Search

Objective: To undertake the first detailed genomic analysis of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated in Sri Lanka. Methods: A prospective observational study was performed on 94 MRSA isolates collected over a 4 months period from the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka. Screening for mec A, mec C, and the Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL)-associated lukS-PV/lukF-PV genes and molecular characterization by spa typing was undertaken. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) and phylogenetic analysis was performed on selected multilocus sequence type (MLST) clonal complex 5 (CC5) isolates from Sri Lanka, England, Australia, and Argentina. Results: All 94 MRSA harbored the mecA gene. Nineteen spa types belonging to nine MLST clonal complexes were identified. Where origin of the sample was recorded, most isolates were from skin and soft tissue infections (70/91; 76.9%), with fewer causing bacteremia (16/91; 17.6%), empyema (3/91; 3.3%) and osteomyelitis (2/91; 2.2%). Sixty two (65.9%) isolates were PVL positive with the majority (56 isolates; 90.3%) belonging to a dominant CC5 lineage. This lineage, PVL-positive ST5-MRSA-IVc, was associated with both community and hospital-onset infections. Based on WGS, representative PVL-positive ST5-MRSA-IVc isolates from Sri Lanka, England and Australia formed a single phylogenetic clade, suggesting wide geographical circulation. Conclusions: We present the most detailed genomic analysis of MRSA isolated in Sri Lanka to date. The analysis identified a PVL-positive ST5-MRSA-IVc that is prevalent among MRSA causing clinical infections in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, this clone was also found among isolates from the United Kingdom and Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on research which was conducted to investigate oxygen uptake efficiency slope, aerobic fitness, and v̇/E-v̇CO2 slope in heart failure uptake limitation steps. Researchers evaluated 63 male patients with heart failure. They found that to predict oxygen uptake in patients with chronic heart failure, the index OUESRERI is not better than the ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VAT) but concluded that this does not question the theoretical interest of its calculation because it may provide additional information on the oxygen uptake limitation steps.

An earthquake that occurred with a local magnitude of 4.3 and at a depth of 3 km beneath the coastal town of Folkestone, United Kingdom, generated atmospheric acoustic waves in the 2-5 Hz bandwidth (infrasound). These were recorded at the FLERS microbarometer array in France at a range of 284 km. Earthquake-generated infrasound is often associated with large earthquakes close to large mountain ranges; the shaking of prominent topographic points act as infrasound sources, coupling seismic energy into the atmosphere. In this example there is little prominent topography in the source region apart from the coastal cliffs, which have an average height of 75 m. We explore the possibility that the seismic-to-infrasound coupling occurs at the cliffs by modelling a 23 km length of coast as a series of 305 pistons independently generating acoustic waves. Synthetic seismograms modelling the motion of the cliffs are constrained using recordings from a three-component accelerometer located 4 km from the epicenter. Meteorological data, combined with array processing of the microbarometer records, suggest that the acoustic energy propagated to FLERS within the troposphere. The synthetic microbarograms show close agreement with the observations; the modelled arrival time is 5 sec earlier than that observed, and the peak-to-peak amplitude and signal duration are within a factor of 2 of those recorded. This study shows that moderately sized, shallow seismic disturbances can generate observable infrasound if the topographic conditions close to the epicenter are favorable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Fatal exudative dermatitis (FED) is a recently described condition affecting red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) on the Isle of Wight and Jersey (Simpson et al., 2010a). Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from skin lesions in cases of FED were characterised by molecular and phenotypic approaches. The strains were found to belong to a single MLST clonal complex (CC49) representing either ST49 or a novel single locus variant thereof (ST1957), were closely related by other molecular typing approaches, and all possessed the leukotoxin M encoding gene (lukM). In contrast S. aureus was either not isolated from none-FED cases or belonged to distinct and diverse molecular types that, with one exception, did not encode lukM. All isolates from FED cases were susceptible to all antimicrobials tested, including penicillin, and all proved negative for mecA and mecC as well as 14 other staphylococcal toxin genes. As all squirrels affected by FED were infected with S. aureus of the same lineage and encoded the lukM gene, it is possible that strains of this lineage may be involved in the pathogenesis of the dermatitis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The introduction of the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) in September 2006 has markedly reduced the burden of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) including meningitis in England and Wales. This study examined changes in the molecular epidemiology of pneumococcal isolates causing meningitis from July 2004 to June 2009. The Health Protection Agency conducts enhanced pneumococcal surveillance in England and Wales. In addition to serotyping, pneumococcal isolates causing meningitis were genotyped by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). A total of 1,030 isolates were both serotyped and genotyped over the 5-year period. Fifty-two serotypes, 238 sequence types (STs), and 87 clonal complexes were identified, with no significant difference in the yearly Simpson's diversity index values (range, 0.974 to 0.984). STs commonly associated with PCV7 serotypes declined following PCV implementation, with a proportionally greater decline in ST124 (commonly associated with serotype 14). No other ST showed significant changes in distribution, even within individual serotypes. Replacement disease following PCV7 introduction was mainly due to serotypes 1, 3, 7F, 19A, 22F, and 33F through clonal expansion. A single instance of possible capsule switching was identified where one ST4327 clone expressed a serotype 14 capsule in 2005 and a serotype 28A capsule in 2009. In 2008 to 2009, ST191 (7F) became the most prevalent clone causing meningitis (10.3%). Case fatality (145 fatalities/1,030 cases; 14.1%) was high across all age groups and serotype groups. Thus, the introduction of PCV7 resulted in an increase in non-PCV7 serotypes, including some not covered by the 13-valent vaccine, such as serotypes 22F and 33F, emphasizing the importance of long-term epidemiological and molecular surveillance.