Patients exposed to vancomycin-resistant enterococci during in-hospital outbreaks in a low endemic setting: a proposal for risk-based screening.

Background: The optimal extent of screening of contact patients (CoPat) after exposure to patients infected or colonized with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) remains controversial.

Methods: We retrospectively developed a new risk stratification for screening patients exposed to VRE, based on data from three outbreaks-two with Enterococcus faecium vanB and one with Enterococcus faecium vanA involving 1096 CoPat-in a low endemic setting. We classified them into four risk groups: three on environmental exposure, one by healthcare exposure: high (sharing the same room/bathroom with a VRE-colonized patient), medium (hospitalization in the same room after a VRE-colonized patient's discharge until terminal disinfection including ultraviolet C (UVc)-disinfection), low (hospitalized in the same room within three weeks before the VRE-colonized patient), and "staff" (screening of patients having the same medical care team).

Multicenter Prevalence Study Comparing Molecular and Toxin Assays for Clostridioides difficile Surveillance, Switzerland.

Public health authorities in the United States and Europe recommend surveillance for Clostridioides difficile infections among hospitalized patients, but differing diagnostic algorithms can hamper comparisons between institutions and countries. We compared surveillance based on detection of C. difficile by PCR or enzyme immunoassay (EIA) in a nationwide C.

Moraxella catarrhalis AcrAB-OprM efflux pump contributes to antimicrobial resistance and is enhanced during cold shock response.

Moraxella catarrhalis is a common pathogen of the human respiratory tract. Multidrug efflux pumps play a major role in antibiotic resistance and virulence in many Gram-negative organisms. In the present study, the role of the AcrAB-OprM efflux pump in antibiotic resistance was investigated by constructing mutants that lack the acrA, acrB, and oprM genes in M.

RNA-Seq-based analysis of the physiologic cold shock-induced changes in Moraxella catarrhalis gene expression.

Background: Moraxella catarrhalis, a major nasopharyngeal pathogen of the human respiratory tract, is exposed to rapid downshifts of environmental temperature when humans breathe cold air. The prevalence of pharyngeal colonization and respiratory tract infections caused by M. catarrhalis is greatest in winter.

Molecular pathogenesis of infections caused by Moraxella catarrhalis in children.

Moraxella catarrhalis (M. catarrhalis) is a human-restricted commensal of the normal bacterial flora in the upper respiratory tract of children, and - during the previous two decades - has been recognised as a true human pathogen. M.

Physiologic cold shock of Moraxella catarrhalis affects the expression of genes involved in the iron acquisition, serum resistance and immune evasion.

Background: Moraxella catarrhalis, a major nasopharyngeal pathogen of the human respiratory tract, is exposed to rapid downshifts of environmental temperature when humans breathe cold air. It was previously shown that the prevalence of pharyngeal colonization and respiratory tract infections caused by M. catarrhalis are greatest in winter.

Down-regulation of porin M35 in Moraxella catarrhalis by aminopenicillins and environmental factors and its potential contribution to the mechanism of resistance to aminopenicillins.

Objectives: The outer membrane protein M35 of Moraxella catarrhalis is an antigenically conserved porin. Knocking out M35 significantly increases the MICs of aminopenicillins. The aim of this study was to determine the biological mechanism of this potentially new antimicrobial resistance mechanism of M.

Topical curcumin can inhibit deleterious effects of upper respiratory tract bacteria on human oropharyngeal cells in vitro: potential role for patients with cancer therapy induced mucositis?

Purpose: Curcumin exerts its anti-inflammatory activity via inhibition of nuclear factor κB. Oropharyngeal epithelia and residing bacteria closely interact in inflammation and infection. This in vitro model investigated the effects of curcumin on bacterial survival, adherence to, and invasion of upper respiratory tract epithelia, and studied its anti-inflammatory effect.

Physiologic cold shock increases adherence of Moraxella catarrhalis to and secretion of interleukin 8 in human upper respiratory tract epithelial cells.

Moraxella catarrhalis, a major nasopharyngeal pathogen of the human respiratory tract, is exposed to rapid and prolonged downshifts of environmental temperature when humans breathe cold air. In the present study, we show that a 26 degrees C cold shock up-regulates the expression of UspA1, a major adhesin and putative virulence factor of M. catarrhalis, by prolonging messenger RNA half-life.

Outer membrane porin M35 of Moraxella catarrhalis mediates susceptibility to aminopenicillins.

Background: The outer membrane protein M35 is a conserved porin of type 1 strains of the respiratory pathogen Moraxella catarrhalis. It was previously shown that M35 is involved in the uptake of essential nutrients required for bacterial growth and for nasal colonization in mice. The aim of this study was (i) to characterize the potential roles of M35 in the host-pathogen interactions considering the known multifunctionality of porins and (ii) to characterize the degree of conservation in the phylogenetic older subpopulation (type 2) of M.

Outer membrane protein UspA1 and lipooligosaccharide are involved in invasion of human epithelial cells by Moraxella catarrhalis.

Invasion of non-professional phagocytes is a strategy employed by several mucosal pathogens, but has not been investigated in detail for Moraxella catarrhalis, a major cause of human respiratory tract infections. We investigated the role of outer membrane protein (OMP) UspA1 and lipooligosaccharide (LOS) in M. catarrhalis invasion into epithelial cells.

A reservoir of Moraxella catarrhalis in human pharyngeal lymphoid tissue.

Background: Early exposure of infants and long-term immunity suggest that colonization with Moraxella catarrhalis is more frequent than is determined by routine culture. We characterized a reservoir of M. catarrhalis in pharyngeal lymphoid tissue.

Indinavir inhibits sterol-regulatory element-binding protein-1c-dependent lipoprotein lipase and fatty acid synthase gene activations.

Background: A syndrome characterized by hypertriglyceridaemia, hypercholesterolaemia, hyperinsulinaemia, and lipodystrophy has been found to be associated with highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) including protease inhibitors. A marker predicting this syndrome has been previously identified in the gene encoding the sterol-regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP)-1c, a regulator of triglycerides, cholesterol, insulin, and adipocytes.

Objective: A possible inhibition of SREBP-1c-dependent genes by the protease inhibitor indinavir and its possible reversal by the lipid-lowering drug simvastatin were studied.