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Biomedical subjects

H Claus

Publications and source records attributed to H Claus.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

vanA-mediated high-level glycopeptide resistance in Enterococcus faecium from animal husbandry.

Glycopeptide-resistant Enterococcus faecium strains were isolated from a pig farm and a poultry farm both using avoparcin as a food additive. Such organisms were not isolated in a hen's eggs-producing farm not using avoparcin. Glycopeptide-resistant enterococci were also detected in broiler chicken carcasses that were delivered to a hospital's kitchen. The resistance was determined by the vanA gene as indicated by the detection of the inducible 39-kDa cytoplasmic membrane protein and of a vanA-specific DNA sequence amplified by polymerase chain reaction. Genomic DNA fragment patterns of strains from animal sources were different from each other and also from those of strains isolated in hospitals and from sewage treatment plants. This findings suggest the dissemination of the vanA determinant among different enterococcal strains of distinct ecological origin.

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMed1995

Comparative classification of Acinetobacter baumannii strains using seven different typing methods.

A group of 49 Acinetobacter baumannii strains obtained from several hospital outbreaks and some sporadic cases were typed by biotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), plasmid typing, multilocus enzyme electrophoresis, whole-cell protein profile, and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. All these methods have shown a high degree of reproducibility and are capable of recognising strains from the same epidemiological event. However, their power to discriminate between epidemiologically unrelated strains varies, with PFGE being superior to the other methods investigated. FT-IR spectroscopy, which has not yet been used for typing of Acinetobacter strains, proved to be a very rapid and highly reproducible method, but was somewhat limited in its discriminating power.

Acinetobacter↗
PubMed1995

Genomic and biochemical relatedness between Vibrio cholerae serovar O139 and serovar O1 eltor strains.

Vibrio cholerae O139 (Bengal) the new pandemic cholera strain emerging on the Indian subcontinent has revealed considerable homology to Vibrio cholerae O1 EL Tor (strain of the seventh pandemic cholera) in terms of genetic and biochemical properties. Apart from capsule and O139 LPS formation, all strains of V. cholerae O139 were found to be identical to V. cholerae O1 EL Tor strains with respect to genomic restriction fragment length polymorphism, genomic distribution of the pathogenic island, pattern of OMP and multilocus enzymes. However, the analysis of a nonpathogenic V. cholerae O139 isolate from Sri Lanka with a totally different pattern of genetic properties underline that horizontal gene transfer of a piece of DNA encoding biosynthesis of the Vibrio cholerae O139-specific LPS and capsule formation to an O1 El Tor precursor strains must have occurred giving rise to a kind of hybrid V. cholerae O1 El Tor encoding the new serovar-specific O139 antigens.

Genome, Bacterial↗
PubMed1995

Enterococcus faecium strains with vanA-mediated high-level glycopeptide resistance isolated from animal foodstuffs and fecal samples of humans in the community.

The occurrence and the further spread of high-level glycopeptide-resistant, vanA-positive Enterococcus faecium strains outside of hospitals have been investigated. We could isolate such bacteria directly from thawing liquids of commercially produced frozen poultry (chickens, turkeys; no further data on previous feeding with avoparcin were available). In 5 of 13 samples of raw minced meat of pigs originating from 13 different butcher's shops, glycopeptide-resistant E. faecium (VanA type) could be detected after overnight broth cultivation of these samples. No glycopeptide-resistant enterococci could be isolated from meat samples of chickens that were fed without avoparcin. VanA type E. faecium strains were also identified in 12 fecal samples recovered from 100 nonhospitalized humans in the rural area of Saxony-Anhalt federal county. These results suggest a possible role of the food chain in the spread of glycopeptide-resistant E. faecium. Molecular typing (macrorestriction and multilocus enzyme analysis) reveal a wide dissemination of the vanA gene among strains of different ecological origins.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

[Epidemiological and microbiological studies on salmonellosis in Russia].

