ABSTRACT
Campylobacter is one of the most common foodborne pathogens worldwide. A new smartphone-assisted high-throughput integrated color-sensing platform, called the HICS platform, was developed for the rapid detection of Campylobacter coli. This platform was based on the visual loop-mediated isothermal amplification method. Using this system, as many as 64 samples could be assessed in less than an hour after enrichment. 60 meat samples were tested to compare the performance of the HICS platform and other methods. Having the consistent detection result with TaqMan qPCR (Quantitative Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction), the HICS platform was able to reliably detect C. coli in meat samples, and its limit of detection is 550 CFU/mL and 120 copies/mu L, which was 10-fold higher than that of the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) method. To conclude, considering that our platform showed robust performance and does not require any expensive equipment, it can also be reliably applied for the high-throughput detection of other pathogens.
ABSTRACT
Campylobacteriosis is one of the most well-characterized bacterial foodborne infections worldwide, the species are the most common zoonotic pathogens. Chicken and chicken products are known to be the major sources of Campylobacter infection in humans. Campylobacter species represent one of the most common causes of bacterial diarrheal illness worldwide, it is the main cause of bacterial gastrointestinal infections occurring at any age, but it peaks in children and young adults. This study aims to investigate the presence and prevalence of Campylobacter bacteria in humans and chicken and aims for determination the extent of the contamination of this bacteria. The study involved two parts;the first part designed for isolation Campylobacter species from chickens which were alive, while the second part was about isolation Campylobacter species from human stool samples for different ages. The current study based on analysis of three hundred and fifty (350) stool samples taken from humans with different ages. The patients samples were collected from Al-Batool Teaching Hospital for Maternity and Pediatric, Baquba Teaching Hospital and Central Health Laboratories in Diyala, these patients were had vary clinical aspects like : (diarrhea, Fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and cramp, fatigue and muscle pain). On the other hand, one hundred seventy five (175) stool samples of chicken which they apparently had diarrhea were collected randomly from different areas of Diyala Governorate. The collection of both humans and chicken samples were during 2020 - 2021. The analysis of 350 samples of patients their ages ranged from 3 months to 59 years showed that the mean +or- SD of age was 24.5 +or- 14.3 years. The most predominant age group was 20-29 years (26.9%), while the lowest age group was 50-59 years (4.9%). Regarding the gender, 151 (43.1%) of the included patients were male and 199 (56.9%) were female. Patients included in the current study were collected from four districts of Diyala province. The highest collection rate was from Baquba district 217(62.0%), while the lowest collection rate was from Baladrooz district 18 (5.1%). the distribution of clinical signs and symptoms of included patients. Persistent diarrhea forming the predominance of signs 179 (51.1%), followed by watery diarrhea 55 (15.7%), while the least sign was vomiting 1(3%). Furthermore, 15 (4.3%) of patients showed all that signs and symptoms. The signs and symptoms were : diarrhea was found in 194 (55.4%) patients, followed by watery diarrhea in 77 (22.0%) patients. Fever was found in 30 (8.6%) patients. The least sign was nausea which was found in 15 (4.3%) patients. Abdominal pain and cramps were detected in 22 (6.3%) patients. Out of 350 stool specimens submitted for bacteriological culture, 62 (17.7%) were positive versus 288 (82.3%) were negative. Among the 62-culture positive, 13 specimens yield Campylobacter growth, so the campylobacter detection rate among human specimens was 3.7%. The isolated Campylobacter were as follow;11(3.1%) were Campylobacter jejuni, one (0.3%) was Campylobacter coli, one (0.3%) was undifferentiated campylobacter. On the other hand, 58 (16.6%) of the specimens yield bacterial growth other than Campylobacter, as follows: E. coli was detected in 28 (8.0%), Proteus Spp. was detected in 12 (3.4%), H. pylori was detected in 10 (2.9%) and Klebsiella Spp. was detected in 8 (2.3%). The remaining specimens 279 (79.7%) yield no growth. The results of the PCR technique revealed that 8 (2.38%) specimens were positive for Campylobacter, while the majority 335 (95.7%) were negative and 7(2.0%) of the specimens were not done. While the analysis of 175 chicken fecal samples taken from chickens were mainly suffering from diarrhea showed that the distribution of chickens according to their ages in days showed predominance was those 30-39 (40.6%) days old. It is clear that the majority of specimens (74.3%) were collected from Baquba districts. The results showed that specimens collected Al- Muqdadiya district farms had yielded the high
ABSTRACT
A 24-year-old healthy man, smoker (2 pack-years), was admitted to the Cardiology Unit for chest pain and fever occurred 2 days after anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. There were no pathological findings at physical examination. The electrocardiogram showed diffuse ST elevation. Laboratory tests showed a significant increment of Troponin I levels (4697 ng/l→ 6236 ng/l after 3 h), White Blood Cells (17 610/mmc) and C-Reactive Protein (8.36mg/dl). Echocardiography showed normal left ventricular systolic function with no evidence of pericarditis. These findings were consistent with a probable case of acute myocarditis. Cardiac magnetic imaging demonstrated myocardial oedema of the posterior wall of the left ventricle at T2-weighted images, with patchy areas of subepicardial late gadolinium enhancement. Based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention myocarditis diagnostic criteria, a diagnosis of acute myocarditis was made and treatment with Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs was started. Regarding etiology agent determination, in the COVID19 era, the first suspect was anti-SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-vaccine-induced myocarditis. Several case series and analyses of a large national health care organization database helped to identify features linked to these types of myocarditis. The highest incidence was observed among male juvenile subjects, usually 48-72 h after the second dose of vaccination, with elevated levels of spike antibody for SARS-CoV-2. Nevertheless, in the presented clinical case, the patient had received the first dose of BNT162b2 vaccination two days before hospital admission and showed negative serology tests for SARS-CoV-2. In recent medical history, two days before the onset of fever and chest pain, the patient had episodes of diarrhea which persisted during the first week of hospitalization. All immunological and microbiological tests result negative, except for a stool culture positive for Campylobacter coli. Interestingly a revision of literature showed several cases of myocarditis linked to Campylobacter species. In particular, of 13 reported cases, 12 (92%) were male with a mean age of 26±8.8 years, and cardiac symptoms present generally 2-4 days after diarrhea. In this particular setting, the first and more obvious hypothesis was strongly questioned because of an unexpected finding in the stool culture. In fact, Campylobacter spp. related myocarditis is an extremely rare condition, even if this pathogen is associated with important immunological interferences, as shown by its relationship with the Guillain-Barre syndrome. Further, myocarditis related to mRNA anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine is considered a rare complication. We hypothesized that the association of the two components could have acted synergistically to produce an immune system activation against cardiac muscle. Additional investigations are required to clarify the link between vaccination and possible improper immune response. In conclusion, this case represents a typical example in which the cause of the disease should be well investigated because the initial etiological theory is not definitive, especially in the SARS-CoV-2 era.