Publications by authors named "Diego Andrey"

Background: In the context of increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR), whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of bacteria is considered a highly accurate and comprehensive surveillance method for detecting and tracking the spread of resistant pathogens. Two primary sequencing technologies exist: short-read sequencing (50-300 base pairs) and long-read sequencing (thousands of base pairs). The former, based on Illumina sequencing platforms (ISPs), provides extensive coverage and high accuracy for detecting single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and small insertions/deletions, but is limited by its read length.

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  • Fusobacterium necrophorum is a harmful bacterium that can cause serious infections in the throat, potentially leading to a severe condition called Lemierre's syndrome.
  • Researchers studied 70 strains of F. necrophorum, finding two main genetic groups: one linked to localized infections and another more common in cases of severe bacteremia.
  • A specific mutation in the lktA gene, along with other identified genetic factors, seems to play a role in the severity of infections, requiring further research to understand their impact on disease development.
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  • - Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales are rising in frequency, leading to hospital-acquired infections like postoperative mediastinitis.
  • - A case study details a 13-month-old boy with DiGeorge syndrome who developed this infection from an Escherichia coli strain producing NDM-1 carbapenemase.
  • - The boy was treated successfully with surgery and a combination of antibiotics over 6 weeks, showing positive recovery without any relapses in a follow-up period of 10 weeks.
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Multi-resistant Enterobacterales (MRE) are on the increase worldwide, with the main mechanism of resistance acquisition being horizontal transfer of plasmids coding for extended-spectrum betalactamase and/or carbapenemase. Low- and middle-income countries are the most affected, but surveillance in low-endemicity countries, such as Switzerland, is essential. International travel is one of the sources of MRE dissemination in the community, with the main risk factors for acquiring MRE being a stay in South or Southeast Asia and the use of antibiotics during travel.

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  • * Researchers tested various antibiotic combinations in the lab and confirmed the effectiveness of ceftazidime/avibactam with meropenem against 26 KPC-Kp strains, showing strong synergistic effects.
  • * In animal trials, this combination not only reduced bacterial loads but also helped prevent the development of antibiotic resistance mutations, suggesting it could be a promising treatment option.
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Background: The increasing resistance of Enterobacterales to third-generation cephalosporins and carbapenems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a major public health concern. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies to estimate the carriage prevalence of Enterobacterales not susceptible to third-generation cephalosporins or carbapenems among paediatric populations in SSA.

Methods: We performed a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of cross-sectional and cohort studies to estimate the prevalence of childhood (0-18 years old) carriage of extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacterales (ESCR-E) or carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) in SSA.

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Background: The burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been estimated to be the highest in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The current study estimated the proportion of drug-resistant Enterobacterales causing infections in SSA children.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library to identify retrospective and prospective studies published from 01/01/2005 to 01/06/2022 reporting AMR of Enterobacterales causing infections in sub-Saharan children (0-18 years old).

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Objectives: Fosfomycin is a first-line treatment for uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) in several European countries, and it is increasingly becoming the treatment of choice globally. Resistance to fosfomycin in Escherichia coli can be exerted through several mechanisms, including the acquisition of fosfomycin-modifying enzymes, of which the FosA-type enzymes are the most common. This study analysed, both phenotypically and genotypically, an international collection of E.

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  • - Understanding an antibiogram is more complex than it looks; it includes important information that can impact a physician's daily practice.
  • - A deeper understanding requires background knowledge in microbiology and pharmacology, especially when dealing with resistant bacteria.
  • - The article aims to equip clinicians with essential tips for effectively reading and interpreting antibiograms in today's healthcare environment.
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  • Patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) are at greater risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes, prompting the need to evaluate the effectiveness of mRNA vaccines and treatments in this group.
  • A study compared the antibody responses of IRD patients who received two doses of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 vaccines, analyzing samples at various intervals after vaccination.
  • Results showed that mRNA-1273 led to significantly higher antibody levels compared to BNT162b2, particularly benefiting elderly patients, and specific medications lowered antibody responses.
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Background: Heteroresistance refers to subpopulation-mediated differential antimicrobial susceptibility within a clonal bacterial population. Usually, it designates a resistant subpopulation identified within an isolate considered susceptible by classical antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Heteroresistance lacks a uniform microbiological definition for diagnostic laboratories, and its clinical impact remains unclear for most bacterial species.

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Bone and joint infection (BJI) epidemiology and outcomes in solid organ transplant recipients (SOTr) remain largely unknown. We aim to describe BJI in a multi-center cohort of SOTr (Swiss Transplant Cohort Study). All consecutive SOTr with BJI (01.