The occurrence of the most important Salmonella serovars in Russia from 1980 to 1993 is reported. Selected Salmonella strains isolated in Russia from 1951 to 1993 were characterized by serotype, phage type, resistance pattern, plasmid profile and detection of aerobactin production. The incidence of salmonellosis was different in the various administrative districts and varied between 0-235 cases/100,000 inhabitants. Since the middle of the eighties both the overall increase of salmonellosis and the replacement of S. typhimurium by S. enteritidis was also demonstrable in Russia. Nosocomial infections due to multiply resistant S. infantis strains and S. typhimurium strains which caused severe septicaemic courses in children were a special epidemic problem. These infections mainly occurred via faecal-oral transmission. In contrast ot Western Europe most of the S. enteritidis strains isolated in Russia belonged to phage type 1/1. Eight phage types were determined additionally. The S. typhimurium strains isolated in nosocomial infections belonged to a definite phage type and carried a 95 MDa plasmid. This plasmid was also detected in the nosocomial S. infantis strains, S. haifa strains, and S. panama strains. All these nosocomial strains formed aerobactin.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1994

Characterization of two different clusters of clonally related methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains by conventional and molecular typing.

The DNA fragments of 28 distinct isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) originating from different hospitals in Warsaw and Lodz, were studied. They were obtained by cleavage with restriction endonuclease SmaI and subsequently analysed by pulsed-field electrophoresis. Sixteen different patterns were seen and clusters of related strains were clearly distinguishable. Minor differences in fragment patterns within these clusters and among epidemiologically related strains, revealed genomic rearrangements in the course of clonal dissemination of particular strains. The isolates were also checked for the expression of methicillin resistance. Isolates with heterogenous and homogeneous phenotypes, fell into clearly distinct clusters and thus formed two clonally related MRSA strains. Differences were also seen with phage and biochemical typing, and antimicrobial resistance patterns.

Bacterial Typing Techniques↗
PubMed1994

[Nosocomial infections with the detection of Staphylococcus aureus in an average hospital--an 11-year analysis].

Nosocomial infections over an 11 years period were monitored prospectively in a district hospital. A total of nosocomial infections among 162.197 patients discharged from 1980-1990 were analyzed. The incidence rate of nosocomial infections was 3.6%. The predominant isolates were Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus (11%). The highest rates of S. aureus infections were established in wound infections and skin and mucosal infections at surgery, gynaecology and paediatrics departments. The number of multiply resistant S. aureus strains has decreased and those of sensitive isolates has increased. 72% of 652 S. aureus isolates have been typed by phage typing and biotyping. Statistical analysis could not establish a significant relationship between phage patterns and nosocomial infections. The spectrum of phage patterns of these nosocomial strains was the same as those of the endogenous colonization of men. Nosocomial outbreaks could not been realized.

Bacteriophage Typing↗
PubMed1993

Environmental strains of Enterococcus faecium with inducible high-level resistance to glycopeptides.

High-level resistance to glycopeptides in Enterococcus faecium is associated with an inducible 39-kDa cytoplasmic membrane protein. The present paper shows that such glycopeptide-resistant E. faecium strains can not only be isolated in a definite clinical setting but also from waste water of sewage treatment plants. Nearer characterization of these and of clinical isolates by resistance pattern, biotyping, and genotyping (DNA-fingerprinting with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis) has shown that different glycopeptide-resistant E. faecium strains have been isolated from clinical sources and from waste water.

DNA Fingerprinting↗
PubMed1993

Unrelatedness of multiply resistant Staphylococcus aureus with resistance to methicillin and to quinolones (QR-MRSA) as evident from SmaI-digestion patterns of genomic DNA.

Methicillin-resistant S. aureus with quinolone-resistance (QR-MRSA) isolated in Germany from three outbreaks of nosocomial infections and from sporadic nosocomial infections in five hospitals exhibited different SmaI-restriction patterns of their genomic DNA. Phage-typing and determination of plasmid profiles performed in parallel confirmed this differentiation, with one exception. These results indicate that there is obviously no overregional spread of one particular QR-MRSA clone and that quinolone resistance has developed independently in different MRSA.

Bacterial Typing Techniques↗