中美艰难梭菌A-B+株毒力编码区域转录及B毒素表达的研究

目的研究中国艰难梭菌A-B+型分离株BJ08和美国艰难梭菌A-B+型暴发流行株US1的毒力编码区域PaLoc各基因转录及B毒素的表达,为预防和控制中国可能暴发的艰难梭菌感染提供理论支持。方法每隔3 h提取BJ08与US1艰难梭菌和培养上清,用荧光定量聚合酶链反应（PCR）法测定各时间段两菌株毒力编码区域PaLoc各基因（tcdA、tcdB、tcdC、tcdR、tcdE）的表达;用酶联免疫吸附试验（ELISA）法检测BJ08和US1各时间段的细胞和培养液上清中B毒素的含量。结果US1的生长速率稍快于BJ08,衰退速率显著快于BJ08（P＜0.05）;它们都不表达A毒素,但是都检测到tcdA基因的转录,而且tcdA转录没有明显差异。BJ08的tcdB、tcdC和tcdE基因的转录要比US1早3 h。B毒素在两种菌株的胞内和胞外合成或分泌没有明显差异。结论中国艰难梭菌A-B+型高分离株BJ08与美国艰难梭菌A-B+型暴发流行株US1相比,有相似的毒力表达或更强的基因调控能力,要警惕中国艰难梭菌BJ08暴发流行的可能。     

A novel fusion protein containing the receptor binding domains of C. difficile toxin A and toxin B elicits protective immunity against lethal toxin and spore challenge in preclinical efficacy models

Antibodies targeting the Clostridium difficile toxin A and toxin B confer protective immunity to C. difficile associated disease in animal models and provided protection against recurrent C. difficile disease in human subjects. These antibodies are directed against the receptor binding domains (RBD) located in the carboxy-terminal portion of both toxins and inhibit binding of the toxins to their receptors. We have constructed a recombinant fusion protein containing portions of the RBD from both toxin A and toxin B and expressed it in Escherichia coli. The fusion protein induced high levels of serum antibodies to both toxins A and B capable of neutralizing toxin activity both in vitro and in vivo. In a hamster C. difficile infection model, immunization with the fusion protein reduced disease severity and conferred significant protection against a lethal dose of C. difficile spores. Our studies demonstrate the potential of the fusion protein as a vaccine that could provide protection from C. difficile disease in humans.     

Emergence and control of fluoroquinolone-resistant, toxin A-negative, toxin B-positive Clostridium difficile.

BACKGROUND: Clostridium difficile is a major cause of infectious diarrhea in hospitalized patients. Between August 2003 and January 2004, we experienced an increase in the incidence of C. difficile-associated disease. We describe the investigation into and management of the outbreak in this article. METHODS: A total of 73 consecutive patients with nosocomial C. difficile-associated diarrhea were identified. C. difficile isolates were characterized using toxin-specific enzyme immunoassays, a tissue-culture fibroblast cytotoxicity assay, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and antimicrobial susceptibility tests. Rates of recurrence and of C. difficile colitis were recorded. Changes in antibiotic use and infection control policies were documented. RESULTS: The incidence of C. difficile-associated diarrhea peaked at 21 cases per 1,000 patient admissions. Of the C. difficile isolates recovered, 85 (95%) were identical toxin A-negative and toxin B-positive strains, corresponding to toxinotype VIII and PCR ribotype 017. All clonal isolates were resistant to multiple antibiotics, including ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, and gatifloxacin (minimum inhibitory concentrations [MICs] of greater than 32 micro g/mL) and erythromycin, clarithromycin, and clindamycin (MICs of greater than 256 micro g/mL). Recurrent C. difficile-associated disease occurred in 26 (36%) of the patients. At least 10 (14%) of the patients developed C. difficile colitis. Additional infection control measures introduced included the use of ward memos, a hand-hygiene awareness campaign, increased environmental cleaning, attention to prescribing practices for antibiotics, increased awareness of diarrheal illness, and early isolation of affected patients. Total use of fluoroquinolones did not change throughout the study period. Despite persistence of this toxin-variant strain, the incidence of C. difficile-associated disease in our institution decreased to fewer than 5 cases per 1,000 admissions. CONCLUSIONS: We report on the emergence of a fluoroquinolone- and clindamycin-resistant, toxin A-negative, and toxin B-positive strain of C. difficile associated with an outbreak of C. difficile-associated disease in our institution during a 6-month period. We found that careful attention to improvement of infection control interventions was the most important means of controlling this nosocomial pathogen.     

