Multicentre case-control study of pneumococcal infections among children with pneumonia in Peninsular Malaysia (MY-Pneumo): a study protocol.

Background: S. pneumoniae (SPN) is the most common cause of pneumonia. The disease can be effectively prevented through immunisation.

Non-pharmaceutical interventions for COVID-19 transiently reduced pneumococcal and carriage in a cross-sectional pediatric cohort in Southampton, UK.

The Southampton pneumococcal carriage study of children under 5 years old continued during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Here, we present data from October 2018 to March 2023 describing prevalence of pneumococci and other pathobionts during the winter seasons before, during, and after the introduction of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to prevent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from children attending outpatient clinics at a secondary care hospital and community healthcare sites.

Respiratory carriage of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae by indigenous populations of Malaysia.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae that is classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a Priority One ESKAPE pathogen. South and Southeast Asian countries are regions where both healthcare associated infections (HAI) and community acquired infections (CAI) due to extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing and carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae (CRKp) are of concern.

A brief history of and future prospects for pneumococcal vaccination in Malaysia.

Pneumococcal pneumonia remains a significant global public health issue. Malaysia has recently added the 10 valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to its national immunisation programme. Data on pneumococcal serotype epidemiology is vital for informing national vaccination policy.

Investigation of Upper Respiratory Carriage of Bacterial Pathogens among University Students in Kampar, Malaysia.

The carriage of bacterial pathogens in the human upper respiratory tract (URT) is associated with a risk of invasive respiratory tract infections, but the related epidemiological information on this at the population level is scarce in Malaysia. This study aimed to investigate the URT carriage of , , , , and among 100 university students by nasal and oropharyngeal swabbing. The presence of , and was assessed via swab culture on selective media and PCR on the resulting isolates.

Comparative genomic epidemiology of serotype 3 IPD and carriage isolates from Southampton, UK between 2005 and 2017.

Serotype 3 pneumococci remains a significant cause of disease despite its inclusion in PCV13. Whilst clonal complex 180 (CC180) represents the major clone, recent studies have refined the population structure into three clades: Iα, Iβ and II, with the last being a recent divergent and more antibiotic-resistant. We present a genomic analysis of serotype 3 isolates from paediatric carriage and all-age invasive disease, collected between 2005 and 2017 in Southampton, UK.

Lactoferrin modulates the biofilm formation and gene expression of methicillin-resistant .

Lactoferrin is an innate glycoprotein with broad antibacterial and antibiofilm properties. The autonomous antibiofilm activity of lactoferrin against Gram-positive bacteria is postulated to involve the cell wall and biofilm components. Thus, the prevention of biomass formation and eradication of preformed biofilms by lactoferrin was investigated using a methicillin-resistant (MRSE) strain.

Comparative genomic analysis of clinical Acinetobacter nosocomialis isolates from Terengganu, Malaysia led to the discovery of a novel tetracycline-resistant plasmid.

Objectives: To analyse the genome sequences of four archival Acinetobacter nosocomialis clinical isolates (designated AC13, AC15, AC21 and AC25) obtained from Terengganu, Malaysia in 2011 to determine their genetic relatedness and basis of antimicrobial resistance.

Methods: Antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of the A. nosocomialis isolates were determined by disk diffusion.

Changes in serotype prevalence of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Southampton, UK between 2006 and 2018.

Streptococcus pneumoniae continues to cause significant disease burden. Whilst pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) have substantially reduced this burden, serotype replacement partially negates this success due to increased disease associated with non-vaccine serotypes (NVTs). Continued surveillance is therefore essential to provide crucial epidemiological data.

Impact of bacterial strain acquisition in the lung of patients with COPD: the AERIS study.

Background: Bacterial infections are associated with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD), but the mechanism is incompletely understood.

Method: In a COPD observational study (NCT01360398), sputum samples were collected monthly at the stable state and exacerbation. analyses of 1307 non-typeable (NTHi) isolates from 20 patients and 756 isolates from 38 patients in one year of follow-up were conducted by multilocus sequence typing (MLST).

The characterization of carried in the general population.

is a common cause of respiratory tract infection, particularly otitis media in children, whilst it is also associated with the onset of exacerbation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in adults. Despite the need for an efficacious vaccine against , no candidates have progressed to clinical trial. This study, therefore, aimed to characterize the diversity of isolated from the upper respiratory tract of healthy children and adults, to gain a better understanding of the epidemiology of and the distribution of genes associated with virulence factors, to aid vaccine efforts.

Draft Genome Sequences of Two Acinetobacter soli Clinical Isolates from a Tertiary Hospital in Terengganu, Malaysia.

We report the draft genome sequences of Acinetobacter soli AC1511 and AC15148, which were isolated from a tertiary hospital in Terengganu, Malaysia, in 2015. AC1511 was assembled into 43 contigs with a total genome size of 3,320,693 bp, whereas AC15148 was 3,260,687 bp over 47 contigs.

