environmental settings, emphasizing the need to study it through the One Health approach. Dissemination of multidrug resistant, and/or hypervirulent, strains in the environment exacerbates the problem. However, only a few studies have examined its prevalence in the environment, leaving gaps in our understanding of its ecology across diverse habitats. A deeper insight into the pathogen's ecology is necessary to understand its dissemination routes. In this review, we have first discussed the taxonomy of the genus Klebsiella and widespread prevalence of the Klebsiella pneumoniae species complex. Key factors, including mechanisms driving multidrug resistance, contributing to its ubiquity and competitiveness have been discussed. Additionally, ecological roles played by K. pneumoniae have been outlined. Finally, the studies comparing clinical and environmental isolates of K. pneumoniae have been reviewed, and a road map for future work in the area have been presented.

Introduction: Immunosuppression (IS) determines a higher risk of disease severity from Listeria monocytogenes (LM) infection.

Methods: We examined the epidemiology of IS in all patients hospitalized with LM in Spain from 2000 to 2021 in the National Registry of Hospital Discharges. IS was defined by liver disease (LD), diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic kidney disease (CKD), solid organ transplantation (SOT), bone marrow transplantation (BMT), primary immunodeficiencies (ID), systemic autoimmune diseases (SAD), solid organ neoplasms (SON), and hematological neoplasms (HN).

Results: Among 8,152 admissions with LM, 48% were IS. There was an increase from 39.5% to 60% during the study period, mainly driven by rises in DM (from 12.6% to 26.2%), SON (from 9.9% to 17.5%), CKD (from 4.4% to 16.3%), HN (from 6.6% to 13.4%), and LD (from 4.9% to 6.6%) (p < 0.001 for all trends). IS fatality rate was higher than in non-IS (22.4% vs 11.3%; OR = 2.09). The proportion of LM patients with IS among LM in-hospital deaths increased from 57.1% in 2000 to 67.95% in 2021 (p < 0.001). Fatality risk differed according to baseline IS condition: LD (OR = 2.42), CKD (OR = 1.49), SON (OR 3.01) and HN (OR 1.45).

Conclusions: The prevalence of IS among patients hospitalized with LM in Spain has risen over the past two decades, with a growing impact on fatality rates. These findings should prompt further efforts to prevent and manage properly LM infection.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the cause of the transmission of diseases such as Dengue, Chikungunya, Yellow fever, and Zika. Dengue is a viral illness and currently, there is no specific treatment for the disease. The best possible way to prevent this disease is to avoid the reproduction of mosquitoes. Reproduction of mosquitoes is avoided by identifying and treating the Possible Breeding Habitats (PBH) such as Stagnant water in Tires, water tanks, and Puddles. The PBH can be identified using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) better known as Drones which cover vast areas and are cost-effective. In this work, an aerial dataset containing the PBH is created which is obtained by UAV. Each image is annotated manually to identify the objects of interest. Automatic detection of objects is experimented with by using YOLOv8 and YOLOv11 algorithms of all variants where YOLOv11 outperformed YOLOv8 with the metrics of mAP50 as 0.97, mAP50-90 as 0.61, Precision as 0.96, and recall as 0.88. The Travelling Salesman Problem is used to optimize the path planning and spray the larvicides at every waypoint using UAVs by reducing energy and battery consumption. Our approach detects and treats mosquito habitats by using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

The drug-resistant strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) are serious threats to health sectors worldwide. This study focuses on genomic characterization of environmentally derived an extensively drug resistant (XDR) strain of Salmonella Typhi, highlighting its potential to cause significant outbreak. The XDR strain (labeled as NH1) was isolated from fresh coriander, and characterized through whole-genome sequencing to investigate its lineage diversity, niche adaptation, sources and resistant mechanism. The NH1 strain exhibits phylogenomic association with clinical lineages S. Typhi NCTC8385 and ASM3025476. Its genome, assembled in 67 contigs, exhibited expected coverage and GC content, harboring a mega-plasmid, virulence factors, and intrinsic and extrinsic antimicrobial resistance genes. Plasmid annotation revealed IncQ1 and IncY plasmids responsible for the acquired resistance. SPIFinder identified SPI1-10 pathogenicity islands, and the CRISPR-Cas locus, associated with bacterial defense, bile salt resistance and biofilm formation, was present. NH1 strain also possesses numerous mobile elements (proteins and transposases), 12 prophages, and secretion systems (types I-IV, VI), aiding its survival in environment like vegetables. The genomic characterization of S. Typhi NH1 highlights the emergence of coriander-borne XDR strain, underscoring the need for targeted prevention to mitigate its public health impact.

