Genetic determinants of pathogenicity of Escherichia coli isolated from children with acute diarrhea in Maputo, Mozambique.

Introduction: Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) represents one of the leading cause of diarrhoea in developing countries. In this study a molecular approach was applied for the detection of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) circulating in Maputo, Mozambique.

Methodology: All isolates were PCR tested for species-specific genes and for 11 molecular markers: stx1, stx2, eae, bfpA, lt, st, ipaH, aap, aggR CVD432 and daaE.

Epidemic waves of cholera in the last two decades in Mozambique.

Introduction: Africa is increasingly affected by cholera. In Mozambique, cholera appeared in the early 1970s when the seventh pandemic entered Africa from the Indian subcontinent. In the following decades, several epidemics were registered in the country, the 1997-1999 epidemic being the most extended.

Acquisition and evolution of SXT-R391 integrative conjugative elements in the seventh-pandemic Vibrio cholerae lineage.

Unlabelled: SXT-R391 Integrative conjugative elements (ICEs) are self-transmissible mobile genetic elements able to confer multidrug resistance and other adaptive features to bacterial hosts, including Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera. ICEs are arranged in a mosaic genetic structure composed of a conserved backbone interspersed with variable DNA clusters located in conserved hot spots. In this study, we investigated ICE acquisition and subsequent microevolution in pandemic V.

Vibrio cholerae O1 epidemic variants in Angola: a retrospective study between 1992 and 2006.

Cholera is still a major public health concern in many African countries. In Angola, after a decade of absence, cholera reemerged in 1987, spreading throughout the country until 1996, with outbreaks recurring in a seasonal pattern. In 2006 Angola was hit by one of the most severe outbreaks of the last decade, with ca.

Presence of pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus in waters and seafood from the Tunisian Sea.

The occurrence of the hemolysin genes, tdh and trh, in Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains isolated from environmental samples collected from various exported seafood products comprising of fishes and shellfish (Mytilus edulis and Crassostrea gigas) or seawater, was studied. Eight strains were confirmed as V. parahaemolyticus by toxR -based polymerase chain reaction and only one strain out of these 8 strains was positive for tdh and trh genes.

Molecular characterization of enterotoxigenic and borderline oxacillin resistant Staphylococcus strains from ovine milk.

Staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) produced by Staphylococcus spp. are superantigens responsible for food-poisoning and are associated to mobile genetic elements such as Staphylococcus aureus pathogenicity islands (SaPI). The presence of 13 enterotoxin genes (sea, seb, sec, sed, see, seg, seh, sei, sej, sel, sek, seq, and tst) was tested in 15 S.

Genomic analysis of ICEVchBan8: An atypical genetic element in Vibrio cholerae.

Genomic islands (GIs) and integrative conjugative elements (ICEs) are major players in bacterial evolution since they encode genes involved in adaptive functions of medical or environmental importance. Here we performed the genomic analysis of ICEVchBan8, an unusual ICE found in the genome of a clinical non-toxigenic Vibrio cholerae O37 isolate. ICEVchBan8 shares most of its genetic structure with SXT/R391 ICEs.

Rapid detection by multiplex PCR of Genomic Islands, prophages and Integrative Conjugative Elements in V. cholerae 7th pandemic variants.

Vibrio cholerae poses a threat to human health, and new epidemic variants have been reported so far. Seventh pandemic V. cholerae strains are characterized by highly related genomic sequences but can be discriminated by a large set of Genomic Islands, phages and Integrative Conjugative Elements.

New V. cholerae atypical El Tor variant emerged during the 2006 epidemic outbreak in Angola.

Background: V. cholerae is the etiological agent of cholera, a major public health concern in most developing countries. Virulence of V.

ICEVchInd5 is prevalent in epidemic Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor strains isolated in India.

Integrative conjugative elements (ICEs) of the SXT/R391 family are self-transmissible mobile elements mainly involved in antibiotic resistance spread among γ-Proteobacteria, including Vibrio cholerae. We demonstrated that the recently described ICEVchInd5 is prevailing in V. cholerae O1 clinical strains isolated in Wardha province (Maharashtra, India) from 1994 to 2005.

