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Streptococcus suis is a facultative anaerobic cossus. It is a zoonotic pathogen causing disease in both pigs and humans. There is a high degree of carriage in the upper respiratory tract of healthy pigs, mainly in the tonsils and nasopharynx, and in the uterus, with some carriage in the gut. It has also been associated with the most severe forms of disease in both pigs and humans and has emerged in the last few years as an important cause of meningitis, rarely of infective endocarditis and septicaemia in Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam and occasionally in Europe.

Background Despite increasing recognition of aspergillosis complicating severe influenza and its associated high fatality in Europe, incidence and features of the disease in the United States are unknown. Methods We reviewed all influenza cases requiring ICU admission from 2009 to 2019 at our center. Results 262 patients with influenza required ICU admission. 4% (10) developed IFI at median 2d after influenza diagnosis. 80% (8/10) of patients with IFI were infected with influenza A vs. 88% (221/252) without IFI. 20% were on steroids at the time of IFI diagnosis. 70% of IFI required mechanical ventilation. Types of IFI were pneumonia (70%, 6 Aspergillus and 1 Wangiella), endobronchial IFI (20%, 1 each with Aspergillus and Lictheimia), and Coccidioides fungemia (10%). 4% (10) of patients were fungal colonized, but did not have IFI (5 A. fumigatus , 1 A. terreus , 4 Penicillium). CT findings of IFI included nodules (4), cavitation (3), and ground-glass opacities (2). Serum galactomannan (GM) was positive in 3 (43%). Median time to antifungal therapy (AF) was 2 days. Triazoles were prescribed to all 7 patients with aspergillosis. Posaconazole and amphotericin B were AF for patients with Wangiellaand Lichteimia, respectively. Patients with C. immitis fungemia died before AF. Median duration of AF was 60 days among survivors. Patients with IFI required acute hemodialysis more frequently than colonized patients (60% vs. 0%, P = 0.01). 30-day mortality was 60% (6/10) and 20% 92/10) in patients with IFI and colonization, respectively (P = 0.2). Patients with IFI had significantly higher in-hospital and 60-day mortality than those without IFI (Fig 1, P = 0.009). Conclusion Our rate of post-influenza IFI (4%) was lower than reported in Europe (~15%), which might stem from a lack of systematic BAL GM testing at our center, over-reliance on GM to make diagnoses in Europe, and/or differences in pt populations and clinical practices in treating severe influenza. IFI and fungal colonization rates were similar at our center, highlighting the importance of using well-defined criteria to define disease. Given the high mortality of post-influenza IFI, priority should be given to defining risk factors that might identify patients for targeted AF prophylaxis. In using AF, it is important to recognize that Aspergillus is not the only cause of IFI. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric deposition is the most dominant source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in remote and pristine areas. Despite low bioaccumulation potential, PAHs and their persistent transformation products (PAH-derivatives) are chemicals of concern as they can harm human and animal health through chronic low dose exposure. In this study, atmospheric deposition fluxes of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) were measured on a seasonal basis (3-month periods) from 2012 to 2016 in a remote subarctic forest catchment in northern Europe. The target PACs included 19 PAHs and 15 PAH-derivatives (oxygenated, nitrogenated, and methylated PAHs). The deposition fluxes of ƩPAHs and ƩPAH-derivatives were in the same range and averaged 530 and 500 ng m 2 day -1 , respectively. The fluxes were found to be higher with a factor of 2.5 for ƩPAHs and a factor of 3 for ƩPAH-derivatives during cold (<0 °C) in comparison to warm (>10 °C) periods. PAHs and PAH-derivatives showed similar seasonal patterns, which suggests that these two compound classes have similar sources and deposition mechanisms, and that the source strength of the PAH-derivatives in air follows that of the PAHs. The terrestrial export of PACs via the outlet of the catchment stream was estimated to be 1.1% for ƩPAHs and 1.7% for ƩPAH-derivatives in relation to the annual amounts deposited to the catchment, which suggests that boreal forests are sinks for PACs derived from the atmosphere. Some individual PACs showed higher export than others (i.e. chrysene, cyclopenta(c,d)pyrene, carbazole, quinoline, and benzo(f)quinoline), with high export PACs mostly characterized by low molecular weight and low hydrophobicity (2-3 benzene rings; log K ow <6.0)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs), including 19 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and 15 PAH-derivatives (oxygenated and nitrogen heterocyclic PAHs), were measured in streams in a remote headwater catchment in northern Europe and in more urbanized, downstream areas. Sampling was conducted during 2014 to 2016 and included the main hydrological seasons (snow-free, snow-covered, and spring flood) at six sampling sites. Levels of the targeted PACs varied substantially over time and space and were up to 110-fold (on average 17-fold) and 7000-fold (on average 670-fold) higher for PAHs and PAH-derivatives, respectively, during spring flood compared with preceding snow-covered and snow-free seasons. Higher levels of ∑PACs were generally found in a headwater stream draining a mire than at an adjacent forested site, with up to 20 times and 150 times higher levels for ∑PAH and ∑PAH-derivatives, respectively. The particle-bound PAC levels were positively correlated to surface runoff in the mire stream (∑PAHs: p = 0.032; ∑PAH-derivatives: p = 0.040) but not in the corresponding forest stream, during snowmelt and winter base flow. In more urbanized downstream areas, particle-bound PACs were instead strongly associated with suspended particulate matter ( p < 0.05; ∑PAHs and ∑PAH-derivatives except one site). Levels of ∑PACs in the streamwater were on average 3-fold higher downstream of the most densely populated area than at the outlet of the headwater catchment. The higher PAC levels in the downstream water compared to the remote headwater were clearer when normalized to SPM amounts (instead of water volume), with a gradual downstream trend between the sites.