Predominant virulent IbA10G2 subtype of Cryptosporidium hominis in human isolates in Barcelona: a five-year study.

Background: Cryptosporidium infection is a worldwide cause of diarrheal disease. To gain insight into the epidemiology of the infection in a certain geographic area, molecular methods are needed to determine the species/genotypes and subtypes.

Methodology/principal Findings: From 2004 to 2009, 161 cryptosporidiosis cases were detected in two hospitals in Barcelona.

[Use of different PCR-based techniques integrated into a non-tuberculous identification algorithm].

Introduction: The aim of the present work was to demonstrate the utility of a non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) identification algorithm, which integrates different PCR-based techniques and basic phenotypic features. Moreover, the algorithm for pattern restriction analysis of hsp65 (hsp65 PRA) interpretation has been updated.

Methods: The workflow chosen consisted of the identification by a DNA hybridization probe method, followed by PCR-restriction enzyme analysis of hsp65 (hsp65 PRA) in those isolates that cannot be identified by hybridization probes.

Impaired fitness of Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant isolates in a cell culture model of murine macrophages.

Objectives: We analysed the ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates to penetrate and grow inside murine macrophages as a surrogate of fitness.

Methods: Thirty-five drug-resistant and 10 drug-susceptible M. tuberculosis isolates were studied in a murine macrophage model from the J774.

Diagnostic accuracy of a 16S ribosomal DNA gene-based molecular technique (RT-PCR, microarray, and sequencing) for bacterial meningitis, early-onset neonatal sepsis, and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.

The diagnostic accuracy of a 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene-based molecular technique for bacterial meningitis (BM), early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS), and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is evaluated. The molecular approach gave better results for BM diagnosis: sensitivity (S) was 90.6% compared to 78.

Characterization of mutations in streptomycin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates in the area of Barcelona.

Objectives: To determine the proportion and type of mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates resistant to streptomycin, and their relationship with the level of resistance and with the epidemiological molecular pattern of the isolates.

Methods: Sixty-nine streptomycin-resistant isolates from a M. tuberculosis strain collection (1995-2005) from Barcelona were studied.

Microbial indicators and pathogens: removal, relationships and predictive capabilities in water reclamation facilities.

Four water reclamation facilities in north-eastern Spain were monitored over 2 years to determine the occurrence and concentrations of a set of microbial indicators (total coliforms, Escherichia coli, enterococci, spores of sulphite reducing clostridia, somatic coliphages, F-specific RNA phages, phages infecting Bacteroides fragilis strain RYC2056 and phages infecting Bacteroides tethaiotaomicron strain GA-17), and two selected pathogens (cytopathogenic enteroviruses and viable Cryptosporidium oocysts). The indicator (survival) and index (presence) functions of the various indicators tested were evaluated through the wastewater treatments. The inactivation pattern of all groups of bacteriophages tested was closer to the inactivation of enteroviruses than to the inactivation of the conventional bacterial indicators tested.

Comparative study between two laser scanning cytometers and epifluorescence microscopy for the detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in water.

Background: Cryptosporidium detection in water and environmental samples has increased during the last years, largely due to an increase in the number of reported waterborne outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis and the implementation of new regulations about Cryptosporidium monitoring in water supplies. The aim of this study was to validate and compare the capacity of two laser scanning cytometers commercially available (LSC and ChemScanRDI), against manual microscopic enumeration of Cryptosporidium oocysts in surface water and reference material samples.

Methods: Reference material and surface water samples were analysed by two laser scanning cytometers methodologies and by manual epifluorescence microscopy.