Clostridium difficile: an update on its epidemiology and role in hospital outbreaks in England and Wales

Data from the surveillance system of general outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease and from laboratory reports collated by the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (CDSC) and requests for outbreak investigation by the PHLS Anaerobe Reference Unit were used to evaluate the current epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection in England and Wales. Between January 1992 and December 1996, CDSC received 10,220 laboratory reports of C difficile isolation from patient's faeces and 26,873 of toxin in faeces. Over 75% of all reports were of people aged 64 years and over. The surveillance system captured a minimum data set on 694 hospital outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease. C. difficile was responsible for 109 (15%) outbreaks affecting 1625 people, of whom 1152 were found to have a C. difficile toxin producing strain. The median duration of outbreaks was 11 days. Fingerprinting by Pyrolysis Mass Spectrometry (PMS) was performed by the PHLS Anaerobe Reference Unit in 60 outbreaks, and typing by Polymerase Chain Reaction ribotyping (PCR) in 14.     

Binary toxin and death after Clostridium difficile infection

We compared 30-day case-fatality rates for patients infected with Clostridium difficile possessing genes for toxins A and B without binary toxin (n = 212) with rates for patients infected with C. difficile possessing genes for A, B, and binary toxin. The latter group comprised patients infected with strains of PCR ribotype 027 (CD027, n = 193) or non-027 (CD non-027, n = 72). Patients with binary toxin had higher case-fatality rates than patients without binary toxin, in univariate analysis (relative risk [RR] 1.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-2.7) and multivariate analysis after adjustment for age, sex, and geographic region (RR 1.6, 95% CI 1.0-2.4). Similar case-fatality rates (27.8%, 28.0%) were observed for patients infected with CD027 or CD non-027. Binary toxin either is a marker for more virulent C. difficile strains or contributes directly to strain virulence. Efforts to control C. difficile infection should target all virulent strains irrespective of PCR ribotype.     

Identification of outbreak-associated and other strains of Clostridium difficile by numerical analysis of SDS-PAGE protein patterns.

Seventy-three cultures of Clostridium difficile isolated both during, and in the period immediately following, an outbreak of infection in a group of three hospitals, were characterized by one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of whole-cell proteins. Each protein pattern was characterized by the presence of one or two dense bands which were highly reproducible. The protein patterns were used as the basis for a numerical analysis which divided the strains into five phenons (electrophoretic or EP types). The majority, 60 of the 73 cultures, belonged to a single phenon which included strains from both patients and the environment. We conclude that high-resolution SDS-PAGE of proteins provides an effective method for typing C. difficile and therefore for tracing the possible spread of epidemic strains in hospitals and other institutions, thereby allowing a better understanding of the epidemiology of the organism.     

A two-stage algorithm for Clostridium difficile including PCR: can we replace the toxin EIA?

A two step, three-test algorithm for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) was reviewed. Stool samples were tested by enzyme immunoassays for C.?difficile common antigen glutamate dehydrogenase (G) and toxin A/B (T). Samples with discordant results were tested by polymerase chain reaction detecting the toxin B gene (P). The algorithm quickly identified patients with detectable toxin A/B, whereas a large group of patients excreting toxigenic C.?difficile but with toxin A/B production below detection level (G(+)T(-)P(+)) was identified separately. The average white blood cell count in patients with a G(+)T(+) result was higher than in those with a G(+)T(-)P(+) result.     

