Management, outcomes and predictors of mortality of Cryptococcus infection in patients without HIV: a multicentre study in 46 hospitals from Australia and New Zealand.

Background: Limited data exist regarding outcomes of cryptococcosis in patients without HIV with few studies having compared outcomes of Cryptococcus gattii, versus C. neoformans, infection.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study in 46 Australian and New Zealand hospitals to determine the outcomes of cryptococcosis in patients without HIV diagnosed between 2015 and 2019, and compared outcomes of C.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus Foodborne Illness Associated with Oysters, Australia, 2021-2022.

The bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus is ubiquitous in tropical and temperate waters throughout the world and causes infections in humans resulting from water exposure and from ingestion of contaminated raw or undercooked seafood, such as oysters. We describe a nationwide outbreak of enteric infections caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Australia during September 2021-January 2022. A total of 268 persons were linked with the outbreak, 97% of whom reported consuming Australia-grown oysters.

An outbreak of double carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae, harbouring NDM-5 and OXA-48 genes, at a tertiary hospital in Canberra, Australia.

In July 2023, a carbapenemase-producing (CPKP) with New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-5) and oxacillinase (OXA-48) carbapenemase genes was detected in the urine sample of a patient. A similar CPKP organism had previously been isolated from a surveillance rectal swab of an admitted patient, prompting an outbreak investigation. A confirmed case was defined as any suspected case in which a species of Enterobacterales was isolated from a clinical or surveillance specimen (infection or colonisation) exhibiting an NDM-5 or OXA-48 CPE gene or both, irrespective of phenotypic susceptibility.

Nocardia species distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility within Australia.

Background: Nocardia is a ubiquitous saprophyte capable of causing human disease. Disease is primarily respiratory or cutaneous, usually acquired via inhalation or inoculation. Under the influence of environmental and host factors, Nocardia incidence and species distribution demonstrate geographical variation.

Human Neural Larva Migrans Caused by Ophidascaris robertsi Ascarid.

We describe a case in Australia of human neural larva migrans caused by the ascarid Ophidascaris robertsi, for which Australian carpet pythons are definitive hosts. We made the diagnosis after a live nematode was removed from the brain of a 64-year-old woman who was immunosuppressed for a hypereosinophilic syndrome diagnosed 12 months earlier.

Current Epidemiology and Clinical Features of Cryptococcus Infection in Patients Without Human Immunodeficiency Virus: A Multicenter Study in 46 Hospitals in Australia and New Zealand.

Background: Patients without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are increasingly recognized as being at risk for cryptococcosis. Knowledge of characteristics of cryptococcosis in these patients remains incomplete.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of cryptococcosis in 46 Australian and New Zealand hospitals to compare its frequency in patients with and without HIV and describe its characteristics in patients without HIV.

Public health interventions successfully mitigated multiple incursions of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in the Australian Capital Territory.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a unique opportunity to understand how real-time pathogen genomics can be used for large-scale outbreak investigations. On 12 August 2021, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) detected an incursion of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta (B.1.

Off-season RSV epidemics in Australia after easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important cause of acute respiratory infection with the most severe disease in the young and elderly. Non-pharmaceutical interventions and travel restrictions for controlling COVID-19 have impacted the circulation of most respiratory viruses including RSV globally, particularly in Australia, where during 2020 the normal winter epidemics were notably absent. However, in late 2020, unprecedented widespread RSV outbreaks occurred, beginning in spring, and extending into summer across two widely separated regions of the Australian continent, New South Wales (NSW) and Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in the east, and Western Australia.

Bacteraemia, antimicrobial susceptibility and treatment among Campylobacter-associated hospitalisations in the Australian Capital Territory: a review.

Background: Campylobacter spp. cause mostly self-limiting enterocolitis, although a significant proportion of cases require hospitalisation highlighting potential for severe disease. Among people admitted, blood culture specimens are frequently collected and antibiotic treatment is initiated.

Campylobacter-associated hospitalisations in an Australian provincial setting.

Background: Campylobacter spp. infections are a globally important cause of enterocolitis, causing substantial morbidity. Capturing accurate information on hospitalisations is challenging and limited population-level data exist to describe the clinico-epidemiological characteristics of hospitalised cases.

Risk factors for candidaemia: A prospective multi-centre case-control study.

Objectives: Candidaemia carries a mortality of up to 40% and may be related to increasing complexity of medical care. Here, we determined risk factors for the development of candidaemia.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, multi-centre, case-control study over 12 months.

