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Objective: To investigate differences in bacterial distribution and resistance patterns of relevant pathogens in skin and tissue infections among migrants compared to nonmigrants., Methods: The population is based on a cohort of migrants who obtained residence as refugees or family-reunited migrants in Denmark between January 1993 and December 2015. The cohort was linked to positive swabs and tissue cultures collected from hospitals and general practitioners between the years 2000 and 2016 at the Department of Microbiology, University Hospital Hvidovre, Denmark. We calculated odds ratios for pathogen distribution and resistance patterns using logistic regression by comparing migrants with nonmigrants., Results: In total, 43,770 pathogens from 37,276 individuals were included, with Staphylococcus aureus being the most common bacterium. Migrants had higher odds of infections with Enterobacterales than nonmigrants (OR 1.42, 95% CI: 1.23-1.63) and lower odds of beta-haemolytic Streptococci (OR 0.79, 95% CI: 0.73-0.86). Family-reunited migrants and refugees had higher odds of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) than nonmigrants (OR 5.01, 95% CI: 3.73-6.73 and OR 3.66, 95% CI: 2.61-5.13). This was more pronounced in female migrants. The odds of ciprofloxacin-resistant Enterobacterales were higher in both family-reunited migrants and refugees than in nonmigrants (OR 2.21, 95% CI: 1.34-3.64 and OR 2.17, 95% CI: 1.34-3.52)., Conclusions: The prevalence of MRSA and ciprofloxacin-resistant Enterobacterales was higher among family-reunited migrants and refugees than in nonmigrants. Our findings suggest an increased awareness for AMR in migrants., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

We aimed to descriptively analyse the possible impact of the national COVID-19 interventions on the incidence of common infectious diseases in Denmark during spring and summer 2020. This observational study focused on national register data on infections caused by 16 different bacterial and viral pathogens. We included new cases registered between 1 January 2016 and 31 July 2020. The weekly number of new cases were analysed with respect to the COVID-19-related interventions introduced during 2020. We found a marked decrease in infections associated with droplet transmission coinciding with the COVID-19 interventions in spring and summer 2020. These included decreases in both viral and bacterial airway infections and also decreases in invasive infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae , Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria meningitidis . There was also a reduction in cases associated with foodborne transmission during the COVID-19 lockdown period. We found no effect of the lockdown on infections by invasive beta-haemolytic streptococci group B, C and G, Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia, Neisseria gonorrhoeae or Clostridioides difficile . In conclusion, we found that the widespread interventions such as physical distancing, less travel, hygiene measures and lockdown of schools, restaurants and workplaces together coincided with a marked decline in respiratory infections and, to a smaller extent, some foodborne-transmitted infections.

We describe 2 fatal cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clonal complex 398 septicemia in persons who had no contact with livestock. Whole-genome sequencing of the isolated MRSA strains strongly suggest that both were of animal origin and that the patients had been infected through 2 independent person-to-person transmission chains.