Short-read, high-throughput sequencing technology cannot identify the chromosomal position of repetitive insertion sequences that typically flank horizontally acquired genes such as bacterial ...virulence genes and antibiotic resistance genes. The MinION nanopore sequencer can produce long sequencing reads on a device similar in size to a USB memory stick. Here we apply a MinION sequencer to resolve the structure and chromosomal insertion site of a composite antibiotic resistance island in Salmonella Typhi Haplotype 58. Nanopore sequencing data from a single 18-h run was used to create a scaffold for an assembly generated from short-read Illumina data. Our results demonstrate the potential of the MinION device in clinical laboratories to fully characterize the epidemic spread of bacterial pathogens.
As whole-genome sequencing capacity becomes increasingly decentralized, there is a growing opportunity for collaboration and the sharing of surveillance data within and between countries to inform ...typhoid control policies. This vision requires free, community-driven tools that facilitate access to genomic data for public health on a global scale. Here we present the Pathogenwatch scheme for Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi), a web application enabling the rapid identification of genomic markers of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and contextualization with public genomic data. We show that the clustering of S. Typhi genomes in Pathogenwatch is comparable to established bioinformatics methods, and that genomic predictions of AMR are highly concordant with phenotypic susceptibility data. We demonstrate the public health utility of Pathogenwatch with examples selected from >4,300 public genomes available in the application. Pathogenwatch provides an intuitive entry point to monitor of the emergence and spread of S. Typhi high risk clones.
Foodborne outbreaks of Salmonella remain a pressing public health concern. We recently detected a large outbreak of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis phage type 14b affecting more than 30 ...patients in our hospital. This outbreak was linked to community, national and European-wide cases. Hospital patients with Salmonella are at high risk, and require a rapid response. We initially investigated this outbreak by whole-genome sequencing using a novel rapid protocol on the Illumina MiSeq; we then integrated these data with whole-genome data from surveillance sequencing, thereby placing the outbreak in a national context. Additionally, we investigated the potential of a newly released sequencing technology, the MinION from Oxford Nanopore Technologies, in the management of a hospital outbreak of Salmonella.
We demonstrate that rapid MiSeq sequencing can reduce the time to answer compared to the standard sequencing protocol with no impact on the results. We show, for the first time, that the MinION can acquire clinically relevant information in real time and within minutes of a DNA library being loaded. MinION sequencing permits confident assignment to species level within 20 min. Using a novel streaming phylogenetic placement method samples can be assigned to a serotype in 40 min and determined to be part of the outbreak in less than 2 h.
Both approaches yielded reliable and actionable clinical information on the Salmonella outbreak in less than half a day. The rapid availability of such information may facilitate more informed epidemiological investigations and influence infection control practices.
Statins may improve outcomes in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the impact of statins in the setting of CLD.
We searched ...several databases from inception to 17 October 2016 to identify comparative studies evaluating the role of statins in CLD. Outcomes of interest were the associations between statin use and progression of fibrosis, development of hepatic decompensation in cirrhosis, and mortality in CLD. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) were pooled and analyzed using a random effects model. Subgroup analyses were performed based on the method of detection for progression of hepatic fibrosis and quality of studies.
We included 10 studies (1 randomized controlled trial and 9 observational) with 259,453 patients (54,441 statin users and 205,012 nonusers). For progression of hepatic fibrosis, pooled HR (95% confidence interval) was 0.49 (0.39-0.62). On subgroup analysis of studies using ICD-9 (The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision) coding and a second method to detect cirrhosis, pooled HR was 0.58 (0.51-0.65); pooled HR for studies using ICD-9 coding only was 0.36 (0.29-0.44). For progression of fibrosis in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, pooled HR was 0.52 (0.37-0.73). For hepatic decompensation in cirrhosis, pooled HR was 0.54 (0.46-0.65). For mortality, pooled HR based on observational studies was 0.67 (0.46-0.98); in the randomized controlled trial, HR was 0.39 (0.15-0.99). However, the quality of evidence for these associations is low as most included studies were retrospective in nature and limited by residual confounding.
