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Nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) is a major cause for foodborne diseases worldwide. In Taiwan, the ambient climate and flourishing pig-raising industry makes NTS infections rampant. As in other countries, salmonellosis was [...]

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major human pathogen that causes bacteremia, meningitis, pneumonia, and sepsis (1). Although the use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) has dramatically decreased incidence rates of diseases [...]

Salmonella enterica serotype Choleraesuis usually causes invasive infection (1). When resistant Salmonella infection is encountered, fluoroquinolones or extended-spectrum cephalosporins are frequently used (2). Fluoroquinolone resistance has been common in this [...]

OBJECTIVES. We conducted this study to assess the rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization and its association with infection among infants hospitalized in methicillin-resistant S aureus-endemic NICUs. METHODS. Between March 2003 and February 2004, surveillance culture specimens from the nares, postauricular areas, axillae, and umbilicus of infants admitted to the NICUs at a children's hospital in Taiwan were obtained weekly for the detection of methicillin-resistant S aureus. All colonized and clinical isolates from each study infant with methicillin-resistant S aureus infection were genotyped with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, with Sma1 digestion, and compared. RESULTS. A total of 783 infants were included in this study. Methicillin-resistant S aureus colonization was detected for 323 infants during their NICU stays, with detection with the first 2 samples for 89%. Nares and umbilicus were the 2 most common sites of initial colonization. Methicillin-resistant S aureus colonization was associated significantly with premature birth ([less than or equal to] 28 weeks) and low birth weight ([less than or equal to] 1500 g), and infants with colonization had a significantly higher rate of methicillin-resistant S aureus infection, compared with those without colonization (26% vs 2%). Methicillin-resistant S aureus colonization was noted for 84 of 92 infants with methicillin-resistant S aureus infections. Of the 68 episodes with previous colonization and isolates available for genotyping analysis, colonized and clinical isolates were indistinguishable in 63 episodes, highly related in 2 episodes, and distinct in 3 episodes. CONCLUSIONS. More than 40% of the hospitalized infants were colonized with methicillin-resistant S aureus during their stay in methicillin-resistant S aureus-endemic NICUs; this was associated significantly with methicillin-resistant S aureus infection. Most infants with methicillin-resistant S aureus infections had previous colonization with an indistinguishable strain. Key Words methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, colonization, infection, genotyping analysis, neonatal intensive care unit Abbreviations MRSA--methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus HCW-- health care worker PFGE--pulsed-field gel electrophoresis MLST--multilocus sequence typing OR--odds ratio CI--confidence interval, METHICILLIN-RESISTANT Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is among the most important pathogens of bacteremia in the ICU. Colonized patients are the chief source of S aureus in hospitals. Colonizing strains may serve [...]

Background/purpose: Salmonella Panama was considered an invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella (iNTS) serovar. Comprehensive clinical, microbiological, and genomic studies on S. Panama are scarce. We aimed to characterize the clinical and microbiological characteristics of S. Panama infection. Virulence mechanism of S. Panama and other iNTS serovars were also examined.Methods: Based on data from the longitudinal surveillance system for Salmonella deployed in Taiwan since 2004, a case-control study was undertaken to evaluate clinical characteristics of S. Panama infection during an outbreak in 2015-2016. Cellular experiments were conducted to compare pathogenicity of S. Panama and other iNTS with S. Typhimurium.Results: Most patients (41/44, 93.2%) infected by S. Panama were <5 years old (median, 1.3 years). The case-control study showed that 28 out of the 41 (68.3%) manifested as bacteremia, compared to S. Typhimurium (11.1%). Patients infected by S. Panama had longer durations of fever (P = 0.005) and hospitalization (P < 0.001). Genomic analyses split the isolates into three clades: two clones caused the outbreak, whereas another one accounted for the sporadic infections before 2015. Cellular experiments revealed that S. Panama and other iNTS serovars showed higher monolayer penetration and intracellular survival within macrophages, compared to S. Typhimurium.Conclusion: This study confirmed that S. Panama is a clinically invasive serovar. Different iNTS serovars express common virulence phenotypes, but they may acquire invasiveness through distinct expression or combinations of virulence genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonella bacteria in Taiwan have become resistant to Cipro and this resistance was traced to pigs. In 2001, 60% of the Salmonella infections at one hospital were resistant to Cipro. Antibiotic use in the food animal industry has been linked to increased drug resistance among bacteria.