Molecular epidemiology of endemic Clostridium difficile infection

This is the first study to provide a comprehensive insight into the molecular epidemiology of endemic Clostridium difficile and particularly that associated with a recently recognized epidemic strain. We DNA fingerprinted all C. difficile isolates from the stools of patients with symptomatic antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and from repeated samples of the inanimate ward environment on two elderly medicine hospital wards over a 22-month period. Notably, C. difficile was not recoverable from either ward immediately before opening, but was found on both wards within 1-3 weeks of opening, and the level of environmental contamination rose markedly during the first 6 months of the study period. C. difficile infection (CDI) incidence data correlated significantly with the prevalence of environmental C. difficile on ward B (r = 0.76, P < 0.05) but not on ward A (r = 0.26, P > 0.05). We found that RAPD and RS-PCR typing had similar discriminatory power, although, despite fingerprinting over 200 C. difficile isolates, we identified only six distinct types. Only two distinct C. difficile strains were identified as causing both patient infection and ward contamination. Attempts to determine whether infected patients or contaminated environments are the prime source for cross-infection by C. difficile had limited success, as over 90% of C. difficile isolates were the UK epidemic clone. However, a non-epidemic strain caused a cluster of six cases of CDI, but was only isolated from the environment after the sixth patient became symptomatic. The initial absence of this strain from the environment implies patient-to-patient and/or staff-to-patient spread. In general, routine cleaning with detergent was unsuccessful at removing C. difficile from the environment. Understanding the epidemiology and virulence of prevalent strains is important if CDI is to be successfully controlled.     

ICU铜绿假单胞菌感染暴发的随机扩增多态性DNA分子分型 FREE

目的对铜绿假单胞菌（PA）进行随机扩增多态性ＤＮＡ(RAPD)分子分型,探讨重症监护室(ICU)中PＡ医院感染的流行规律。方法采用RAPD技术对13株分离自某院ICU临床诊断为医院感染肺炎患者下呼吸道标本的PＡ进行分型，并与抗菌药物耐药谱分型比较。结果13株PＡ产生A型（12株，92.31%）和B型（1株，7.69%）2种耐药表型，优势耐药表型为A型；RAPD分型可分2型，分别为Ⅰ型(6株，46.15%)和Ⅱ型(7株，53.85%)。7株分子Ⅱ型和5株分子Ⅰ型的耐药A型PA是优势菌株，可判断为引起ICU中PA医院感染暴发的病原菌。结论ICU存在PA暴发流行，流行株为耐药A型/分子Ⅱ型、耐药A型/分子Ⅰ型。PA产生多重耐药性，RAPD分型是目前比较理想的分子流行病学溯源手段。     

中国部分地区艰难梭菌PCR 核糖体分型及毒素基因多态性研究

目的了解中国部分地区艰难梭菌聚合酶链反应（PCR） 核糖体型别分布及其A、B毒素基因多态性,为建立适宜中国的艰难梭菌分子检测和分子分型技术提供基础数据,同时在基因水平上为艰难梭菌感染导致的复杂临床表现提供依据。方法对中国3个城市（北京、广州、济南）分离的64株艰难梭菌临床株进行PCR 核糖体分型,并对不同型别的26株代表菌株的A、B毒素基因进行扩增测序。结果64株艰难梭菌中,毒素基因型以A+B+型（45株,70.31%）为主,A-B+型19株（29.69%）。共存在9种PCR 核糖体型别,以017型（21株,32.81%）为主要型别,其次为001型（13株,20.31%）、012型（11株,17.19%）。A-B+菌株中,14株(73.68%)是017型,1株是001型。A、B毒素基因呈现一定的多态性,其中有7种A毒素序列型别（TSTA）,6种B毒素序列型别(TSTB),8种A、B毒素序列型别组合（TSTG）。结论我国部分地区的艰难梭菌可能以PCR 核糖体017型为主,A、B毒素基因在菌株间存在多态性,且核糖体型别与毒素基因多态性间存在相对应的关联。应进一步扩大菌株数量和范围,探寻适合我国的分子检测和分子分型方法,从而帮助医院更好地预防和控制艰难梭菌感染。     

Gastrointestinal colonization and septicaemia with Pseudomonas aeruginosa due to contaminated thymol mouthwash in immunocompromised patients

An outbreak of septicaemia with Pseudomonas aeruginosa amongst adult men with haematological malignancy involved eight patients on the same ward during a period of 5 weeks. The strains isolated from blood cultures from seven patients were indistinguishable by conventional typing methods. Thymol mouthwash which had been made up and distributed in communal jugs was found to be contaminated with the epidemic strain and was the likely source for this outbreak. A high rate of gastrointestinal colonization with the epidemic strain was found in the patients receiving the contaminated mouthwash. Only those patients with prolonged severe leucopenia developed septicaemia. Communal medications are an unnecessary hazard, particularly in oncology wards.     

Moxifloxacin therapy as a risk factor for Clostridium difficile-associated disease during an outbreak: attempts to control a new epidemic strain.