Serotype distribution of invasive, non-invasive and carried Streptococcus pneumoniae in Malaysia: a meta-analysis.

Background: Pneumococcal pneumonia is the leading cause of under-five mortality globally. The surveillance of pneumococcal serotypes is therefore vital for informing pneumococcal vaccination policy and programmes. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) have been available as an option in the private healthcare setting and beginning December 2020, PCV10 was incorporated as part of routine national immunisation programme (NIP) in Malaysia.

Carriage of upper respiratory tract pathogens in rural communities of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.

Introduction: Pneumonia is a leading cause of death in Malaysia. Whilst many studies have reported the aetiology of pneumonia in Western countries, the epidemiology of pneumonia in Malaysia remains poorly understood. As carriage is a prerequisite for disease, we sought to improve our understanding of the carriage and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of respiratory tract pathogens in Malaysia.

Complete Genome Sequencing of Acinetobacter baumannii AC1633 and Acinetobacter nosocomialis AC1530 Unveils a Large Multidrug-Resistant Plasmid Encoding the NDM-1 and OXA-58 Carbapenemases.

Carbapenem-resistant spp. are considered priority drug-resistant human-pathogenic bacteria. The genomes of two carbapenem-resistant spp.

The upper respiratory tract microbiome of indigenous Orang Asli in north-eastern Peninsular Malaysia.

Much microbiome research has focused on populations that are predominantly of European descent, and from narrow demographics that do not capture the socio-economic and lifestyle differences which impact human health. Here we examined the airway microbiomes of the Orang Asli, the indigenous peoples of Malaysia. A total of 130 participants were recruited from two sites in the north-eastern state of Terengganu in Peninsular Malaysia.

Immune reconstitution in children following chemotherapy for acute leukemia.

Although survival rates for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia are now excellent, this is at the expense of prolonged chemotherapy regimens. We report the long-term immune effects in children treated according to the UK Medical Research Council UKALL 2003 protocol. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets and immunoglobulin levels were studied in 116 participants, at six time points, during and for 18-month following treatment, with 30-39 patients analyzed at each time point.

Disruption of the and Genes Attenuates Virulence: Towards the Development of a Live Attenuated Vaccine Candidate.

The majority of deaths due to infections are in developing countries. Although polysaccharide-based pneumococcal vaccines are available, newer types of vaccines are needed to increase vaccine affordability, particularly in developing countries, and to provide broader protection across all pneumococcal serotypes. To attenuate pneumococcal virulence with the aim of engineering candidate live attenuated vaccines (LAVs), we constructed knockouts in D39 of one of the capsular biosynthetic genes, that encodes glycosyltransferase, and the endonuclease gene, , that had been implicated in the uptake of DNA from the environment as well as bacterial escape from neutrophil-mediated killing.

Biocide susceptibilities and biofilm-forming capacities of Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates from Malaysia.

Introduction: Acinetobacter baumannii is a Gram-negative nosocomial pathogen that has the capacity to develop resistance to all classes of antimicrobial compounds. However, very little is known regarding its susceptibility to biocides (antiseptics and disinfectants) and capacity to form biofilms, particularly for Malaysian isolates.

Aim: To determine the susceptibility of A.

Risk factor profiles and clinical outcomes for children and adults with pneumococcal infections in Singapore: A need to expand vaccination policy?

Invasive pneumococcal infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide despite the availability of pneumococcal vaccines. The aim of this study was to re-evaluate the clinical syndromes, prognostic factors and outcomes for pneumococcal disease in adults and children in Singapore during the period before and after the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine. We retrospectively analyzed a large cohort of patients admitted to the four main public hospitals in Singapore with S.

Thirteen-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine in Children With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Protective Immunity Can Be Achieved on Completion of Treatment.

Background: Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are at increased risk of developing invasive pneumococcal disease. This study describes the immunogenicity of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) during and after chemotherapy.

Methods: Children with ALL were allocated to study groups and received a single dose of PCV13: group 1, maintenance chemotherapy; group 2, end of chemotherapy; group 3, 6 months after chemotherapy.

Microbial epidemiology and carriage studies for the evaluation of vaccines.

Respiratory tract infections are responsible for over 2.8 million deaths per year worldwide. Colonization is the first step in the process of microbes occupying the respiratory tract, which may lead to subsequent infection.

Serotype distribution of disease-causing Streptococcus pneumoniae in Thailand: A systematic review.

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae infection is associated with a high morbidity and mortality worldwide. There are currently >98 known serotypes; the most burdensome are covered by current pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) such as PCV10 (Synflorix®) and (Prevnar 13®) PCV13. However, at present no PCV is available on the National Expanded Programme of Immunization (EPI) in Thailand.

Drivers of year-to-year variation in exacerbation frequency of COPD: analysis of the AERIS cohort.

The association between exacerbation aetiology and exacerbation frequency is poorly understood. We analysed 2-year follow-up data from a prospective observational study of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (www.clinicaltrials.