Presence of Group A streptococcus frequently assayed virulence genes in invasive disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: It is currently unclear what the role of Group A streptococcus (GAS) virulence factors (VFs) is in contributing to the invasive potential of GAS. This work investigated the evidence for the association of GAS VFs with invasive disease.

Methods: We employed a broad search strategy for studies reporting the presence of GAS VFs in invasive and non-invasive GAS disease.

A survey of antibiotic resistance patterns among Group A Streptococcus isolated from invasive and non-invasive infections in Cape Town, South Africa.

Background: There is concern regarding the increasing resistance of Group A streptococcus (GAS) to routinely used antibiotics. GAS is a common cause of bacterial pharyngitis and more severe invasive infections such as septicaemia. Furthermore, GAS pharyngitis is the antecedent for serious conditions such as rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.

Carbapenem-resistant among hospitalized patients in Cape Town, South Africa: molecular epidemiology and characterization.

Background: The molecular epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales in Cape Town remains largely unknown.

Objectives: This study aimed to describe the molecular epidemiology, resistome, virulome and mobilome of carbapenem-resistant (CRKP) within Cape Town to guide therapy, antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention and control practices.

Methods: Eighty-five CRKP isolates from hospitalized patients underwent WGS as part of a prospective, multicentre, cross-sectional study, conducted between 1 November 2020 and 30 November 2022, across public-sector and private-sector hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales among hospitalized patients in Cape Town, South Africa: clinical and microbiological epidemiology.

Background: Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) are a substantial problem in Cape Town. CRE epidemiology is largely unknown and mortality remains high.

Objectives: To describe and characterize the clinical and microbiological epidemiology of CRE within Cape Town hospitals to better inform therapy with regard to current and novel antibiotics, as well as improve antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), and infection prevention and control (IPC).

Evaluating the utility of the Allplex STI Essential Assay to determine the occurrence of urogenital sexually transmitted infections among symptomatic and asymptomatic patients in Cape Town, South Africa.

Background: Sexually transmitted infections are among the most commonly occurring infections globally, with countries in sub-Saharan Africa exhibiting disproportionately higher prevalence rates. Numerous reports indicate the need for accurate detection, epidemiological characterisation, and appropriate management of these infections. This prospective observational laboratory study sought to determine the occurrence of STI, using a validated molecular assay as a diagnostic and surveillance tool in our setting.

The genomic characterization of carbapenem-resistant at a tertiary hospital in South Africa.

Background: Serratia marcescens is an opportunistic nosocomial pathogen, and recent reports have highlighted the rapid increase in multidrug resistance in this organism. There is a paucity in genomic data for carbapenem-resistant (CRSM).

Methods: A retrospective cohort study describing laboratory-confirmed CRSM from a tertiary academic hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, for the period 2015-20, was performed.

A citywide, clonal outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Background: Outbreaks of community-acquired Pseudomonas aeruginosa are typically small and localized. We investigated an increase in community-acquired infections with P. aeruginosa in Cape Town, South Africa.

The BinaxNOW pneumococcal antigen test: An adjunct for diagnosis of pneumococcal bacteraemia.

Background: Culture remains the diagnostic standard for bacteraemia but is limited by time to identification, prior antibiotics and bacterial autolysis. Culture-independent methods for detecting include PCR and antigen tests. We evaluated an antigen test on blood culture broth for the rapid detection of bacteraemia.

Phenotypic/Genotypic Profile of OXA-10-Like-Harboring, Carbapenem-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Using Validated Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Models To Further Evaluate Enzyme Functionality and Clinical Implications.

MICs and pharmacodynamics of ceftazidime and cefepime human-simulated regimens (HSR) against modified carbapenem inactivation method (mCIM)-positive Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates harboring different OXA-10-like subtypes were described. The murine thigh model assessed ceftazidime (2 g every 8 h [q8h] HSR) and cefepime (2 g and 1 g q8h HSR). Phenotypes were similar despite possessing OXA-10-like subtypes with differing spectra.