Statins may retard the progression of hepatic fibrosis, may prevent hepatic decompensation in cirrhosis, and may reduce all-cause mortality in patients with CLD. As the quality (certainty) of evidence is low, further studies are needed before statins can be routinely recommended.
Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica is traditionally subdivided into serovars by serological and nutritional characteristics. We used Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) to assign 4,257 isolates ...from 554 serovars to 1092 sequence types (STs). The majority of the isolates and many STs were grouped into 138 genetically closely related clusters called eBurstGroups (eBGs). Many eBGs correspond to a serovar, for example most Typhimurium are in eBG1 and most Enteritidis are in eBG4, but many eBGs contained more than one serovar. Furthermore, most serovars were polyphyletic and are distributed across multiple unrelated eBGs. Thus, serovar designations confounded genetically unrelated isolates and failed to recognize natural evolutionary groupings. An inability of serotyping to correctly group isolates was most apparent for Paratyphi B and its variant Java. Most Paratyphi B were included within a sub-cluster of STs belonging to eBG5, which also encompasses a separate sub-cluster of Java STs. However, diphasic Java variants were also found in two other eBGs and monophasic Java variants were in four other eBGs or STs, one of which is in subspecies salamae and a second of which includes isolates assigned to Enteritidis, Dublin and monophasic Paratyphi B. Similarly, Choleraesuis was found in eBG6 and is closely related to Paratyphi C, which is in eBG20. However, Choleraesuis var. Decatur consists of isolates from seven other, unrelated eBGs or STs. The serological assignment of these Decatur isolates to Choleraesuis likely reflects lateral gene transfer of flagellar genes between unrelated bacteria plus purifying selection. By confounding multiple evolutionary groups, serotyping can be misleading about the disease potential of S. enterica. Unlike serotyping, MLST recognizes evolutionary groupings and we recommend that Salmonella classification by serotyping should be replaced by MLST or its equivalents.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in non-typhoidal
(NTS), is essential for monitoring transmission of resistance from the food chain to humans, and for establishing effective treatment ...protocols. We evaluated the prediction of phenotypic resistance in NTS from genotypic profiles derived from whole genome sequencing (WGS). Genes and chromosomal mutations responsible for phenotypic resistance were sought in WGS data from 3,491 NTS isolates received by Public Health England's Gastrointestinal Bacteria Reference Unit between April 2014 and March 2015. Inferred genotypic AMR profiles were compared with phenotypic susceptibilities determined for fifteen antimicrobials using EUCAST guidelines. Discrepancies between phenotypic and genotypic profiles for one or more antimicrobials were detected for 76 isolates (2.18%) although only 88/52,365 (0.17%) isolate/antimicrobial combinations were discordant. Of the discrepant results, the largest number were associated with streptomycin (67.05%,
= 59). Pan-susceptibility was observed in 2,190 isolates (62.73%). Overall, resistance to tetracyclines was most common (26.27% of isolates,
= 917) followed by sulphonamides (23.72%,
= 828) and ampicillin (21.43%,
= 748). Multidrug resistance (MDR), i.e., resistance to three or more antimicrobial classes, was detected in 848 isolates (24.29%) with resistance to ampicillin, streptomycin, sulphonamides and tetracyclines being the most common MDR profile (
= 231; 27.24%). For isolates with this profile, all but one were
. Typhimurium and 94.81% (
= 219) had the resistance determinants
and
(A). Extended-spectrum β-lactamase genes were identified in 41 isolates (1.17%) and multiple mutations in chromosomal genes associated with ciprofloxacin resistance in 82 isolates (2.35%). This study showed that WGS is suitable as a rapid means of determining AMR patterns of NTS for public health surveillance.