An outbreak of Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD) caused by the epidemic North American pulsed-field gel electrophoresis type 1 (NAP1) strain began after a formulary change from levofloxacin to moxifloxacin. Cases of CDAD were associated with moxifloxacin use, but a formulary change back to levofloxacin failed to reduce rates of disease. Substituting use of one fluoroquinolone with use of another without also controlling the overall use of drugs from this class is unlikely to control outbreaks caused by the NAP1 strain of C. difficile.     

Rapid genotyping of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 strains by a novel DNA microarray-based assay during the outbreak investigation in Warstein,Germany 2013

Between 1 August and 6 September 2013, an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease (LD) with 78 cases confirmed by positive urinary antigen tests occurred in Warstein, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Legionella (L.) pneumophila, serogroup (Sg) 1, monoclonal antibody (mAb) subgroup Knoxville, sequence type (ST) 345, was identified as the epidemic strain. This strain was isolated from seven patients. To detect the source of the infection, epidemiological typing of clinical and environmental strains was performed in two consecutive steps. First, strains were typed by monoclonal antibodies. Indistinguishable strains were further subtyped by sequence-based typing (SBT) which is the internationally recognized standard method for epidemiological genotyping of L. pneumophila. In an early stage of the outbreak investigation, many environmental isolates were found to belong to the mAb subgroup Knoxville, but to two different STs, namely to ST 345, the epidemic strain, and to ST 600. A majority of environmental isolates belonged to ST 600 whereas the epidemic ST 345 strain was less common in environmental samples. To rapidly distinguish both Knoxville strains, we applied a novel typing method based on DNA-hybridization on glass chips. The new assay can easily and rapidly discriminate L. pneumophila Sg 1 strains. Thus, we were able to quickly identify the sources harboring the epidemic strain, i.e., two cooling towers of different companies, the waste water treatment plants (WWTP) of the city and one company as well as water samples of the river Wester and its branches.     

住院腹泻患者艰难梭菌检测与分析

目的通过对住院腹泻患者粪便标本中的艰难梭菌进行筛查和不同时期检出率的比较,了解某院腹泻患者艰难梭菌的感染情况。方法收集该院2009年2—12月和2011年4—7月住院腹泻患者粪便标本106份,进行厌氧培养和API鉴定,对培养鉴定获得的菌株应用聚合酶链反应（PCR）扩增法进行A、B毒素及二元毒素基因检测;酶联荧光免疫法检测毒素A/B。结果 106份标本中,厌氧培养艰难梭菌阳性16株（15.09%）。16株菌经PCR扩增,A、B毒素均阳性,二元毒素均阴性。直接毒素A/B检测阳性率为12.26%（13/106）,与厌氧培养阳性率比较,差异无统计学意义（χ^20.16,P〉0.05）。2009年2—12月和2011年4—7月两个时期的标本厌氧培养艰难梭菌阳性率分别为22.81%（13/57）、6.12%（3/49）,两者比较,差异有统计学意义（χ^25.73,P〈0.05）;毒素A/B检出率分别为17.54%（10/57）、6.12%（3/49）,差异无统计学意义（χ^23.18,P〉0.05）。艰难梭菌检测阳性患者住院期间均使用过头孢类、喹诺酮类、碳青霉烯类、广谱青霉素、克林霉素等其中一种或多种抗菌药物。结论该院艰难梭菌相关性腹泻比较严重,抗菌药物的使用是诱使艰难梭菌感染的重要因素。     

Epidemic Clostridium difficile Ribotype 027 in Chile

TO THE EDITOR: The increased severity of Clostridium difficile infection is primarily attributed to the appearance of an epidemic strain characterized as PCR ribotype 027 (1). The only report that identified epidemic C. difficile ribotype 027 in an American country outside of North America comes from Costa Rica, raising the possibility that strains 027 might also be present in other countries of Latin America (2). Several studies between 2001 and 2009 have been conducted in South American countries to detect the incidence of C. difficile infection in hospitalized patients, but they did not identify which C. difficile strains were causing these infections (3).     

