Predominance of multidrug-resistant Salmonella Typhi genotype 4.3.1 with low-level ciprofloxacin resistance in Zanzibar.

Background: Typhoid fever is a common cause of febrile illness in low- and middle-income countries. While multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) has spread globally, fluoroquinolone resistance has mainly affected Asia.

Malaria prevalence and performance of diagnostic tests among patients hospitalized with acute undifferentiated fever in Zanzibar.

Background: Control efforts in Zanzibar reduced the burden of malaria substantially from 2000 to 2015, but re-emergence of falciparum malaria has been observed lately. This study evaluated the prevalence of malaria and performance of routine diagnostic tests among hospitalized fever patients in a 1.5 years period in 2015 and 2016.

Evaluation of 32 rapid tests for detection of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.

Aims: To evaluate the analytical performance of 32 rapid tests for detection of antibodies against coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Materials And Methods: We used at total of 262 serum samples (197 pre-pandemic and 65 convalescent COVID-19), and three criteria to evaluate the rapid tests under standardized and optimal conditions: (i) Immunoglobulin G (IgG) specificity "good" if lower limit of the 95% confidence interval was ≥ 97.0%, "acceptable" if point estimate was ≥ 97.

Evaluation of eleven rapid tests for detection of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.

Objectives: SARS-CoV-2, causing COVID-19, has emerged to cause a human pandemic. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in respiratory samples by using PCR is the standard laboratory diagnostic tool. Our aim was to perform a limited evaluation of the diagnostic performance and user-friendliness of eleven rapid tests for detection of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.

Clinical and bacteriological efficacy of pivmecillinam treatment for uncomplicated urinary tract infections caused by ESBL-producing Escherichia coli: a prospective, multicentre, observational cohort study.

Objectives: To compare the clinical and bacteriological outcomes of pivmecillinam treatment for community-acquired urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by ESBL-producing Escherichia coli versus non-ESBL-producing E. coli in an outpatient setting.

Methods: A prospective, multicentre, observational cohort study of women aged ≥16 years, with pivmecillinam-treated community-acquired UTIs caused by E.

A comparison of extended spectrum β-lactamase producing Escherichia coli from clinical, recreational water and wastewater samples associated in time and location.

Extended spectrum β-lactamase producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-EC) are excreted via effluents and sewage into the environment where they can re-contaminate humans and animals. The aim of this observational study was to detect and quantify ESBL-EC in recreational water and wastewater, and perform a genetic and phenotypic comparative analysis of the environmental strains with geographically associated human urinary ESBL-EC. Recreational fresh- and saltwater samples from four different beaches and wastewater samples from a nearby sewage plant were filtered and cultured on differential and ESBL-selective media.

Can a galacto-oligosaccharide reduce the risk of traveller's diarrhoea? A placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind study.

Background: Diarrhoea is a common medical problem affecting travellers to Asia, Africa and Latin America. The use of prophylactic antimicrobial agents may increase the risk of contracting resistant bacteria. Findings indicate that oligosaccharides, i.

First environmental sample containing plasmid-mediated colistin-resistant ESBL-producing Escherichia coli detected in Norway.

We hereby report the detection of the plasmid borne mcr-1 gene conferring colistin resistance in an extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli ST10 strain retrieved from seawater at a public beach in Norway. The sample was collected in September 2010 and was investigated by whole-genome sequencing in 2016. This report illustrates that E.

Management of suspected primary Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women in Norway: twenty years of experience of amniocentesis in a low-prevalence population.

Background: Primary infection with Toxoplasma gondii during pregnancy may pose a threat to the fetus. Women infected prior to conception are unlikely to transmit the parasite to the fetus. If maternal serology indicates a possible primary infection, amniocentesis for toxoplasma PCR analysis is performed and antiparasitic treatment given.

Fecal carriage of extended spectrum β-lactamase producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae after urinary tract infection - A three year prospective cohort study.

We have performed a prospective cohort study to investigate the duration of and risk factors for prolonged fecal carriage of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae in patients with community acquired urinary tract infection caused by these bacteria. From 2009 to 2011, 101 Norwegian patients were recruited. Stool swabs and questionnaires were collected every three months for one year and at the end of the study in 2012.

Vitamin D-binding protein and 25-hydroxyvitamin D during pregnancy in mothers whose children later developed type 1 diabetes.

Background: Levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH D) during late pregnancy have been linked to type 1 diabetes risk in the offspring. Vitamin D-binding protein increases in concentration during pregnancy. We aimed to test whether concentrations of vitamin D-binding protein and 25-OH D throughout pregnancy differed between women whose offspring later developed type 1 diabetes (cases) and controls.

