Seroprevalence of Leptospirosis among High-Risk Individuals in Morocco.

BACKGROUND: Leptospirosis is an anthropozoonotic reemerging neglected infectious disease underreported in most developing countries. A cross-sectional study was performed between 17 and 23 February 2014 to estimate the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among high-risk populations in Casablanca (Morocco). METHODS: A total of 490 human serum samples (97.6% males) were collected in 3 high-risk occupational sites including the biggest meat slaughterhouse (n = 208), a poultry market (n = 121), and the fish market (n = 161). A total of 125 human blood samples were also collected from the general population and used in this study as a control group. To detect the presence of anti-Leptospira, sera were screened with in-house IgG and IgM enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Positive samples were tested by Microscopic Agglutination Technique (MAT) using a panel of 24 serovar cultures and cut point of 1 : 25. RESULTS: Seroprevalence of leptospirosis among the control group was 10.4% (13/125). A high seropositivity among the overall seroprevalence of 24.1% (118/490) was observed in the high-risk groups of which 7.3% (36/490), 13.7% (67/490), and 3.1% (15/490) were for anti-Leptospira IgM, IgG, and both IgG and IgM antibodies, respectively. Most of the positive individuals were occupationally involved in poultry (37.2%), followed by the market fish (26.1%) and the meat slaughterhouse (14.9%) workers. Among all ELISA-positive serum samples, 20.3% (n = 24) had positive MAT responses, of which the Icterohaemorrhagiae (n = 7) is the most common infecting serogroup followed by Javanica (4), Australis (2), and Sejroe, Mini, and Panama (one in each). In the remaining 8 MAT-positive sera, MAT showed equal titers against more than one serogroup. CONCLUSION: Individuals engaged in risk activities are often exposed to leptospiral infection. Therefore, control and prevention policies toward these populations are necessary.

Genes encoding adhesion factors and biofilm formation in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Morocco.

INTRODUCTION: Infections involving methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remain a serious threat to hospitalized patients worldwide. MRSA is characterized by recalcitrance to antimicrobial therapy, which is a function not only of widespread antimicrobial resistance, but also the capacity to form biofilms. The present study evaluated the presence of genes encoding adhesion factors and the biofilm-forming capacity in MRSA. METHODOLOGY: In this study, 53 isolates of MRSA, recovered from December 2010 to May 2014 in a mother and child hospital, CHU Mohamed VI in Marrakech, Morocco, were screened for the presence of bap and ica genes associated with biofilm formation, and for bbp, cna, ebpS, eno, fib, fnbA, fnbB, clfA, and clfB genes that encode microbial surface components recognizing adhesive matrix molecules (MSCRAMMs). The biofilm formation assay was performed in 96-well microtiter polystyrene plates. The presence of genes was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: An association was found between icaD gene detection and biofilm formation; 100% of the strains harbored icaD and produced biofilm. None of the isolates harbored bap or bbp. Furthermore, 96.23% isolates were positive for fnbA, 60.37% for eno, 43.39% for clfA and clfB, 11.32% for cna, 9.34% for ebpS, 5.66% for fib, and 1.89% for fnbA. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings showed that the MRSA carriage in Marrakech children was high. The genetic variations of adhesion genes require further investigation.

Intestinal carriage of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in a community setting in Casablanca, Morocco.

This study aimed to determine the rate of intestinal carriage of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and to perform a phenotypic and genotypic characterisation of VRE isolates in the community in Casablanca, Morocco. During 6 months in 2014, 113 faecal samples were examined for the presence of enterococci. Antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates was determined by the disk diffusion method. Phenotypic and genotypic species identification was performed, and the vanA, vanB and vanC genes were detected by PCR. Each bacterial isolate resistant to vancomycin was subjected to amplification and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. In total, 100 strains were collected from a community population of 80 persons; 55% of the isolates were identified as Enterococcus faecium and 45% as Enterococcus faecalis. The resistance profile showed that 88% of the strains were multiresistant. The rate of faecal carriage of VRE was 21% (n=21), among which 8 strains were E. faecalis (17.8% of all E. faecalis) and 13 strains were E. faecium (23.6% of all E. faecium). PCR analysis revealed that all of the strains were resistant to vancomycin owing to possession of the vanA gene. The emergence of VRE and the high rate of colonisation by multiresistant enterococci are alarming. Strict measures are required to control the further spread of these strains in the Moroccan community.

