A citywide, clonal outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Int J Infect Dis

Division of Medical Microbiology, University of Cape Town, and National Health Laboratory Service, Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa. Electronic address:

Published: April 2022

Background: Outbreaks of community-acquired Pseudomonas aeruginosa are typically small and localized. We investigated an increase in community-acquired infections with P. aeruginosa in Cape Town, South Africa.

Methods: Cases were defined as P. aeruginosa isolated from any clinical sample, and "wild-type" as those susceptible to all antibiotics tested. The residential addresses of community-acquired wild-type cases were mapped. Whole-genome sequencing and multilocus sequence typing were used to determine clonality and identify virulence genes. A clinical study in a subset of patients with bloodstream infection compared demographic and clinical characteristics between sequence types (STs).

Results: The outbreak lasted 10 months from December 2016 to September 2017 with 3,321 documented cases. At the peak, cases reached 2.3-fold baseline rates. Cases were distributed widely across the city. Multilocus ST 303 was predominant during the outbreak. A total of 51 virulence genes were differentially present in ST303 compared with other STs, including genes involved in biofilm formation, iron uptake, and gut penetration.

Conclusion: The investigation confirmed a citywide outbreak of P. aeruginosa. We identified a predominant outbreak-associated clone, ST303, which harbored genes that could contribute to virulence and survival in adverse environmental conditions such as those associated with drought.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2022.01.039DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

pseudomonas aeruginosa
8
virulence genes
8
aeruginosa
5
cases
5
citywide clonal
4
outbreak
4
clonal outbreak
4
outbreak pseudomonas
4
aeruginosa background
4
background outbreaks
4

Similar Publications

Introduction: Infectious keratitis is a rare but devastating complication following photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) that may lead to visual impairment. This study assessed the clinical features, treatment strategies, and outcomes of post-PRK infectious keratitis.

Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on patients with post-PRK infectious keratitis presenting to Khalili Hospital, Shiraz, Iran, from June 2011 to March 2024.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

(PA) is an opportunistic gram-negative pathogen that can infect the cornea, leading to permanent vision loss. Autophagy is a cannibalistic process that drives cytoplasmic components to the lysosome for degradation and/or recycling. Autophagy has been shown to play a key role in the removal of intracellular pathogens and, as such, is an important component of the innate immune response.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Caveolin-Mediated Endocytosis: Bacterial Pathogen Exploitation and Host-Pathogen Interaction.

Cells

December 2024

Molecular and Cellular Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA.

Within mammalian cells, diverse endocytic mechanisms, including phagocytosis, pinocytosis, and receptor-mediated endocytosis, serve as gateways exploited by many bacterial pathogens and toxins. Among these, caveolae-mediated endocytosis is characterized by lipid-rich caveolae and dimeric caveolin proteins. Caveolae are specialized microdomains on cell surfaces that impact cell signaling.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The genes are important for growth in the presence of sphingosine by promoting sphingosine metabolism.

Microbiology (Reading)

January 2025

Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, USA.

Sphingoid bases, including sphingosine, are important components of the antimicrobial barrier at epithelial surfaces where they can cause growth inhibition and killing of susceptible bacteria. is a common opportunistic pathogen that is less susceptible to sphingosine than many Gram-negative bacteria. Here, we determined that the deletion of the operon reduced growth in the presence of sphingosine.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Outbreak of perichondritis associated with ear piercings and a contaminated water system.

Epidemiol Infect

January 2025

Health Protection Operations, South West, UK Health Security Agency, Bristol, UK.

In September 2023, the UK Health Security Agency's (UKHSA) South West Health Protection Team received notification of patients with perichondritis. All five cases had attended the same cosmetic piercing studio and a multi-disciplinary outbreak control investigation was subsequently initiated. An additional five cases attending the same studio were found.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!