Risk Factors for Long-Term Mortality after Hospitalization for Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A 5-Year Prospective Follow-Up Study.

Background: Contributors to long-term mortality in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remain unclear, with little attention paid to pneumonia etiology. We examined long-term survival, causes of death, and risk factors for long-term mortality in adult patients who had been hospitalized for CAP, with emphasis on demographic, clinical, laboratory, and microbiological characteristics.

Methods: Two hundred and sixty-seven consecutive patients admitted in 2008-2011 to a general hospital with CAP were prospectively recruited and followed up.

Persistent Low Toxoplasma IgG Avidity Is Common in Pregnancy: Experience from Antenatal Testing in Norway.

The parasite Toxoplasma gondii might harm the fetus if a woman is infected during pregnancy. IgG seroconversion and significant increase in IgG antibody amount in pregnancy indicates maternal infection. Presence of toxoplasma immunoglobulin M (IgM), immunoglobulin G (IgG) and low IgG avidity in a single serum sample indicates possible maternal infection, but positive toxoplasma IgM and low IgG avidity may persist for months and even years.

Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Microbes Causing Bloodstream Infections in Unguja, Zanzibar.

Background: Bloodstream infections (BSI) are frequent and cause high case-fatality rates. Urgent antibiotic treatment can save patients' lives, but antibiotic resistance can render antibiotic therapy futile. This study is the first to collect epidemiological data on BSI from Unguja, Zanzibar.

Etiology of community-acquired pneumonia and diagnostic yields of microbiological methods: a 3-year prospective study in Norway.

Background: Despite recent advances in microbiological techniques, the etiology of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is still not well described. We applied polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and conventional methods to describe etiology of CAP in hospitalized adults and evaluated their respective diagnostic yields.

Methods: 267 CAP patients were enrolled consecutively over our 3-year prospective study.

Toxoplasma prevalence among pregnant women in Norway: a cross-sectional study.

Infection by Toxoplasma gondii may lead to complications in the foetus if the mother suffers from primary infection during pregnancy. Previously infected women have produced toxoplasma-specific IgG antibodies. The most recent study on prevalence of toxoplasma IgG in the Norwegian pregnant population was conducted 20 years ago.

Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing bacteria are not detected in supragingival plaque samples from human fecal carriers of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae.

Background: The prevalence of infections caused by Cefotaximase-Munich (CTX-M)-type extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) has rapidly increased during the past 15 years. Enterobacteriaceae are commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract and long-term intestinal carriage is considered important for the spread of ESBL and as a source of clinical infections. Oral biofilm such as supragingival plaque is known to contain numerous antibiotic resistance determinants and may also represent a poorly investigated site for ESBL carriage and further spread.

High rate of per oral mecillinam treatment failure in community-acquired urinary tract infections caused by ESBL-producing Escherichia coli.

A population-based study was performed to investigate the efficacy of mecillinam treatment of community-acquired urinary tract infections (CA-UTI) caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli. The study was conducted in South-Eastern Norway. Data from patients with CA-UTI caused by ESBL-producing and non-producing (random controls) E.

Risk factors for community-acquired urinary tract infections caused by ESBL-producing enterobacteriaceae--a case-control study in a low prevalence country.

Community-acquired urinary tract infection (CA-UTI) is the most common infection caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae, but the clinical epidemiology of these infections in low prevalence countries is largely unknown. A population based case-control study was conducted to assess risk factors for CA-UTI caused by ESBL-producing E. coli or K.

Maternal serum levels of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D during pregnancy and risk of type 1 diabetes in the offspring.

Previous studies indicate reduced risk of type 1 diabetes after intake of vitamin D supplements during pregnancy or early childhood. We aimed to test whether lower maternal serum concentrations of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25-OH D) during pregnancy were associated with an increased risk of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes. In this case-control study nested within a cohort of 29,072 women in Norway, 25-OH D levels were measured using a radioimmunoassay on samples from late pregnancy in 109 women delivering a child who developed type 1 diabetes before 15 years of age (case subjects) and from 219 control women.

Maternal concentrations of insulin-like growth factor I and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 during pregnancy and birth weight of offspring.

Maternal concentrations of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 (IGFBP-1) may influence fetal growth. Offspring birth weight related to maternal IGF-I and IGFBP-1 measured in pregnancy was studied in 368 randomly selected women without preeclampsia who delivered a singleton liveborn child in Norway between 1992 and 1994. Maternal IGF-I concentrations were not consistently associated with birth weight, but a 1-standard deviation stronger increase in IGF-I from the first to second trimester was associated with an 82-g (95% confidence interval (CI): 11, 153) higher birth weight.