ABSTRACT
In 2010, two independent cases of cutaneous diphtheria caused by toxigenic C. ulcerans were identified in Germany. Both patients had intense occupational contact with pigs. Diagnostic work-up comprising biochemical differentiation, rpoB sequencing, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) analysis, real-time tox PCR and Elek test as well as public health measures including an intensified source tracing involving 83 asymptomatic pigs of an associated pig farm are presented.
Subject(s)
Corynebacterium/isolation & purification , Diphtheria/diagnosis , Occupational Exposure , Skin Diseases, Bacterial/diagnosis , Swine Diseases/microbiology , Animals , Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Bacterial Proteins/genetics , Carrier State/epidemiology , Carrier State/microbiology , Carrier State/veterinary , Diphtheria/drug therapy , Diphtheria/microbiology , Erythromycin/therapeutic use , Female , Germany , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Prevalence , Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction , Sequence Analysis, DNA , Skin/microbiology , Skin Diseases, Bacterial/drug therapy , Skin Diseases, Bacterial/microbiology , Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization , Sus scrofa , Swine , Swine Diseases/epidemiology , Swine Diseases/transmissionABSTRACT
Pneumocystsis jirovecii is a peculiar fungus for a variety of reasons. This opportunistic pathogen multiplies in humans only under certain conditions; a defect in the T-cell defense system creates a predisposition to this infection. In 2010 a data survey (IFT as well as PCR) from a few laboratories in Germany revealed 412 positive individuals. Even if only a few patients test positive for the colonization stage of this pathogen, the sheer number of individuals testing positive for other stages of infection indicate that the incidence of pneumocystosis in immunocompromised patients in Germany is underestimated.
Subject(s)
Health Surveys , Pneumocystis carinii , Pneumonia, Pneumocystis/epidemiology , Rare Diseases , AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/diagnosis , AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/epidemiology , Child, Preschool , Cross-Sectional Studies , Germany , Humans , Incidence , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Infant, Premature, Diseases/diagnosis , Infant, Premature, Diseases/epidemiology , Middle Aged , Opportunistic Infections/diagnosis , Opportunistic Infections/epidemiology , Pneumonia, Pneumocystis/diagnosis , Polymerase Chain ReactionABSTRACT
The genodiversity of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from the Nottingham region of the United Kingdom was compared with isolates from the Freiburg region of Germany. The prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates was higher in Nottingham than in Freiburg. In patients from Nottingham hospitals, 80% of MRSA isolates were classical epidemic MRSA-15, but genotypic variants of epidemic MRSA-15 comprised 72% of isolates from Nottingham community-based patients. In contrast, MRSA isolates from Freiburg showed greater diversity, but 47% and 23% of isolates, respectively, belonged to two predominant MRSA genotypes found in isolates from both hospitalised and community-based patients. The results suggest that genodiversity becomes increasingly more confined in settings with a higher frequency and longer duration of MRSA prevalence.