[New regulations concerning EHEC/VTEC].

New regulations concerning EHEC/VTEC Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) is the most severe complication to an infection with EHEC (enterohemorrhagic E. coli), also called VTEC (verocytotoxin-producing E. coli).

Investigation of a food-borne outbreak of gastroenteritis in a school canteen revealed a variant of sapovirus genogroup V not detected by standard PCR, Sollentuna, Sweden, 2016.

A food-borne outbreak of gastroenteritis with more than 650 suspected cases occurred in April 2016 in Sollentuna, Sweden. It originated in a school kitchen serving a total of 2,700 meals daily. Initial microbiological testing (for Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Entamoeba histolytica, adeno-, astro-, noro-, rota- and sapovirus) of stool samples from 15 symptomatic cases was negative, despite a clinical presentation suggestive of calicivirus.

Unusual cryptosporidiosis cases in Swedish patients: extended molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium viatorum and Cryptosporidium chipmunk genotype I.

Most human cases of cryptosporidiosis are caused by Cryptosporidium parvum or Cryptosporidium hominis, but the use of molecular diagnostic methods has revealed that several other less common species or genotypes can also be involved. Here, we describe two unusual causes of cryptosporidiosis, one being the recently described species Cryptosporidium viatorum and the other Cryptosporidium chipmunk genotype I. Two Swedish patients who were infected with C.

Multilocus genotyping of human Giardia isolates suggests limited zoonotic transmission and association between assemblage B and flatulence in children.

Background: Giardia intestinalis is one of the most common diarrhea-related parasites in humans, where infection ranges from asymptomatic to acute or chronic disease. G. intestinalis consists of eight genetically distinct genotypes or assemblages, designated A-H, and assemblages A and B can infect humans.

Effectiveness of an adjuvanted monovalent vaccine against the 2009 pandemic strain of influenza A(H1N1)v, in Stockholm County, Sweden.

Background: Vaccination against the pandemic influenza A(H1N1)v was performed in many countries during 2009, but population-based data on vaccine effectiveness are lacking.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study involving all inhabitants in Stockholm County (n = 2,019,183) who were offered a monovalent AS03-adjuvanted influenza A(H1N1)v vaccine (Pandemrix, GSK), between 12 October and 31 December 2009. Overall vaccine coverage was 52%.

A foodborne outbreak of Cyclospora infection in Stockholm, Sweden.

During May and June 2009 an outbreak of Cyclospora cayetanensis infection involving 12 laboratory-confirmed and 6 probable cases was detected in Stockholm County, Sweden. Imported sugar snap peas from Guatemala were the suspected vehicle, based on information obtained from patient questionnaires. This is the first reported outbreak of cyclosporiasis in Sweden and the second in Europe.

Increased sporulation rate of epidemic Clostridium difficile Type 027/NAP1.

Clostridium difficile PCR ribotype 027 comprised 0.2% of a collection of Swedish isolates in 1997-2001 (3 of 1,325 isolates). These isolates had lower moxifloxacin MICs than the epidemic type 027 isolates, but they had the same tcdC sequence and toxin yield.

Gastrointestinal symptoms after infectious diarrhea: a five-year follow-up in a Swedish cohort of adults.

Background & Aims: Gastrointestinal infection is a well-recognized trigger for functional bowel disorder. This study evaluated gastrointestinal symptoms and risk factors for their development after diarrheal disease of proven or strongly suspected infectious etiology in adults.

Methods: The cohort of patients was derived from a previous study that determined the rate at which enteropathogens could be isolated at the time of diarrheal disease in adults.

Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Clostridium difficile and its relation to PCR ribotypes in a Swedish university hospital.

All 238 Clostridium difficile isolates were susceptible to metronidazole and vancomycin, whereas 84% and 1% were resistant to clindamycin and fusidic acid. Etest MICs for metronidazole were lower than agar dilution MICs (P < 0.01) but without difference in susceptible-intermediate-resistant categorization.

Correlation of disease severity with fecal toxin levels in patients with Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea and distribution of PCR ribotypes and toxin yields in vitro of corresponding isolates.

We investigated in vivo and in vitro yields of toxins A and B from and PCR ribotypes of Clostridium difficile isolates from 164 patients with differing severities of C. difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) (patients were grouped as follows: <3 loose stools per day, n = 45; 3 to 10 per day, n = 97; >10 per day, n = 22). The median fecal toxin levels in each group were 0.

An outbreak of cryptosporidiosis associated with exposure to swimming pool water.

An outbreak of cryptosporidiosis among visitors to a public swimming pool occurred in the late summer of 2002. We performed a retrospective cohort study, including 3 cohorts, A) 178 school-children who visited the pool on a single occasion, B) 263 arbitrarily chosen school children, aged 6-12 y, and their household members, living within the municipality where the outbreak occurred, and C) an additional 28 individuals with laboratory confirmed cryptosporidiosis. The outbreak lasted 4 weeks and affected an estimated 800-1000 individuals.

Effect of Lactobacillus F19 on the emergence of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms in the intestinal microflora.

Objectives: Probiotic lactic-acid-producing bacteria have been used for prevention of gastrointestinal diseases. The aim of the present study was to examine whether Lactobacillus F19 in conjunction with treatment with penicillin, ciprofloxacin or norfloxacin prevents establishment of resistant bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract.

Methods: Twenty patients admitted to hospital due for treatment with penicillin and 16 patients due for treatment with ciprofloxacin or norfloxacin were included in the study.

Rectal nitric oxide gas and stool cytokine levels during the course of infectious gastroenteritis.

Nitric oxide (NO) is known to be an important inflammatory mediator with a potential role in gastrointestinal diseases. We prospectively studied the luminal NO levels in 51 patients with infectious gastroenteritis, 35 patients with nonenteric bacterial infections, and 11 healthy control subjects. The levels of proinflammatory cytokines were simultaneously measured in the stools of patients with gastroenteritis.

Epidemiology and molecular characterization of Clostridium difficile strains from patients with diarrhea: low disease incidence and evidence of limited cross-infection in a Swedish teaching hospital.

We prospectively studied the epidemiology of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) in a 900-bed hospital over the course of 12 months by PCR-ribotyping of C. difficile isolates. A total of 304 cases were diagnosed, corresponding to an overall incidence of 7/1,000 admissions, with higher rates in nephrology, hematology, and organ transplantation wards (37, 30, and 21/1,000), and 72% were classified as hospital associated (onset in hospital or onset at home but after a hospital stay within 2 months).