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L Mezenský

Publications and source records attributed to L Mezenský.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

Molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis in Prague and South Moravia, Czech Republic: genetic analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates by IS6110-RFLP fingerprinting and spoligotyping.

OBJECTIVES: To genetically characterize and compare Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates among culture-confirmed TB cases in two regions in the Czech Republic in 1998. METHODS: Consecutive M. tuberculosis isolates from 111 TB patients in Prague and 120 patients in the South Moravia region were genotyped using the standardized IS6110 Southern blot hybridization method and by spoligotyping. RESULTS: Eighty of the Prague patients (72.1%) had isolates with unique RFLP patterns, while 31 (27.9%) had isolates which belonged to 10 clusters. Seventy-eight (64.7%) of the South Moravia strains displayed unique RFLP pattern and 42 (35.3%) were assigned into 15 clusters. The spoligotype profiles previously identified in the U.S. were found in 69 (33%) samples and newly identified Czech spoligotypes in 24 (11.4%) of the total number of examined strains. CONCLUSIONS: The present population-based molecular epidemiological study performed in two regions of the Czech Republic in 1998 demonstrated the distribution of individual genotypes as well as clustered strains of M. tuberculosis isolated from TB patients, and confirmed the similarity between the Czech strain collection and the European Community TB Database, that includes countries with low TB rate. The sporadic import of TB cases from foreign countries and recent transmission events probably do not play significant roles in the epidemiological situation in the Czech Republic.

Adult↗

[Spoligotypes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the Czech population (methods and pilot study)].

In the introduction the authors describe molecular genetic principles of spacer oligonucleotide typing of the M. tuberculosis complex and mention in detail the methodical procedure of implementation of this examination technique incl. computer analysis of results. In the pilot part of the study the authors describe examination of 71 strains of M. tuberculosis isolated from patients living in the capital of Prague and 37 strains from patients in the South Moravian region of the Czech Republic. In the group of Prague strains a total of 7 clusters was identified formed by 2-14 identical profiles of spoligotypes and 37 individually different profiles. In the South Moravian strains there were 6 clusters with 2-14 identical spoligotypes and 10 non-clustered profiles. In neither of the groups there were spoligotypes typical for the genetic family Beijing or Africa. The study is a preliminary molecular epidemiological analysis where DNA fingerprint RFLP profiles are compared with spoligotypes of strains of M. tuberculosis of patients from the capital of Prague and the South Moravian region of the Czech Republic.

Bacterial Typing Techniques↗

Family outbreaks of tuberculosis in South Moravia, a low incidence area of the Czech Republic.

OBJECTIVES: To identify suspected family outbreaks of tuberculosis in South Moravia, an area with the lowest notification rates in the Czech Republic. METHOD: The insertion sequence IS6110-based RFLP analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was applied in isolates collected from 17 indigenous excretors giving the same family name and/or domicile. The fingerprints were matched with a database of 184 RFLP profiles of Czech M. tuberculosis isolates originating from remote localities. RESULTS: The RFLP analysis revealed uniform fingerprints in each of six indigenous outbreaks consisting of two to six family members or relatives. In three of them no matching case has been found in the Czech fingerprint database. The remaining three clusters showed identical patterns with RFLP profiles of 13 Czech M. tuberculosis strains originating from remote areas: five were from patients living in the immediate vicinity and eight were from distant regions. CONCLUSION: Different clustered genotypes of M. tuberculosis were identified in epidemiologically linked family outbreaks of tuberculosis, half of them indigenous and half matching fingerprints of strains from remote areas. It seems that family outbreaks may contribute to the continued occurrence of tuberculosis in South Moravia, which reports the lowest notification values in the Czech Republic.

Adolescent↗

[A micro-epidemic of tuberculosis in the South Moravia Region].

In the South Moravian region which is the area with the lowest prevalence of bacillary tuberculosis in the Czech Republic (6.6 per 100,000 population in 1996) in 1993-1996 a total of six local and family microepidemics of tuberculosis were detected. For their identification the RFLP fingerprinting method was used based on evidence of repeated sequence of IS6110 in the chromosomal DNA of the examined strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis predigested with restrictive enzyme PvuII. The profiles of fingerprints of each microepidemic were included by means of a computer programme into the hierarchy of the fingerprint dendrogram of 184 strains of M. tuberculosis which made it possible to identify possible identical profiles of strains from patients from remote places in the Czech Republic. In three family microepidemics involving always two members no identical fingerprint profiles of other Czech strains of M. tuberculosis were revealed. To the fourth cluster formed by six members of one family an identical RFLP profile of a female patient living in a nearby locality was added. In another microepidemic recorded in three brothers identical fingerprints were found another four patients from the South Moravian region and in one from the Central Bohemian region. The last cluster of two brothers was surprisingly enlarged by six identical RFLP profiles of patients from the West Bohemian region and one from Prague. These findings suggest that in areas with a low prevalence tuberculosis persists more frequently than in areas with a high prevalence as familial or local microepidemics.