Psoriasis and Staphylococcus aureus skin colonization in Moroccan patients.

UNLABELLED: Psoriatic lesions are rarely complicated by recurrent infections. The aim of our study is to determine skin colonisation and nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in patients with psoriasis and in healthy persons. PATIENTS AND METHODS: a comparative study that include 33 patients with psoriasis and 33 healthy persons. Samples were taken from lesional and non lesional psoriatic skin and from healthy skin of control group. For S. aureus nasal carriage, we used sterile cotton tipped swabs. Out of 165 samples (66 skin samples and 33 nasal swabs), 26 S. Aureus strains were isolated in 26 persons, 57.69% in the control group and 42.3% in the psoriasis group. S. aureus skin colonization was found in one case (3%) in lesional psoriatic skin vs 9 cases (27.3%) in control skin OR=0.08 IC 95% (0.01-0.70) p=0.02 and in 12,1% in non lesional psoriatic skin vs 27, 3% in control skin (p =0,13). This colonization was less important in lesional psoriatic skin (3%) than in non lesional psoriatic skin (12.1%) p= 0.20. Nasal screening identified (7/33) 21, 21% S. aureus carriers in psoriasis group and in control group. Our results are in consensus with literature findings. They have confirmed the importance of antimicrobial peptides in Innate immunity of human skin. These peptides are normally produced by keratinocytes in response to inflammatory stimuli such as psoriasis. Their high expression in psoriasis skin reduces the risk of skin infection and skin colonization with S. Aureus.

Methyl 2-(3-chloro-benzamido)-benzoate.

In the mol-ecule of the title compound, C15H12ClNO3, the chloro-benzamide and benzoate units are almost co-planar, with a dihedral angle between the six-membered rings of 2.99 (10)°. An intra-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bond occurs. In the crystal, each mol-ecule is linked to a symmetry-equivalent counterpart across a twofold rotation axis by weak C-H⋯O and C-H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds, forming dimers. The packing is stabilized through weak π-π stacking along the b-axis direction, leading to π-stacked columns of inversion-related mol-ecules, with an inter-planar distance of 3.46 (2) Šand a centroid-centroid vector of 3.897 (2) Å.

3-{[1-(2,3,5-Tri-O-benzoyl-ß-d-ribofur-an-os-1-yl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl]meth-yl}quin-a-zolin-4(3H)-one.

In the compound, C(37)H(29)N(5)O(8), the quinazoline residue forms a dihedral angle of 72.90 (9)° with the triazole ring. The furan ring adopts a twist conformation. In the crystal, the mol-ecules are linked by non-classical C-H⋯N and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, building an infinite three-dimensional network.

4-{4-[(4-Oxoquinazolin-3-yl)meth-yl]-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl}butyl acetate.

In the heterocyclic title compound, C(17)H(19)N(5)O(3), the quinazolinone ring system forms a dihedral angle of 67.22 (7)° with the triazole ring. The butyl acetate group has a non-linear conformation, with an alternation of synclinal and anti-periplanar torsion angles [N-C-C-C = 58.5 (2)°, C-C-C-C = 170.72 (19)° and C-C-C-O = -65.9 (3)°]. The crystal structure features inter-molecular C-H⋯N and C-H⋯O non-classical hydrogen bonds, building an infinite one-dimensional network along the [100] direction.

4-(4-{[(2-Phenyl-quinazolin-4-yl)-oxy]methyl}-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)butan-1-ol hemihydrate.

The title compound, C(21)H(21)N(5)O(2)·0.5H(2)O, has two fused six-membered rings linked to a benzene ring and to a triazole ring, which is connected to a butanol group. The quinazoline ring forms a dihedral angle of 7.88 (8)° with the benzene ring, while the triazole ring is approximately perpendicular to the benzene ring and to the quinazoline system, making dihedral angles of 84.38 (10) and 76.55 (8)°, respectively. The stereochemical arrangement of the butanol chain, with a C-C-C-C torsion angle of 178.34 (19)°, corresponds to an anti-periplanar conformation. However the position of the -OH group is split into two very close [O-O = 0.810(3) Å] positions of equal occupancy. The crystal structure features O-H⋯N and O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, building an infinite three-dimensional network. The water molecule is located on a half-filled general position.