Tracing and strains causing septicemia in extremely preterm infants to the skin, mouth, and gut microbiota.

Unlabelled: Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) comprise about 50 species, some of which cause septicemia in preterm neonates. CoNS establish early on the skin and in the oral and gut microbiota, from where they may spread to the bloodstream. The colonization pattern preceding septicemia is not well-defined.

Gut microbiota markers in early childhood are linked to farm living, pets in household and allergy.

Background: Children growing up on farms or with pets have a lower risk of developing allergy, which may be linked to their gut microbiota development during infancy.

Methods: Children from the FARMFLORA birth cohort (N = 65), of whom 28 (43%) lived on a dairy farm and 40 (62%) had pets, provided fecal samples at intervals from 3 days to 18 months of age. Gut microbiota composition was characterized using quantitative microbial culture of various typical anaerobic and facultatively anaerobic bacteria, with colonization rate and population counts of bacterial groups determined at the genus or species level.

Wound cleansing solutions versus normal saline in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers - A systematic review.

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a major complication of diabetes mellitus, defined as infection, ulceration and/or destruction of deep tissues and/or peripheral artery disease in the lower extremities. Efficient cleansing is essential for the treatment of wounds, as it removes debris and necrotic tissue and decreases the burden of wound-colonizing microorganisms. The objective was to conduct a systematic review of the literature to investigate the effects of wound cleansing agents commonly used in DFU care, compared to the use of normal saline for DFU management.

Outbreak of OXA-48-producing Enterobacteriaceae in a neonatal intensive care unit in Western Sweden.

In 2015, an outbreak caused by OXA-48-producing Enterobacteriaceae affected a neonatal intensive care unit at a Swedish University Hospital. The aim was to explore the transmission of OXA-48-producing strains between infants and the transfer of resistance plasmids between strains during the outbreak. Twenty-four outbreak isolates from ten suspected cases were whole-genome sequenced.

Responses of carbapenemase-producing and non-producing carbapenem-resistant strains to meropenem revealed by quantitative tandem mass spectrometry proteomics.

is an opportunistic pathogen with increasing incidence of multidrug-resistant strains, including resistance to last-resort antibiotics, such as carbapenems. Resistances are often due to complex interplays of natural and acquired resistance mechanisms that are enhanced by its large regulatory network. This study describes the proteomic responses of two carbapenem-resistant strains of high-risk clones ST235 and ST395 to subminimal inhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) of meropenem by identifying differentially regulated proteins and pathways.

Staphylococcus aureus sequence type (ST) 45, ST30, and ST15 in the gut microbiota of healthy infants - persistence and population counts in relation to ST and virulence gene carriage.

Staphylococcus aureus colonizes the anterior nares, and also the gut, particularly in infants. S. aureus is divided into lineages, termed clonal complexes (CCs), which comprise closely related sequence types (STs).

Bacterial Carriage of Genes Encoding Fibronectin-Binding Proteins Is Associated with Long-Term Persistence of Staphylococcus aureus in the Nasal and Gut Microbiota of Infants.

Staphylococcus aureus can colonize both the anterior nares and the gastrointestinal tract. However, colonization at these sites in the same individuals has not been studied, and the traits that facilitate colonization and persistence at these sites have not been compared. Samples from the nostrils and feces collected on 9 occasions from 3 days to 3 years of age in 65 infants were cultured; 54 samples yielded S.

Circulating proteins associated with allergy development in infants-an exploratory analysis.

Background: Protein profiles that can predict allergy development in children are lacking and the ideal sampling age is unknown. By applying an exploratory proteomics approach in the prospective FARMFLORA birth cohort, we sought to identify previously unknown circulating proteins in early life that associate to protection or risk for development of allergy up to 8 years of age.

Methods: We analyzed plasma prepared from umbilical cord blood (n = 38) and blood collected at 1 month (n = 42), 4 months (n = 39), 18 months (n = 42), 36 months (n = 42) and 8 years (n = 44) of age.

Fecal short chain fatty acids in children living on farms and a link between valeric acid and protection from eczema.

Children growing up on farms have low rates of allergy, but the mechanism for this protective effect has not been fully elucidated. Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced by the gut microbiota may play a role in protection from allergy. We measured fecal SCFA levels in samples collected from 28 farming and 37 control children over the first 3 years of life using gas chromatography.

Neonatal gut colonization by is associated with higher childhood cytokine responses.

The gut microbiota is a major stimulus for the immune system, and late acquisition of bacteria and/or reduced complexity of the gut flora may delay adaptive immune maturation. However, it is unknown how the gut bacterial colonization pattern in human infants is related to T cell activation during early childhood. We followed 65 Swedish children in the FARMFLORA cohort, from birth up to 3 years of age.

Late-onset Neonatal Infections 1997 to 2017 Within a Cohort in Western Sweden-The Last 21 Years of a 43-Year Surveillance.

Background: The objective of the study was to assess the epidemiology of late-onset (LO) neonatal invasive infections with surveillance covering 43 years, starting from 1975.

Methods: Observational epidemiologic, retrospective study including a cohort of infants born in western Sweden in 1997-2017, who had a positive blood and cerebral spinal fluid culture between 3 and 120 days of age. A comparison was made of the incidence between 1997-2007 and 2008-2017.