Adolescent↗

[The epizootiological significance of positive bacteriological findings on Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis in humans].

The relation between the active form of tuberculosis in persons working in agriculture and incidence of tuberculosis in cattle was analyzed in 1974 to 1978, i.e. in the period after the elimination of bovine tuberculosis in Czechoslovakia (in 1968). M. tuberculosis was isolated in 15 cases and M. bovis in four cases of persons employed by the farms on which the Regional Hygienic Station, Brno, was responsible for the microbiological diagnostics of tuberculosis. Direct contact with animals was demonstrated in eight patients; M. tuberculosis was isolated from seven of these patients and M. bovis from one. Seven cattle herds were exposed to spontaneous infection by M. tuberculosis and in one of them tuberculosis was not demonstrated during complex examination. In three herds the examination revealed only a sensitivity of cattle to mammalian tuberculin. In other three herds tuberculosis was detected by allergic tests, patho-anatomic examination and bacteriological examination. M. tuberculosis in cattle was detected in two herds. The occurrence of bovine tuberculosis caused by a cattle tender with a positive finding of M. bovis in sputum was demonstrated in one herd. Virulence for the tested cattle was found in one strain (isolated from a mesenterial lymph node of cattle) of the four strains of M. tuberculosis used for the experimental infection of 17 animals. On the other hand, in three strains of M. tuberculosis, trials with experimental infection demonstrated only allergy to mammalian tuberculin and changes at the sites of subcutaneous inoculation of mycobacteria of regressive nature; these mostly disappeared within 90 days from infection.

Agricultural Workers' Diseases↗

Taxonomic analysis of some slowly growing atypical mycobacteria.

A taxonomic analysis of 92 strains of slowly growing mycobacteria received as members of 11 species of the genus Mycobacterium showed that the 45 characters used allowed to reliably recognize M. avium-intracellulare, M. xenopi, M. kansasii, M. shimoidei, M. terrae, M. nonchromogenicum and M. triviale as distinct species. A numerical taxonomic method revealed that strains of these species formed distinct clusters, which was confirmed by calculated mean values of intra- and intertaxon similarity. A close relatedness was found between M. scrofulaceum and M. avium-intracellulare species which could not be well differentiated from one another by the tests used. A small number of M. novum strains in the study did not allow a clearcut distinction between this taxon and similar strains of M. nonchromogenicum and M. terrae species. Both collection strains of M. gastri differed considerably from one another: one exhibited a certain relatedness to M. kansasii taxon, the other one to M. avium-intracellulare. This study allowed to prepare a table which presents the frequencies (%) of characters positivity for each of the taxa studied. The table is intended as a diagnostic tool in routine identification procedures conducted in field mycobacteriological laboratories.

Mycobacterium↗

Comparison of microscopic positivity in smears from sputa stained according to Ziehl-Neelsen in different modifications.

Some basic factors influencing the detection of microscopic positivity in the sputa of patients with tuberculosis of the lungs, stained according to Ziehl-Neelsen in various modifications, were studied in 9 laboratories in 5 different countries (Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Mongolia, German Democratic Republic and Poland). Each laboratory prepared 200 coded slides from 50 suspect-positive sputa. The slides were stained using four different methods and despatched, without examination, to the next laboratory in the series. A total of 1 800 slides from 450 sputa were thus evaluated and each smear was successively examined by 8 different readers. The study has shown that the result of direct microscopy depends primarily on the individual qualities and attentiveness of the workers evaluating the slides while the remaining factors are less important. Mechanical homogenization of sputa before making the smear, carried out by shaking the sputum with glass beads, had a significant effect on the number of detected mycobacteria while homogenization using soda lye did not influence the positivity in any direction. The detection of mycobacteria after hot staining was significantly higher than after a 2-hour action of carbolfuchsin without heating. Additional staining with picric acid or malachite green had no effect on the amount of bacteria detected and the method of examination (in one line or meander-like on selected spots) was found to be completely unimportant.

Humans↗