What is bacterial colonisation of cystic fibrosis children toothbrushes?

Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Staphylococcus aureus toothbrushes contamination in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients is unknown. The objective of this pilot study was to determine prevalence of those germs on toothbrushes of CF and healthy children, and define if toothbrushes may be involved in pulmonary infection

Bacterial colonization status of cystic fibrosis children's toothbrushes: a pilot study

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus toothbrush contamination in cystic fibrosis (CF) is unknown. This pilot study aimed to determine their prevalence and the potential involvement of toothbrushes in pulmonary infection. Methods. Toothbrush bacteriological analysis for children aged 8–18 years was conducted on 27 CF patients, 15 healthy siblings, and 15 healthy children from the general population. Results : S. aureus was detected on 22% of the patients’ toothbrushes, and 13% of healthy children's toothbrushes and P. aeruginosa on 15% of patients’ toothbrushes and 0–13% of healthy children's toothbrushes. There was no statistical correlation between pulmonary colonization and toothbrush contamination. P. aeruginosa genotyping showed two identical clones on the patients’ toothbrushes and in their sputum, and between one patient's sputum and his sibling's toothbrush. Conclusion : S. aureus and P. aeruginosa can colonize CF patients’ toothbrushes. The impact on pulmonary colonization remains unknown. Toothbrush decontamination methods need to consider these bacteria in CF patients

E.M. Forster’s Legacy in Contemporary Arts and Culture

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Characterization of carbapenem resistance mechanisms and integrons in Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains from blood samples in a French hospital

International audienceMetallo-beta-lactamases (MBLs), porin OprD, integrons, virulence factors and the clonal relationships were characterized in imipenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (IRPA) isolates. Fifty-six IRPA strains were recovered from blood samples of different patients at a Toulouse teaching hospital from 2011 to 2013. Susceptibility testing of 14 antibiotics was performed by the disc diffusion method. Detection and characterization of MBLs, the oprD gene and integrons were studied by PCR and sequencing. Thirteen genes involved in the virulence of P. aeruginosa were analysed. Molecular typing of IRPA strains was performed by PFGE and multilocus sequence typing. In this study, 61 % of the IRPA isolates showed a multi-resistance phenotype. The MBL phenotype, detected in three isolates (5.4%), was linked to the bla(VIM)-2 gene. The oprD gene was amplified in 55 (98.2 %) IRPA strains, and variations were observed in 54 of them. Insertion sequences (IS) truncating oprD were detected in eight IRPA strains, with the novel ISPa56 identified in two strains. Class 1 integrons were detected in 24 (42.9%) IRPA strains. The bla(VIM-2) gene was found inside the class 1 integron arrangements. The new integrons In1054 (intl1-aacA56-qacE Delta 1-sul1) and In1160 (intl1-aacA4-aacC1d-ISKpn4-gcuE-qacE Delta 1-sul1) have been described for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, in this study. A high clonal diversity was found in our strains. Among the variety of sequence types (STs) found, ST175, ST233, ST235, ST244 and ST654 were noteworthy as epidemic clones. In conclusion, 5.4% of IRPA strains showed an MBL phenotype linked to the bla(VIM-2) gene. The identified oprD high polymorphism could be implicated in the variable resistance to carbapenems in IRPA strains. The dissemination of high-risk clones is a cause of concern

Identification and detection of three new F17 fimbrial variants in Escherichia coli strains isolated from cattle.

International audienceF17 fimbriae are produced by pathogenic Escherichia coli involved in diarrhea and septicemia outbreaks in calves and lambs. These proteins result from the expression of four different clustered genes, namely f17A, f17D, f17C and f17G, encoding a pilin protein, a periplasmic protein, an anchor protein and an adhesin protein, respectively. Several variants of f17A and f17G genes have been reported and found genetically associated with typical virulence factors of bovine pathogenic E. coli strains. In this study, a new F17e-A variant, closely related to F17b-A, was identified from a collection of 58 E. coli isolates from diarrheic calves in Iran. While highly prevalent in Iranian F17-producing clinical isolates from calves, this variant was rare among E. coli from a French healthy adult bovine population, suggesting a possible association with virulence. The f17Ae gene was also found in the genome of the Shiga-like toxin variant Stx1d-producing bovine E. coli strain MHI813, and belonged to a gene cluster also encoding a new F17-G3 variant, which greatly differed from F17-G1 and F17-G2. This gene cluster was located on a pathogenicity island integrated in the tRNA pheV gene. The gene coding for a third new F17f-A variant corresponding to a combination of F17c-A and F17d-A was also identified on the pVir68 plasmid in the bovine pathogenic E. coli strain 6.0900. In conclusion, we identified three new F17-A and F17-G variants in cattle E. coli, which may also have significant impact on the development of new diagnostics and vaccination tools

ISAba1-dependent overexpression of eptA in clinical strains of Acinetobacter baumannii resistant to colistin

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Concomitant cases of disseminated Geotrichum clavatum infections in patients with acute myeloid leukemia

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SL9 Species Imaging in Jupiter's Auroral Regions with ALMA

International audienceComet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) impacted Jupiter in 1994 at mid-southern latitudes. The impacts resulted in the delivery of new species to Jupiter's stratosphere, like CO, HCN, CS, H2O and CO2. These species have been used ever since to assess stratospheric chemistry and the magnitude of meridional transport. In March 2017, and thus more than 20 years after the impacts, we successfully mapped HCN and CO with ALMA. Our observations provide us with a latitudinal resolution of 3\,^{\circ} at the equator and 7\,^{\circ} at 70\,^{\circ}S. While most of the material is confined to the mbar level from the low to the mid latitudes, in agreement with predictions, we find unexpected emissions at high altitudes in the south polar region. These emissions are very well correlated with the position of the auroral oval. At the observation central meridian longitude, the northern auroral oval was not very visible from Earth, regardless of any SL9-related hemispheric differences in HCN and CO abundances. We will present our observations and discuss the implications on stratospheric chemistry, temperature and advective transport