The lung microbiome in HIV‑positive patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis

Tuberculosis poses one of the greatest infectious disease threats of our time, especially when associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Very little data is available on the lung microbiome in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in HIV-positive patients. Three patient cohorts were studied: (i) HIV-positive with no respiratory disease (control cohort), (ii) HIV-positive with pneumonia and (iii) HIV-positive with PTB. Sputum specimens were collected in all patients and where possible a paired BALF was collected. DNA extraction was performed using the QIAamp DNA mini kit (QIAGEN, Germany) and extracted DNA specimens were sent to Inqaba Biotechnical Industries (Pty) Ltd for 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis using the Illumina platform (Illumina Inc, USA). Data analysis was performed using QIMME II and R Studio version 3.6.2 (2020). The lung microbiomes of patients with PTB, in the context of HIV co-infection, were dominated by Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Loss of biodiversity and dysbiosis was found in these patients when compared to the HIV-positive control cohort. Microbial community structure was also distinct from the control cohort, with the dominance of genera such as Achromobacter, Mycobacterium, Acinetobacter, Stenotrophomonas and Pseudomonas in those patients with PTB. This is the first study to describe the lung microbiome in patients with HIV and PTB co-infection and to compare findings with an HIVpositive control cohort. The lung microbiomes of patients with HIV and PTB were distinct from the HIV-positive control cohort without PTB, with an associated loss of microbial diversity.DATA AVAILABILITY : The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are available in the University of Pretoria data repository and can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.19491317.v1.The Infectious diseases Research Fund.http://www.nature.com/scientificreportsam2023BiochemistryGeneticsInternal MedicineMedical MicrobiologyMicrobiology and Plant Patholog

Klebsiella pneumoniae ST307 with blaOXA-181, South Africa, 2014–2016

Klebsiella pneumoniae sequence type (ST) 307 is an emerging global antimicrobial drug–resistant clone. We used whole-genome sequencing and PCR to characterize K. pneumoniae ST307 with oxacillinase (OXA) 181 carbapenemase across several private hospitals in South Africa during 2014–2016. The South Africa ST307 belonged to a different clade (clade VI) with unique genomic characteristics when compared with global ST307 (clades I–V). Bayesian evolution analysis showed that clade VI emerged around March 2013 in Gauteng Province, South Africa, and then evolved during 2014 into 2 distinct lineages. K. pneumoniae ST307 clade VI with OXA-181 disseminated over a 15-month period within 42 hospitals in 23 cities across 6 northeastern provinces, affecting 350 patients. The rapid expansion of ST307 was most likely due to intrahospital, interhospital, intercity, and interprovince movements of patients. This study highlights the importance of molecular surveillance for tracking emerging antimicrobial clones