Two carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae outbreaks detected retrospectively by whole-genome sequencing at an Australian tertiary hospital.

In 2014, two genetically-linked cases of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) were detected at the Canberra Hospital (TCH), prompting an investigation and response that appeared to contain transmission. We report a 2017 retrospective investigation into cases of CPE in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) that aimed to identify clusters and transmission mechanisms. Cases detected between 2012 and 2016 were identified from the hospital laboratory information system.

Corrigendum: Whole Genome Sequencing of Australian Isolates Reveals Genetic Diversity and Novel Sequence Types.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.

Short-read fastA files dataset from complexity-reduced genotyping by sequencing data of bacterial isolates from a public hospital in Australia.

This data article contains short-read sequences (length 30-69 bp) obtained from complexity-reduced genotyping by sequencing (GBS) of 165 samples bacterial isolates from hospital patients in the Australian Capital Territory, between 2013 and 2015. These samples represented 14 bacterial species. Data format is shown as filtered fastA files obtained from an Illumina HiSeq2500 sequencer.

Identification of bacterial isolates from a public hospital in Australia using complexity-reduced genotyping.

Bacterial identification methods used in routine identification of pathogens in medical microbiology include a combination approach of biochemical tests, mass spectrometry or molecular biology techniques. Extensive publicly-available databases of DNA sequence data from pathogenic bacteria have been amassed in recent years; this provides an opportunity for using bacterial genome sequencing for identification purposes. Whole genome sequencing is increasing in popularity, although at present it remains a relatively expensive approach to bacterial identification and typing.

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) outbreak in a neonatal intensive care unit and special care nursery at a tertiary-care hospital in Australia-A retrospective case-control study.

Objective: We investigated the risk factors and origins of the first known occurrence of VRE colonization in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Canberra Hospital.

Design: A retrospective case-control study.

Setting: A 21-bed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and a 15-bed special care nursey (SCN) in a tertiary-care adult and pediatric hospital in Australia.

Whole Genome Sequencing of Australian Isolates Reveals Genetic Diversity and Novel Sequence Types.

is a pathogen with reduced susceptibility to azoles and echinocandins. Analysis by traditional multilocus sequence typing (MLST) has recognized an increasing number of sequence types (STs), which vary with geography. Little is known about STs of in Australia.

Chlorhexidine washing in intensive care does not reduce bloodstream infections, blood culture contamination and drug-resistant microorganism acquisition: an interrupted time series analysis.

Background: Health care-associated infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in intensive care patients. The effect of daily washing with chlorhexidine on these infections is controversial.

Methods: Single-centre, retrospective, open-label, sequential period, interrupted time series (ITS) analysis in a 31-bed tertiary referral mixed intensive care unit (ICU), comparing daily washing with water and soap (from January 2011 to August 2013) with chlorhexidine washing (from November 2013 to December 2015), after the introduction of a unit-level policy of chlorhexidine washing.

Whole Genome Sequencing of Candida glabrata for Detection of Markers of Antifungal Drug Resistance.

Candida glabrata can rapidly acquire mutations that result in drug resistance, especially to azoles and echinocandins. Identification of genetic mutations is essential, as resistance detected in vitro can often be correlated with clinical failure. We examined the feasibility of using whole genome sequencing (WGS) for genome-wide analysis of antifungal drug resistance in C.

Factors affecting the presence, genetic diversity and antimicrobial sensitivity of Escherichia coli in poultry meat samples collected from Canberra, Australia.

To investigate the factors determining the clonal composition of Escherichia coli in poultry meat samples, 306 samples were collected from 16 shops, representing three supermarket chains and an independent butchery located in each of the four town centers of Canberra, Australia, during the summer, autumn and winter. A total of 3415 E. coli isolates were recovered and assigned to a phylogenetic group using the Clermont quadruplex PCR method, fingerprinted using repetitive element palindromic (REP) PCR and screened for their antimicrobial susceptibility profiles.

Epidemiology of non-typhoid Salmonella infection in the Australian Capital Territory over a 10-year period.

Aim: To describe the epidemiology of non-typhoid Salmonella (NTS) infection in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), including factors associated with hospitalisation.

Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive and observational study of culture-confirmed NTS infections using data collected from ACT public health, public pathology and hospital services in the period 2003-2012. Outcome measures include incidence and NTS serotype for total reported and hospitalised cases and focus of infection, complications and antibiotic susceptibility for hospitalised cases.