Are all faecal bacteria detected with equal efficiency? A study using next-generation sequencing and quantitative culture of infants' faecal samples.

Background: Many species of intestinal bacteria are present in moderate numbers in the faecal microbiota, which is dominated by obligate anaerobes. Little is known regarding the detection sensitivity of next-generation sequencing for these microbes in samples of complex microbiota.

Methods: Twenty stool samples from six healthy infants, who were followed from 1 week to 1 year of age, were previously cultured quantitatively for total population counts, as well as for counts of relevant facultative bacteria and a limited selection of obligate anaerobes that are prevalent in the neonatal microbiota.

Changes in incidence and etiology of early-onset neonatal infections 1997-2017 - a retrospective cohort study in western Sweden.

Background: The objective of the study was to evaluate data on early-onset neonatal invasive infections in western Sweden for the period 1997-2017. To identify changes in incidence, etiology and mortality and compare to previous studies from the same area starting from 1975.

Methods: Observational epidemiological, retrospective study on infants 0-6 days of age with a positive culture in blood and/or cerebrospinal fluid between 1997 and 2017.

Escherichia coli B2 Phylogenetic Subgroups in the Infant Gut Microbiota: Predominance of Uropathogenic Lineages in Swedish Infants and Enteropathogenic Lineages in Pakistani Infants.

segregates into phylogenetic groups, with group B2 containing both extraintestinal pathogenic (ExPEC) and enteropathogenic (EPEC) strains. Ten main B2 subgroups (subgroups I to X)/sequence type complexes (STcs), as well as EPEC lineages, have been identified. In the current study, we characterized ExPEC and EPEC strains of B2 phylogenetic subgroups/STcs that colonize Swedish and Pakistani infants.

Candida species as commensal gut colonizers: A study of 133 longitudinally followed Swedish infants.

The gut microbiota harbor a wide range of bacterial species, but also yeasts may be part of this ecosystem. Infants who are being treated in intensive care units are often colonized by Candida species. However, little is known regarding commensal yeast colonization of healthy infants and young children.

Neonatal gut colonization by Staphylococcus aureus strains with certain adhesins and superantigens is negatively associated with subsequent development of atopic eczema.

Background: Insufficient early immune stimulation may predispose to atopic disease. Staphylococcus aureus, a skin and gut colonizer, produces the B-cell mitogen protein A and T-cell-activating superantigens. Early gut colonization by S.

The resistomes of six carbapenem-resistant pathogens - a critical genotype-phenotype analysis.

Carbapenem resistance is a rapidly growing threat to our ability to treat refractory bacterial infections. To understand how carbapenem resistance is mobilized and spread between pathogens, it is important to study the genetic context of the underlying resistance mechanisms. In this study, the resistomes of six clinical carbapenem-resistant isolates of five different species - Acinetobacter baumannii, Escherichia coli, two Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa - were characterized using whole genome sequencing.

Methicillin-resistant misidentified as methicillin-resistant emerging in western Sweden.

Two strains included in a whole-genome sequencing project for methicillin-resistant (MRSA) were identified as non- when the sequences were analysed using the bioinformatics software ALEX (www.1928diagnostics.com, Gothenburg, Sweden).

Low-complexity microbiota in the duodenum of children with newly diagnosed ulcerative colitis.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by gut dysbiosis. To date, the large bowel microbiota has been in focus. However, the microbiota of the small intestine may also be of importance, as the small bowel is a site for the induction and control of mucosal immune responses, which can be modulated by constituents of the local microbiota.

Transfer and Persistence of a Multi-Drug Resistance Plasmid of the Infant Gut Microbiota in the Absence of Antibiotic Treatment.

The microbial ecosystem residing in the human gut is believed to play an important role in horizontal exchange of virulence and antibiotic resistance genes that threatens human health. While the diversity of gut-microorganisms and their genetic content has been studied extensively, high-resolution insight into the plasticity, and selective forces shaping individual genomes is scarce. In a longitudinal study, we followed the dynamics of co-existing lineages in an infant not receiving antibiotics.

Genome Dynamics of during Antibiotic Treatment: Transfer, Loss, and Persistence of Genetic Elements of the Infant Gut.

Elucidating the adaptive strategies and plasticity of bacterial genomes is crucial for understanding the epidemiology and evolution of pathogens threatening human health. While much is known about the evolution of in controlled laboratory environments, less effort has been made to elucidate the genome dynamics of in its native settings. Here, we follow the genome dynamics of co-existing lineages of the infant gut during the first year of life.

Allergic disease in 8-year-old children is preceded by delayed B cell maturation.

Background: We previously reported that exposure to a farming environment is allergy-protective, while high proportions of neonatal immature/naïve CD5 B cells and putative regulatory T cells (Tregs) are risk factors for development of allergic disease and sensitization up to 3 years of age.

Objective: To examine if B and T cell maturation are associated with allergic disease and farming environment over the first 8 years in life.

Methods: In the prospective FARMFLORA study, including both farming and non-farming families, 48 of 65 children took part in the 8-year follow-up study.