Pertussis among patients with clinically compatible illness in the Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia.

Background: Pertussis is an acute respiratory tract disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. In 2014, 24.1 million pertussis cases, resulting in 160,700 deaths, were estimated to have occurred worldwide.

Colonisation with extended spectrum beta-lactamase-producing and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales in children admitted to a paediatric referral hospital in South Africa.

Introduction: There are few studies describing colonisation with extended spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-PE) and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) among children in sub-Saharan Africa. Colonisation often precedes infection and multi-drug-resistant Enterobacterales are important causes of invasive infection.

Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, conducted between April and June 2017, 200 children in a tertiary academic hospital were screened by rectal swab for EBSL-PE and CRE.

The accuracy of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase detection in and in South African laboratories using the Vitek 2 Gram-negative susceptibility card AST-N255.

Background: Phenotypic detection of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) is based on the inhibition of ESBL enzymes by β-lactamase inhibitors and on the comparison of cephalosporin activity with or without a β-lactamase inhibitor. Many South African diagnostic laboratories rely on the Vitek 2 for automated susceptibility testing and for ESBL detection. However, the Gram-negative susceptibility card currently used locally (AST-N255) has been modified and its accuracy for ESBL detection is not known.

Nasopharyngeal Carriage of Antimicrobial-Resistant Pneumococci in an Intensively Sampled South African Birth Cohort.

Nasopharyngeal (NP) colonization by (pneumococcus) precedes the development of respiratory tract infection. Colonization by antimicrobial-resistant pneumococci, especially in infants, is a major public health concern. We longitudinally investigated antimicrobial-resistance amongst pneumococci colonizing the nasopharynx of South African infants immunized with the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13).

Human brucellosis in South Africa: Public health and diagnostic pitfalls.

Human brucellosis in South Africa (SA) is under-diagnosed and under-reported. This is because many clinicians have little or no experience in managing affected patients, and in part because of the nonspecific and insidious nature of the disease. A case of human brucellosis caused by Brucella melitensis in a patient from the Western Cape Province of SA is described, and the resulting exposure of staff members at two medical microbiology laboratories, as well as the public health investigation that was conducted, are discussed.

Emergence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus at a tertiary paediatric hospital in South Africa.

Background: During 2013, the haematology/oncology unit at a tertiary level paediatric hospital in South Africa experienced the emergence of infection with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE).

Objective: To describe the clinical and molecular aspects of the cases identified.

Methods: VRE isolates identified from blood culture specimens processed at the National Health Laboratory Service were screened for the presence of the vancomycin resistance genes vanA, B and C1, 2 and 3.

Molecular characterisation and epidemiological investigation of an outbreak of blaOXA-181 carbapenemase-producing isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae in South Africa.

Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen often associated with nosocomial infections. A suspected outbreak of K. pneumoniae isolates, exhibiting reduced susceptibility to carbapenem antibiotics, was detected during the month of May 2012 among patients admitted to a haematology unit of a tertiary academic hospital in Cape Town, South Africa (SA).

Molecular characterisation of ABC-type multidrug efflux systems in Bifidobacterium longum.

Administration of probiotic bacteria such as Bifidobacterium spp. can prevent antibiotic associated diarrhoea since they can survive the often harsh conditions of the gut. In Bifidobacterium longum subsp.

A comparison of the efficiency of five different commercial DNA extraction kits for extraction of DNA from faecal samples.

Differences in the composition of the gut microbiota have been associated with a range of diseases using culture-independent methods. Reliable extraction of nucleic acid is a key step in identifying the composition of the faecal microbiota. Five widely used commercial deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction kits (QIAsymphony® Virus/Bacteria Midi Kit (kit QS), ZR Fecal DNA MiniPrep™ (kit Z), QIAamp® DNA Stool Mini Kit (kit QA), Ultraclean® Fecal DNA Isolation Kit (kit U) and PowerSoil® DNA Isolation Kit (kit P)) were evaluated, using human faecal samples.