ABSTRACT
Purpose: Staphylococcus aureus is a commensal bacteria species that can cause various illnesses, from mild skin infections to severe diseases, such as bacteremia. The distribution and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pattern of S. aureus varies by population, time, geographic location, and hospital wards. In this study, we elucidated the epidemiology and AMR patterns of S. aureus isolated from a general hospital in Vietnam. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Data on all S. aureus infections from 2014 to 2021 were collected from the Microbiology department of Military Hospital 103, Vietnam. Only the first isolation from each kind of specimen from a particular patient was analyzed using the Cochran-Armitage and chi-square tests. Results: A total of 1130 individuals were diagnosed as S. aureus infection. Among them, 1087 strains were tested for AMR features. Most patients with S. aureus infection were in the age group of 41-65 years (39.82%). S. aureus isolates were predominant in the surgery wards, and pus specimens were the most common source of isolates (50.62%). S. aureus was most resistant to azithromycin (82.28%), erythromycin (82.82%), and clindamycin (82.32%) and least resistant to teicoplanin (0.0%), tigecycline (0.16%), quinupristin-dalfopristin (0.43%), linezolid (0.62%), and vancomycin (2.92%). Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and multidrug-resistant (MDR) S. aureus were prevalent, accounting for 73.02% and 60.90% of the total strains respectively, and the strains isolated from the intensive care unit (ICU) had the highest percentage of multidrug resistance (77.78%) among the wards. Conclusion: These findings highlight the urgent need for continuous AMR surveillance and updated treatment guidelines, particularly considering high resistance in MRSA, MDR strains, and ICU isolates. Future research focusing on specific resistant populations and potential intervention strategies is crucial to combat this rising threat.
ABSTRACT
The emergence of New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1) has become a major health threat to clinical managements of gram-negative bacteria infections. A novel incompatibility group X3 plasmid (IncX3) pNDM-HN380 carrying blaNDM-1 has recently been found to epidemiologically link with multiple geographical areas in China. In this paper, we studied the metabolic responses of host bacteria E. coli J53 upon introduction of pNDM-HN380. A reduction of bacterial motility was observed in J53/pNDM-HN380. We profiled the RNA repertoires of the transconjugants and found a downregulation of genes involved in flagella and chemotaxis metabolic pathways at logarithmic (log) phase. We also identified a novel intragenic region (IGR) small RNA plas2. The plasmid-transcribed sRNA IGR plas2 was further characterized as a regulator of fucRwhich controls the fucose metabolism. By knockdown of IGR plas2 using an antisense decoy, we managed to inhibit the formation of bacterial biofilm of the host. Our study demonstrated a potential way of utilizing plasmid-transcribed sRNA against infectious bacteria.
