Publications by authors named "Barbara Gomila Sard"

Article Synopsis
  • In June 2021, the WHO released a comprehensive catalogue of mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis that are linked to drug resistance, prompting researchers to evaluate its effectiveness for diagnosing drug-resistant tuberculosis in the relatively low prevalence area of Valencia, Spain.
  • A retrospective genomic study analyzed 785 tuberculosis isolates collected between 2014-2016, utilizing whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to predict resistance profiles based on the catalogue and comparing these predictions with actual phenotypic results.
  • The study found that while sensitivity for predicting resistance varied, with the highest at 85.4% for isoniazid, overall pan-susceptibility accuracy was 96.4%, highlighting some discrepancies in certain isolates that carried mutations known to cause borderline
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Transmission is a driver of tuberculosis (TB) epidemics in high-burden regions, with assumed negligible impact in low-burden areas. However, we still lack a full characterization of transmission dynamics in settings with similar and different burdens. Genomic epidemiology can greatly help to quantify transmission, but the lack of whole genome sequencing population-based studies has hampered its application.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Whole genome sequencing provides better delineation of transmission clusters in Mycobacterium tuberculosis than traditional methods. However, its ability to reveal individual transmission links within clusters is limited. Here, we used a 2-step approach based on Bayesian transmission reconstruction to (1) identify likely index and missing cases, (2) determine risk factors associated with transmitters, and (3) estimate when transmission happened.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Few studies have evaluated the association between preexisting vitamin D deficiency and incident tuberculosis (TB). We assessed the impact of baseline vitamins D levels on TB disease risk.

Methods And Findings: We assessed the association between baseline vitamin D and incident TB in a prospective cohort of 6,751 HIV-negative household contacts of TB patients enrolled between September 1, 2009, and August 29, 2012, in Lima, Peru.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The increase of isolation of beta-lactamase resistant Escherichia coli (BREC) strains makes treatment difficult. The objective of this study is to evaluate the situation in our environment.

Methods: Retrospective study including patients who presented positive urine cultures for E.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Sensititre YeastOne (SYO) method is a widely used method to determine the susceptibility of Candida spp. to antifungal agents. CLSI clinical breakpoints (CBP) have been reported for antifungals, but not using this method.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Human beings can be parasitized by various species of intestinal amoebae. Entamoeba histolytica is the only intestinal amoeba recognized to be pathogenic, while other amoeba species, E. dispar, E.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Recent epidemiological surveillance studies have reported an increase in fungaemia caused by non-Candida albicans species, as well as a decrease in fluconazole susceptibility.

Objectives: To evaluate changes in the epidemiology of fungaemia in Spain comparing data from a new surveillance epidemiological study conducted in 2009 with a previous study carried out from 1997 to 1999 (Pemán J, et al. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF