Streptococcus agalactiae clones infecting humans were selected and fixed through the extensive use of tetracycline

Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus, GBS) is a commensal of the digestive and genitourinary tracts of humans that emerged as the leading cause of bacterial neonatal infections in Europe and North America during the 1960s. Due to the lack of epidemiological and genomic data, the reasons for this emergence are unknown. Here we show by comparative genome analysis and phylogenetic reconstruction of 229 isolates that the rise of human GBS infections corresponds to the selection and worldwide dissemination of only a few clones. The parallel expansion of the clones is preceded by the insertion of integrative and conjugative elements conferring tetracycline resistance (TcR). Thus, we propose that the use of tetracycline from 1948 onwards led in humans to the complete replacement of a diverse GBS population by only few TcR clones particularly well adapted to their host, causing the observed emergence of GBS diseases in neonates. \ua9 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved

Types of vaccines, advantages and disadvantages

Видове ваксини, предимства и недостатъци. Интервю с акад. д-р Богдан Петрунов Types of vaccines, advantages and disadvantages. Interview with Acad. Dr. Bogdan Petruno

Sensitization to fungal allergens in patients with respiratory allergy – accuracy in diagnostic process

Introduction. In Bulgaria, mold allergies are common, and sensitization to different fungal species is found in many patients with atopy.The objective of this study is to explore sensitization to the most widespread mold species in Bulgaria, and to determine the extent of sensitization to Alt a1, a major allergen of Alternaria alternata, by using component-resolved diagnosis.Materials and Methods. 21 patients (14 males and 7 females, age range 5-40 years), with respiratory allergy participated in the study. All patients are sensitized to mix of fungal allergens containing: Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus sp., Cladosporium herbarum, Penicillium notatum, proved by in vivo and in vitro methods. All patients underwent the ImmunoCAP test and were assessed for sIgE to individual fungal allergens: m1 Penicillium notatum, m2 Cladosporium herbarum, m3 Aspergillus fumigatus and m6 Alternaria alternata. The component-resolved diagnosis to Alt a1 was performed for 10 patients with increased sIgE to m6 Alternaria alternata.Results. All studied patients (100%) had elevated sIgE to Alternaria alternata. Eight (38%) patients were sensitized to Penicillium notatum. 11 (52%) and 10 (48%) patients were sensitized to Cladosporium herbarum and to Aspergillus fumigatus, respectively. Ten patients (48%) were monosensitized to Alternaria alternata. Nine (90%) patients with sensitization to Alternaria alternata demonstrated elevated levels of IgE to Alt a1.Conclusion. Alternaria alternata most often causes sensitization in patients with respiratory allergy. The component-resolved diagnosis using Alt a1 is a precision marker to prove species-specific sensitization to Alternaria alternata

THE FIRST BULGARIAN STANDARDIZED SERIES FOR EPICUTANEOUS PATCH TESTING FOR ALLERGIES TO DENTAL MATERIALS AND ALLOYS

The teeth and teeth rows restoration in the maxillofacial area is the last stage of the ongoing patient treatment and a basic purpose for the dental doctors. For this purpose a different set of modern and classic contemporary dental materials is used. The choice of each material during the treatment of every patient with proven allergy to different kind of allergens is very specific and strictly individual. In the everyday oral diagnostics a standardized set of allergens for diagnostics is used for proving the allergy to dental materials. The set has been developed on the base of all existing and permitted by the Bulgarian authorities dental materials, as well as professional series.The difference between the developed and standardized allergens for diagnostics used in our country and the existing ready-for-use series is that the first are made of the final product (material) in the form introduced to the oral cavity and persisting there for a different period of time, sometimes for tenths of years. This enables the possibility for early or late contact allergic reactions with symptoms in the oral cavity and on the skin, maxillofacial area, head and neck, as well as the entire organism.The current article introduces the readers to the results obtained by the realization of the research project №28/2011 “Research on the type of sensibilisation to contemporary dental materials and development of set of allergens for its diagnosing through epicutaneous patch testing” funded by the Committee of Medical science of MU Sofia (CMC). Through the project became possible the creation and the initial research of the first Bulgarian series for epicutaneous testing whose aim is to prove the allergenic potential of the most frequently used by the dental doctors dental materials

ORAL ALLERGY SYNDROME AND DENTAL ALLERGOLOGY.

The reactivity to food proteins is specific, but in certain patients cross reactions are observed between food proteins of plant or animal origin and non-food ones. The most common clinical manifestation of this cross reactivity is oral allergy syndrome (OAS). It develops mainly in patients with pollen allergy after fresh fruit and vegetables consumption. The symptoms are oro-pharyngeal pruritus, papules and vesicles which resemble mouth ulcers on the labial mucosa and labial, palatal and lingual swelling. There may also be a sensation of pharyngeal swelling. The symptoms appear very quickly and may be followed by urticaria or contiguous facial erythema. The progress of this syndrome is due to homology of structural proteins in foods of plant origin and in pollens