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  • SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to the development of auto-antibodies, specifically anti-apolipoprotein A-1 IgGs (AAA1), which may play a role in lingering symptoms after COVID-19.
  • A study tracked AAA1 levels in hospital employees with COVID-19 over twelve months and found that AAA1 positivity dropped from 93% at one month to 15% at twelve months, while 45.1% of participants reported persistent symptoms.
  • Results indicated that AAA1 levels are a predictor of persistent respiratory symptoms after COVID-19, potentially through increasing the production of Interferon-α, suggesting a need for further research on the usefulness of measuring AAA1 in COVID-19 risk assessment
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Objective: To describe the undetected circulation of an epidemic BKC-1-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae ST442 clone, occasioning the first reported outbreak of the infrequent carbapenemase BKC-1.

Methods: Six hundred and forty-seven K. pneumoniae isolates (2008-2017) with reduced susceptibility to carbapenems were screened for bla.

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In the major human pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae, MgrB inactivation by disruptive insertion sequence (IS) elements and mutations leading to early termination are known to play an important role in polymyxin resistance. In this study, we examined a collection of invasive -producing K. pneumoniae isolates belonging to the high-risk clone sequence type 258 (ST258) displaying high rates of resistance to many antimicrobials, including polymyxins.

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Background: Colon surgery has been shown to modulate the intestinal microbiota. Our objective was to characterize these changes using state-of-the-art next generation sequencing techniques.

Methods: We performed a single-centre prospective observational cohort study to evaluate the changes in the gut microbiota, i.

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Background: Patients treated with anti-CD20 therapy are particularly at risk of developing severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); however, little is known regarding COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in this population.

Methods: This prospective observational cohort study assesses humoral and T-cell responses after vaccination with 2 doses of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines in patients treated with rituximab for rheumatic diseases or ocrelizumab for multiple sclerosis (n = 37), compared to immunocompetent individuals (n = 22).

Results: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific antibodies were detectable in only 69.

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  • The study investigated the effectiveness of lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) as a post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to prevent COVID-19 in individuals exposed to the virus during the pandemic.
  • Conducted in Switzerland and Brazil, the trial involved 318 participants who were randomized to receive LPV/r or no treatment, with initial findings showing similar baseline characteristics between the groups, apart from higher PCR positivity in the LPV/r group.
  • The results indicated that LPV/r did not significantly lower the incidence of COVID-19 compared to no treatment, leaving its effectiveness as a PEP for COVID-19 uncertain.
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Polymyxin resistance is a public health concern - present in humans, animals and the environment - caused by chromosomal-encoding or plasmid-encoding mechanisms. Chromosomal alterations in MgrB are frequently detected in Klebsiella spp., but not yet reported and characterised in Klebsiella variicola (K.

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Objectives: Serological studies have been critical in tracking the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data on anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies persistence remain sparse, especially from infected individuals with few to no symptoms. The objective of the study was to quantify the sensitivity for detecting historic SARS-CoV-2 infections as a function of time since infection for three commercially available SARS-CoV-2 immunoassays and to explore the implications of decaying immunoassay sensitivity in estimating seroprevalence.

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Novel technologies are needed to facilitate large-scale detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) specific antibodies in human blood samples. Such technologies are essential to support seroprevalence studies and vaccine clinical trials, and to monitor quality and duration of immunity. We developed a microfluidic nanoimmunoassay (NIA) for the detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in 1,024 samples per device.

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Purpose: To assess the diagnostic performances of five automated anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassays, Epitope (N), Diasorin (S1/S2), Euroimmun (S1), Roche N (N), and Roche S (S-RBD), and to provide a testing strategy based on pre-test probability.

Methods: We assessed the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) areas under the curve (AUC) values, along with the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (PPVs), and negative predictive values (NPVs), of each assay using a validation sample set of 172 COVID-19 sera and 185 negative controls against a validated S1-immunofluorescence as a reference method. The three assays displaying the highest AUCs were selected for further serodetection of 2033 sera of a large population-based cohort.

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  • A young healthy female physician experienced reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 six months after her first mild COVID-19 episode, confirmed by whole-genome sequencing.
  • Antibody testing showed that while neutralizing antibodies declined after the first infection, they surged again after reinfection, and strong memory B-cell responses were observed.
  • This case highlights a potential risk for medical personnel due to the rapid decline of neutralizing antibodies, suggesting that reinfection can enhance immune responses; further research is needed to understand the duration of protection.
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Objectives: To evaluate longitudinally the persistence of humoral immunity for up to 6 months in a cohort of hospital employees with mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods: We measured anti-RBD (receptor binding domain of viral spike protein), anti-N (viral nucleoprotein) and neutralizing antibodies at 1, 3 and 6 months after mostly mild COVID-19 in 200 hospital workers using commercial ELISAs and a surrogate virus neutralization assay.

Results: Antibodies specific for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) persisted in all participants for up to 6 months.

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Objectives: Carbapenem resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae is a major clinical challenge. Aminoglycosides remain an important asset in the current therapeutic arsenal to treat these infections. We examined aminoglycoside resistance phenotypes and genomics in a collection of 100 invasive KPC-producing K.

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