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BACKGROUND: Ralstonia solanacearum causes bacterial wilt of Pogostemon cablin which is an important aromatic herb and also the main materials of COVID-19 therapeutic traditional drugs. However, we are lacking the information on the genomic sequences of R. solanacearum isolated from P. cablin. OBJECTIVE: The acquisition and analysis of this whole-genome sequence of the P. cablin bacterial wilt pathogen. METHODS: An R. solanacearum strain, named SY1, was isolated from infected P. cablin plants, and the complete genome sequence was sequenced and analyzed. RESULTS: The SY1 strain contains a 3.70-Mb chromosome and a 2.18-Mb megaplasmid, with GC contents of 67.57% and 67.41%, respectively. A total of 3308 predicted genes were located on the chromosome and 1657 genes were located in the megaplasmid. SY1 strain has 273 unique genes compared with five representative R. solanacearum strains, and these genes were enriched in the plant-pathogen interaction pathway. SY1 possessed a higher syntenic relationship with phylotype I strains, and the arsenal of type III effectors predicted in SY1 were also more closely related to those of phylotype I strains. SY1 contained 14 and 5 genomic islands in its chromosome and megaplasmid, respectively, and two prophage sequences in its chromosome. In addition, 215 and 130 genes were annotated as carbohydrate-active enzymes and antibiotic resistance genes, respectively. CONCLUSION: This is the first genome-scale assembly and annotation for R. solanacearum which isolated from infected P. cablin plants. The arsenal of virulence and antibiotic resistance may as the determinants in SY1 for infection of P. cablin plants.
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INTRODUCTION: Ralstonia insidiosa, a gram-negative waterborne bacteria able to survive and grow in any type of water source, can cause nosocomial infections, and are considered emerging pathogens of infectious diseases in hospital settings. In this study, we report an outbreak of R. insidiosa at our center related to contaminated heparinized syringes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The present study was conducted in a tertiary care university hospital in Turkey. An outbreak analysis was performed between September 2021 and December 2021. Microbiological samples were obtained from environmental sources and from patient blood cultures. Species identification was performed using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). To investigate the clonality of strains, all confirmed isolates were sent to the National Reference Laboratory and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to perform molecular typing. RESULTS: Seventeen R. insidiosa isolates were identified from the blood cultures of 13 patients from various wards and intensive care units. Isolates from seven patient blood cultures and two heparinized blood gas syringes were characterized by PFGE. All isolates were found to belong to the same clone of R. insidiosa. CONCLUSION: R. insidiosa was identified as the cause of a nosocomial infection outbreak in our hospital, which was then rapidly controlled by the infection-control team. When rare waterborne microorganisms grow in blood or other body fluid cultures, clinicians and the infection-control team should be made aware of a possible outbreak.
Subject(s)
Cross Infection , Sepsis , Cross Infection/microbiology , Disease Outbreaks , Humans , Ralstonia , Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization , SyringesABSTRACT
Relevance. The outbreak of COVID-19 began in late 2019 in Hubei Province, China. Already in the first quarter of 2020, the disease spread around the world. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared a COVID-19 pandemic. The first cases of the disease in Kazakhstan were registered in March 2020. The aim of the study: a systematic search for scientific information about the socially significant disease COVID-19 and its immunopathogenetic basis for the severity of the course. Search strategy: Research publications were searched in PubMed, ResearchGate, GoogleScholar databases. A total of 325 references were found, of which 89 were selected for analysis.
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Background. Ralstonia pickettii are aerobic non fermenter gram negative bacilli isolated in water and soil. It is related to nosocomial infection outbreaks and considered an opportunistic pathogen. There have been outbreaks reports due to contaminated water systems and sterile drug solutions which mainly occurs during manufacturing. We present the report of an outbreak of R. pickettii bacteremia secondary to a contamination of hydromorphone vials. Methods. In February 2021 an outbreak of R. pickettii bacteremia was identified. All isolates were from blood cultures with slow growth, thus indicating the culturing of liquid inputs, intravenous administration solutions and commonly used drugs among patients including hydromorphone. Mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) was used for the identification and automated microdilution to determine sensitivity to antimicrobials of the isolates and clonality analysis of genetic relationships was carried out using the DICE coefficient, UPGMA algorithm Results. During the outbreak, 19 patients with R. pickettii bacteremia were identified The global attack rate was 1,9%. 11/19 (58%) were women and 13/19 (68%) of the isolations were from inward patients and 6/19 (32%) were from intensive care unit. Factors that could contribute to the appearance of the outbreak were underlying pathology, 2 patients with a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, 10 patients with a diagnosis of arterial hypertension, 5 patients with obesity, 6 patients with heart disease, additionally 7 patients with a diagnosis of SARS COV 2 and 6 patients with the use of corticosteroids. The global attack rate was 1,9% and mortality was 31.5% (6 patients). R. pickettii was identified from two batches of hydromorphone by MALDI-TOF and the clonality study concluded that the isolates analyzed, were clonal with a 100% similarity. The associated mortality rate was 5/29 (26.3%). Conclusion. We confirmed an outbreak of R. pickettii due to the contamination of two hydromorphone badges in Colombia. It is crucial to acknowledge the importance of infection control and surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as maintaining adequate quality control of medication production in order to avoid presenting this kind of outbreaks.
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SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with hematological malignancies and hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) can be severe and with significant mortality. We carried out a prospective and observational study to describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics and outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with hematological malignancies and HSCT. Twenty adult patients were included with a median age of 58 years and a median Charlson score of 3. Infections were community-acquired and nosocomial in 60% and 40%, respectively, and 30% of the patients had a history of contact with a SARS-CoV-2 infected person. Sixty-five percent had pulmonary infiltrates, mostly with a ground-glass pattern on CT scan. Almost half of the patients had a severe and critical illness, and a high proportion received convalescent plasma as treatment. Twenty percent and 15% had complications and hospital infections, respectively, and had prolonged hospitalization expressed as median days of it. The 30-day mortality was 10%. SARS-CoV-2 infection in our population had a considerable clinical and epidemiological impact.