Comparative ICE genomics: insights into the evolution of the SXT/R391 family of ICEs.

Integrating and conjugative elements (ICEs) are one of the three principal types of self-transmissible mobile genetic elements in bacteria. ICEs, like plasmids, transfer via conjugation; but unlike plasmids and similar to many phages, these elements integrate into and replicate along with the host chromosome. Members of the SXT/R391 family of ICEs have been isolated from several species of gram-negative bacteria, including Vibrio cholerae, the cause of cholera, where they have been important vectors for disseminating genes conferring resistance to antibiotics.

Environmental Vibrio spp., isolated in Mozambique, contain a polymorphic group of integrative conjugative elements and class 1 integrons.

Circulation of mobile genetic elements linked to drug resistance spread was studied in Vibrio strains isolated from surface urban water (river and sea) and shellfish samples in 2002-2003 in Maputo, Mozambique. Class 1 integrons and integrating conjugative elements (ICE) were investigated by PCR and mating experiments in strains of major health interest: 10 Vibrio cholerae, six Vibrio parahaemolyticus, two Vibrio alginolyticus and one Vibrio fluvialis. Resistance to at least two antibiotics (predominantly beta-lactams) was detected in all the strains, with additional resistances to sulfamethoxazole, spectinomycin, streptomycin and/or trimethoprim.

Low prevalence of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in young women attending a youth counselling service in Maputo, Mozambique.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in a group of young women attending the Adolescent and Youth Friendly Service, in Maputo, Mozambique, and to evaluate their level of knowledge, practices and attitudes about STI.

Methods: A total of 445 women voluntarily participated in the study and filled in a self-administered knowledge, practices and attitudes (KAP) questionnaire; 435 of them underwent a laboratory examination for vaginosis, candidiasis, trichomoniasis, gonorrhoea, chlamydiosis, syphilis and HIV infection.

Results: Women had a high level of awareness and knowledge of STI and HIV.

Evaluation of different polymerase chain reaction methods for the identification of Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains isolated by cultural methods.

Control of contamination by Vibrio parahaemolyticus in fishery products is often hampered by the lack of standardized methods and by the uncertainty associated with biochemical identification of the isolates. In this study, 5 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods for the identification of V. parahaemolyticus to the species level were evaluated by using 25 Vibrio reference strains and 163 isolates from fishery products, environmental sources, and clinical samples.

Molecular characterization of ICEVchVie0 and its disappearance in Vibrio cholerae O1 strains isolated in 2003 in Vietnam.

We analyzed 28 epidemic Vibrio cholerae O1 strains isolated in the region of Thua Thien Hue (Vietnam) in 2003. Ubiquitous amoxicillin, prevalent aminoglycosides and sporadic erythromycin resistances were observed. All were devoid of plasmids, class 1 integrons and ICEs and showed the same BglI ribotype, irrespective of their site of isolation and resistance pattern.

New cluster of plasmid-located class 1 integrons in Vibrio cholerae O1 and a dfrA15 cassette-containing integron in Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolated in Angola.

The resistance profile and its correlation with mobile genetic elements were investigated in 11 Vibrio cholerae O1 and 2 Vibrio parahaemolyticus clinical isolates, as well as in 1 V. cholerae O1 and 1 V. cholerae non-O1 environmental isolate, isolated between 1991 and 1996 in different provinces of Angola.

Sporadic methicillin resistance in community acquired Staphylococcus aureus in Mozambique.

This study reports the drug resistance and clonal relationship of 24 Staphylococcus aureus community acquired isolates from patients attending Maputo Central Hospital, Mozambique, during one year (2002-2003). All the isolates produced beta-lactamase, six strains were resistant to tetracycline alone, three were resistant to erythromycin alone and one was resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole; 11 were susceptible to all other drugs tested. Only one strain showed a multiple resistance pattern, including methicillin resistance.

Pathogenic enteric Escherichia coli in children with and without diarrhea in Maputo, Mozambique.

A study was conducted on the circulation of potentially diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in two groups of children, both under the age of seven. The first group (548 children) suffered from mild diarrhea and attended the Xipamanine Health Center of Maputo, in Mozambique. The second group (380 children) included randomly chosen, asymptomatic, children from the same population.