Identification of bacterial hazards in the production of artisan fresh cheese in Cuba.

Artisan fresh cheese producing farms from six provinces of Cuba were studied to identify the presence of bacterial hazards and the results are presented in this research communication. The bacterial hazards identified in milk and cheese respectively were: Listeria spp. (9.5 and 18.9%), Bacillus cereus (23.2 and 24.2%), Escherichia coli O157 (12.6 and 13.7%), Salmonella spp. (10.5 and 17.9%), and Staphylococcus aureus (29.5 and 51.6%). Listeria monocytogenes was not detected. Nine Salmonella serotypes corresponding to Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica and Salmonella enterica subsp. arizonae were isolated, whereas Salmonella Anatum was present most often. Biofilm formation by the isolated species and enterotoxin production by S. aureus strains demonstrated the pathogenic potential of the identified bacterial hazards. Results proved the presence of bacterial hazards in the raw milk and cheeses analyzed, so that good manufacturing practices must be accomplished throughout the entire production process in order to avoid the occurrence of foodborne diseases in the population.

Prevalence of Candida albicans and Trichomonas vaginalis in pregnant women in Havana City by an immunologic latex agglutination test.

We aimed to estimate the prevalence of Candida albicans and Trichomonas vaginalis in immunocompetent pregnant women living in Havana City, Cuba, with or without symptoms of vaginitis, using a sample of 640 women from 6 Gyneco-obstetrics hospitals, which represents 2.5% of total yearly pregnant women. Diagnosis was made using a new latex agglutination kit (Newvagin C-Kure, La Habana, Cuba). Clinical sensitivity and specificity of this assay were validated against culture method, with 467 and 489 clinical specimens for Candida albicans and Trichomonas vaginalis, respectively. Results showed that the kit clinical sensitivity was 100% for Candida albicans and 86.7% for Trichomonas vaginalis compared with a clinical specificity of 93.3% for Candida albicans and 95.1% for Trichomonas vaginalis by culture. The prevalence of candidiasis was determined to be 42.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.8%); the prevalence of trichomoniasis was 9.84% (95% CI 2.3%). In our sample, 48.7% of the women tested negative with respect to both candidiasis and trichomoniasis. Only 6.41% of the cases yielded inconclusive results. The test has high sensitivity, and our results indicate a relatively high prevalence of both infections. However, a significant difference (P < .001) was also observed in candidiasis and trichomoniasis prevalence among hospitals corresponding to the quantity of women with clinical vaginitis. No difference was observed between diabetics and nondiabetics, probably due to the special care of diabetic pregnant women. We conclude that the method is useful for this kind of vaginitis prevalence study and that candidiasis and trichomoniasis prevalences in pregnant women of Havana are 38.5% to 46.2 % (95% CI) and 7.5% to 12.1% (95% CI), respectively.

Evaluación de diferentes medios líquidos para el cultivo de Gardnerella vaginalis y caracterización del perfil de proteína por electroforesis PAGE-SDS / Evaluation of different liquid media for the culture of Gardnerella vaginalis and characterization of the protein profile for PAGE-SDS electrophoresis

Se evaluaron 3 medios de cultivo líquidos caldo triptosa soya suplementado con suero equino (CTS-se) / sin suplemento (CTS) y caldo Casman (CC) en diferentes condiciones de incubación: 10 por ciento de CO2 y en condiciones aerobias. No hubo diferencias significativas en los valores de densidad óptica para los medios CTS-se y CC. Sin embargo, al establecer el perfil de proteínas por PAGE- SDS para las condiciones evaluadas, la presencia de la proteína de 14 kDa y los valores de densidad óptica permitieron la selección del medio CC para el cultivo de Gardnerella vaginalis. Se estudió la sensibilidad a diferentes pH en este medio, resultó óptimo el pH 7,2 y se estableció la cinética de crecimiento. El análisis por PAGE-SDS de las células completas correspondientes a diferentes aislamientos clínicos de G. vaginalis con variaciones bioquímicas permitió caracterizar el perfil de proteínas en este medio y mostró similitud entre los aislados(AU)

Evaluación de diferentes medios líquidos para el cultivo de Gardnerella vaginalis y caracterización del perfil de proteína por electroforesis PAGE-SDS / Evaluation of different liquid media for the culture of Gardnerella vaginalis and characterization of the protein profile for PAGE-SDS electrophoresis

Se evaluaron 3 medios de cultivo líquidos caldo triptosa soya suplementado con suero equino (CTS-se) / sin suplemento (CTS) y caldo Casman (CC) en diferentes condiciones de incubación: 10 por ciento de CO2 y en condiciones aerobias. No hubo diferencias significativas en los valores de densidad óptica para los medios CTS-se y CC. Sin embargo, al establecer el perfil de proteínas por PAGE- SDS para las condiciones evaluadas, la presencia de la proteína de 14 kDa y los valores de densidad óptica permitieron la selección del medio CC para el cultivo de Gardnerella vaginalis. Se estudió la sensibilidad a diferentes pH en este medio, resultó óptimo el pH 7,2 y se estableció la cinética de crecimiento. El análisis por PAGE-SDS de las células completas correspondientes a diferentes aislamientos clínicos de G. vaginalis con variaciones bioquímicas permitió caracterizar el perfil de proteínas en este medio y mostró similitud entre los aislados

[Evaluation of different liquid media for the culture of Gardnerella vaginalis and characterization of the protein profile with PAGE-SDS electrophoresis]. / Evaluación de diferentes medios líquidos para el cultivo de Gardnerella vaginalis y caracterización del perfil de proteína por electroforesis PAGE-SDS.

3 liquid culture media: triptose soya broth supplemented with equine serum (TSB-es)/without supplement (TSB) and Casman broth (CB) were evaluated under different incubation conditions at 10% of CO2 and under aerobic conditions. There were no significant differences in the values of optic density for the TSB-es and CB media. However, on establishing the protein profile by PAGE-SDS for the evaluated conditions, the presence of protein of 14 kDa and the values of optic density allowed the selection of the CB medium for the culture of Gardnerella vaginalis. The sensitivity to different pH in this medium was studied. pH 7.2 proved to be optimum and it was established its growth cynetics. The analysis by PAGE-SDS of the complete cells corresponding to different clinical isolates of G. vaginalis with biochemical variations made possible to characterize the protein profile in this medium and showed similarity between the isolates.