Clinical Science and Epidemiology
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyEvolution of Outbreak-Causing Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae ST258 at a Tertiary Care Hospital over 8 YearsThe carbapenem class of antibiotics is invaluable for the treatment of selected multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens. The continued transmission of carbapenem-resistant bacteria such as ST258 K. pneumoniae is of serious global public health concern, as treatment options for these infections are limited. This genomic epidemiologic investigation traced the...
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyComparative Genomics of Antibiotic-Resistant Uropathogens Implicates Three Routes for Recurrence of Urinary Tract InfectionsThe increasing antimicrobial resistance of uropathogens is challenging the continued efficacy of empiric antibiotic therapy for UTIs, which are among the most frequent bacterial infections worldwide. It has been suggested that drug-resistant uropathogens could persist in the intestine after the resolution of UTI and cause recurrences following periurethral contamination. A better understanding of the transmission dynamics between the...
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyMyeloid and CD4 T Cells Comprise the Latent Reservoir in Antiretroviral Therapy-Suppressed SIVmac251-Infected MacaquesThis study provides further evidence that the latent reservoir is comprised of both CD4+ T cells and myeloid cells. The data presented here suggest that CD4+ T cells and macrophages found throughout tissues in the body can contain replication-competent SIV and contribute to rebound of the virus after treatment interruption. Additionally, we have shown that monocytes in blood contain latent virus and, though not...
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyAntibodies to Enteroviruses in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Patients with Acute Flaccid MyelitisThe presence in cerebrospinal fluid of antibodies to EV peptides at higher levels than non-AFM controls supports the plausibility of a link between EV infection and AFM that warrants further investigation and has the potential to lead to strategies for diagnosis and prevention of disease.
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyMice Fed an Obesogenic Western Diet, Administered Antibiotics, and Subjected to a Sterile Surgical Procedure Develop Lethal Septicemia with Multidrug-Resistant PathobiontsObesity remains a prevalent and independent risk factor for life-threatening infection following major surgery. Here, we demonstrate that when mice are fed an obesogenic Western diet (WD), they become susceptible to lethal sepsis with multiple organ damage after exposure to antibiotics and an otherwise-recoverable surgical injury. Analysis of the gut microbiota in this model demonstrates that WD alone leads to loss of Bacteroidetes...
Opinion/Hypothesis | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyChronic Wasting Disease in Cervids: Implications for Prion Transmission to Humans and Other Animal SpeciesChronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion-related transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids, including deer, elk, reindeer, sika deer, and moose. CWD has been confirmed in at least 26 U.S. states, three Canadian provinces, South Korea, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, with a notable increase in the past 5 years. The continued geographic spread of this disease increases the frequency of exposure to CWD prions among cervids, humans,...
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyOptical DNA Mapping Combined with Cas9-Targeted Resistance Gene Identification for Rapid Tracking of Resistance Plasmids in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit OutbreakThis study presents how a novel method, based on visualizing single plasmids using sequence-specific fluorescent labeling, could be used to analyze the genetic dynamics of an outbreak of resistant bacteria in a neonatal intensive care unit at a Swedish hospital. Plasmids are a central reason for the rapid global spread of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. In a single experimental procedure, this method replaces many traditional...
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyPopulation Structure, Molecular Epidemiology, and β-Lactamase Diversity among Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Isolates in the United StatesMultiple antibiotic resistance mechanisms, including two β-lactamases, L1, a metallo-β-lactamase, and L2, a class A cephalosporinase, make S. maltophilia naturally multidrug resistant. Thus, infections caused by S. maltophilia pose a big therapeutic challenge. Our study aims to understand the...
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyGenomic Characterization of the Emerging Pathogen Streptococcus pseudopneumoniaeS. pseudopneumoniae is an overlooked pathogen emerging as the causative agent of lower-respiratory-tract infections and associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and exacerbation of COPD. However, much remains unknown on its clinical importance and epidemiology, mainly due to the lack of specific markers to distinguish it from S. pneumoniae...
Editor's Pick Observation | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyIdentification of Novel Mobilized Colistin Resistance Gene mcr-9 in a Multidrug-Resistant, Colistin-Susceptible Salmonella enterica Serotype Typhimurium IsolateColistin is a last-resort antibiotic that is used to treat severe infections caused by MDR and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) bacteria. The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated colistin as a “highest priority critically important antimicrobial for human medicine” (WHO, Critically Important Antimicrobials for Human Medicine, 5th revision, 2017,...