Rabies remains a major public health issue. Yet, trends in rabies burden associated with age, period, and cohort effects remain unknown, and the association between animal rabies vaccination and rabies burden is unclear. We aimed to understand the long-term spatio-temporal trends in global rabies burden, the impacts of age, periods, and birth cohorts, and the association between animal rabies vaccination and burden. Rabies burden data were extracted from Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. We used joinpoint regression to assess temporal trends in rabies burden and age-period-cohort model to evaluate age, period, and cohort effects on rabies incidence and mortality. Animal rabies vaccination data were obtained from World Animal Health Information System. The association between the ratio of vaccinated animals and age-standardized incidence rate was explored. From 1990 to 2019, the global rabies incident cases, deaths, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) decreased by 43.12%, 47.20%, and 54.59%, respectively. Age-standardized rates of incidence, mortality, and DALYs declined in all socio-demographic index (SDI) regions, yet consistently remained the highest in low SDI region. The highest rabies incidence rate and mortality rate were observed in children aged 0-9 years. Population living during 1990-1994 had the highest rabies incidence and mortality risks. Countries and territories with high rabies age-standardized incidence rate generally had low ratios of vaccinated animals. Globally, rabies burden decreased over past 30 years, yet disparities in rabies burden regarding gender, age, period, cohort and SDI region existed. Targeted strategies are needed, especially in low SDI region and among children aged 0-9 years.

Different genetic polymorphisms, particularly in the erythrocyte receptors and immune response-related genes, have been implicated in the development of malaria. With the first immune response to Plasmodium falciparum related to the activity of toll-like receptors (TLRs), we investigated the association of TLR polymorphisms with the clinical outcome of malaria among 662 children in Ibadan, Nigeria. The participants were genotyped for TLR1-rs5743611, TLR1-rs4833095, TLR4-rs4986791, TLR4-rs4986790, TLR6-rs5743810, TLR9-rs187084 and TLR9-rs5743809 using TaqMan real-time PCR probes and analyzed using the Sequenom iPLEX platform. Statistical analyses were performed using PLINK 2.0, Haploview 4.2 and SPSS® 20.0. Overall, the TLR genes were consistent with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The minor allelic frequency (MAF) of TRL1-rs4833095, TLR4-rs4986790, TLR4-rs4986791, TLR9-rs187084, TLR9-rs5743809 was 0.094, 0.089, 0.011, 0.288, and 0.044, respectively. The CT genotype of TLR1-rs4833095 was significantly associated with increased susceptibility to clinical malaria. Similarly, the GA and CT genotypes of TLR4-rs4986790 and TLR4-rs4986791, respectively, were linked to susceptibility to complicated malaria. TLR9-rs187084 CT was associated with the development of uncomplicated malaria, while TLR6-rs5743809 showed no significant association with malaria. Notably, TLR1-rs5743611 and TLR6-rs5743810 were monomorphic in the population. This study, pioneering in its exploration of TLR polymorphisms among Yorubas', underscores the need for expansive, large-scale investigations involving diverse TLR polymorphisms across multiple malaria-endemic populations.

The bibliometric analysis aimed to assess the bibliometric characteristics, current status and temporal trends in diagnostic evolutions related to infectious diseases caused by the genus Orientia and Rickettsia. Relevant studies were retrieved from Scopus using pre-determined standard keywords. The analysis was performed using the R package 'Bibliometrix' through the 'Biblioshiny' interface. A total of 239 studies were identified for Rickettsia diagnostics, while 168 studies focussed on scrub typhus diagnostics. The annual growth rate of publications in scrub typhus (1.82%) was found to be higher than that of diagnostic research in Rickettsia (1.44%). The Journal of Clinical Microbiology (IF: 5.8) was the most relevant source for Rickettsia research, whereas the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (IF: 3.7) led publications for scrub typhus. The most globally cited articles were authored by Biggs et al (2017) for Rickettsia and Blacksell et al. (2007) for scrub typhus. U.S.A. (n = 119) and India (n = 136) are the most productive nations, publishing in Rickettsia and scrub typhus diagnostics. Mahidol University (Thailand) and the University of Texas (U.S.A.) were the top-contributing institutions. Blacksell S.D. and Raoult D. were identified as the most prolific researchers in Rickettsia and scrub typhus diagnostics. This study provides insights into the impact, productivity, and collaborative patterns among authors, institutions, and other stakeholders in rickettsial disease diagnostics. It offers a historical overview of diagnostic developments and emphasizes the importance of continued innovation and international collaboration to ensure timely diagnosis and treatment of rickettsial diseases.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among microorganisms remains a significant global concern in this century, posing an ongoing challenge for humanity. To solve this issue effectively, it is crucial to understand the genes responsible for AMR and how they create resistance. Staphylococcus aureus, which has AMR genes imparting resistance against numerous antibiotics, was the main subject of our investigation. We conducted a phylogenetic investigation to explore the evolutionary history of the gene network comprising rpl, rpoC, parE, and gyrB, providing insights into their genetic relationships and evolutionary connections. A gene interaction network with 46 functional partners was built and examined from the STRING Database and Cytoscape to increase our understanding. According to Cluego's enrichment analysis, 20 genes are significantly involved in biological processes, as are 14 genes in cellular components and 16 genes in molecular functions. RpoB, RpoC, FusA, RplI, and RpsL had the most interactions by Cytohubba when the degree and closeness of the network were studied, according to the gene interaction network analysis. Understanding the molecular basis of AMR requires analysis of the enriched pathways and Gene Ontologies (GO). The proposed study may also help researchers find new ways to battle the multidrug resistance of Staphylococcus aureus.