Prevalence of Clostridium difficile in the environment in a rural community in Zimbabwe

Clostridium difficile has been shown to be a nosocomial pathogen associated with diarrhoea and pseudomembranous colitis in hospitalised patients, but very little is known about its prevalence outside the hospital environment. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of C. difficile in faeces of domestic animals, soil and drinking water in a rural community. Water, animal faeces and soil were collected from homesteads in a rural community and the samples were cultured for C. difficile.Clostridium difficile isolates that produced toxins A or B were tested for their susceptibility to antimicrobial drugs. Clostridium difficile was isolated from 37.0% of 146 soil samples, 17.4% of 115 chicken faeces samples, 6.0% of 234 water samples and 4.3% of 161 faecal samples of other animals. Some of the C. difficile isolates from chickens (55.0%), soil (66.7%) and water (14.3%) were toxigenic. All toxigenic isolates were susceptible to metronidazole, vancomycin, doxycycline, chloramphenicol and tetracycline and all were resistant to cefotaxime, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and nalidixic acid. The results of the present study suggest that chickens kept by villagers are an important reservoir of C. difficile, which may act as a source of human infection.     

Management of an outbreak of Clostridium difficile-associated disease among geriatric patients.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a nosocomial outbreak of Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD). DESIGN: A traditional outbreak investigation. SETTING: Geriatric department of a tertiary care teaching hospital from March through April 2003. METHODS: The outbreak was detected by the C. difficile surveillance program of the infection control unit. CDAD was diagnosed by stool culture and fecal toxin A detection with a qualitative rapid immunoassay. Isolates of C. difficile were serotyped and genotyped using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: The incidence of CDAD increased from 27 cases per 100,000 patient-days in the 6-month period before the outbreak to 99 cases per 100,000 patient-days during the outbreak. This outbreak involved 21 of 92 patients in 4 geriatric wards, which were located at 2 geographically distinct sites and staffed by the same medical team. The mean age of patients was 83 years (range, 71-100 years). Five (24%) of the 21 patients had community-acquired diarrhea, and secondary hospital transmission resulted in 3 clusters involving 16 patients. Serotyping and genotyping were performed on isolates in stool specimens from 19 different patients; 16 of these isolates were serotype A1, whereas 3 displayed profiles different from the outbreak strain. Management of this outbreak consisted in reinforcement of contact isolation precautions for patients with diarrhea, cohorting of infected patients in the same ward, and promotion of hand hygiene. Relapses occurred in 6 (29%) of 21 patients. CONCLUSION: Control of this rapidly developing outbreak of CDAD was obtained with early implementation of cohorting and ward closure and reinforcement of environmental disinfection, hand hygiene, and enteric isolation precautions.     

Prevalence of gastrointestinal disease caused by Clostridium difficile in a university hospital in Hungary

A one-year survey was undertaken to investigate the frequency of diarrhoea caused by Clostridium difficile among patients in a 1200-bed university hospital in Hungary. The VIDAS (bioMérieux) toxin A detection kit was used for screening specimens for the presence of C. difficile toxin. For all other diarrhoeal specimens selected according to special criteria, cytotoxin testing was used to determine the presence of 'free toxin' in the faeces. During the study period, a total of 945 diarrhoeal faecal samples were tested for the presence of C. difficile toxin. Of 375 requested samples, 58 (18.3%) were toxin-A positive. Of the 570 remaining faecal samples selected by the laboratory, 120 (21%) proved to be toxin positive. The results showed that patients from the surgical (33.3%), internal (24%) and haematological (12.8%) wards had the greatest frequency of diarrhoea attributable to C. difficile.     

Acquisition of Clostridium difficile from the hospital environment

An outbreak of antibiotic-associated colitis that occurred on a ward of a Michigan hospital during February-April, 1984, was studied by bacteriophage-bacteriocin typing. Stools from the seven involved patients yielded Clostridium difficile isolates of types B1537 or Cld7;B1537. C. difficile was recovered from 31.4% of environmental cultures obtained on the ward, and the majority of isolates were types B1537 or Cld7;B1537. When the ward was disinfected with unbuffered hypochlorite (500 parts per million (ppm) available chlorine), surface contamination decreased to 21% of initial levels and the outbreak subsequently ended. Phosphate buffered hypochlorite (1,600 ppm available chlorine, pH 7.6) was even more effective; its use resulted in a 98% reduction in surface contamination. These findings suggest that environmental contamination with C. difficile is important in the epidemiology of antibiotic-associated colitis, and that hypochlorite is effective in eliminating C. difficile from the hospital environment.