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Treponema pallidum subsp. endemicum is the causative agent of endemic syphilis, also called nonvenereal syphilis. Other diseases caused by nonvenereal treponematoses are yaws (T. pallidum subsp. pertenue) and pinta (T. [...]

Background: Previously we studied the antibiotic susceptibility of invasive Haemophilus influenzae collected in Canada from 1990 to 2006 and characterized isolates by serotype, MLST and ftsI gene sequencing for significant PBP3 mutations.Objectives: To provide an update based on isolates collected from 2007 to 2014.Methods: A total of 882 case isolates were characterized by serotype using slide agglutination and PCR. MLST was carried out to determine ST. Isolates were tested for β-lactamase production, presence of significant PBP3 mutations and antibiotic susceptibility by disc diffusion against 14 antibiotics. MIC values of three antibiotics were determined for 316 isolates using microbroth dilution.Results: Non-typeable H. influenzae accounted for 54.6% of the isolates and 45.4% were serotypeable, predominantly type a (23.1%), type b (8.3%) and type f (10.8%). The overall rate of ampicillin resistance due to β-lactamase production was 16.4% and increased from 13.5% in 2007-10 to 19% in 2011-14. Significant PBP3 mutations were identified in 129 isolates (14.6%) with 23 (2.6%) also producing β-lactamase. MLST identified related STs (ST-136, ST-14 and ST-367) associated exclusively with genetically β-lactamase-negative, ampicillin-resistant isolates and confirmed previously reported associations between significant PBP3 mutations and ST.Conclusions: A significant increase in β-lactamase-producing isolates was observed from 2007 to 2014; the rate of significant PBP3 mutations has increased since previously reported and 52.5% of non-typeable H. influenzae now show resistance markers. Resistance to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole was common and no resistance to fluoroquinolones or third-generation cephalosporins was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. With invasive Haemophilus influenzae serotype b (Hib) disease controlled by vaccination with conjugate Hib vaccines, there is concern that invasive disease due to non-serotype b strains may emerge. Objective. This study characterized invasive H. influenzae (Hi) isolates from Nunavut, Canada, in the post-Hib vaccine era. Methods. Invasive H. influenzae isolates were identified by conventional methods at local hospitals; and further characterized at the provincial and federal public health laboratories, including detection of serotype antigens and genes, multi-locus sequence typing and antibiotic susceptibility. Results. Of the 89 invasive H. influenzae cases identified from 2000 to 2012, 71 case isolates were available for study. There were 43 serotype a (Hia), 12 Hib, 2 Hic, 1 Hid, 1 Hie, 2 Hif and 10 were non-typeable (NT). All 43 Hia were biotype II, sequence type (ST)-23. Three related STs were found among the Hib isolates: ST-95 (n=9), ST-635 (n=2) and ST-44 (n=1). Both Hif belonged to ST-124 and the 2 Hic were typed as ST-9. The remaining Hid (ST-1288) and Hie (ST-18) belonged to 2 separate clones. Of the 10 NT strains, 3 were typed as ST-23 and the remaining 7 isolates each belonged to a unique ST. Eight Hib and 1 NT-Hi were found to be resistant to ampicillin due to β-lactamase production. No resistance to other antibiotics was detected. Conclusion. During the period of 2000-2012, Hia was the predominant serotype causing invasive disease in Nunavut. This presents a public health concern due to an emerging clone of Hia as a cause of invasive H. influenzae disease and the lack of published guidelines for the prophylaxis of contacts. The clonal nature of Hia could be the result of spread within an isolated population, and/or unique characteristics of this strain to cause invasive disease. Further study of Hia in other populations may provide important information on this emerging pathogen. No antibiotic resistance was detected among Hia isolates; a small proportion of Hib and NT-Hi isolates demonstrated resistance to ampicillin due to β-lactamase production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population biology of can be studied by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and isolates are assigned sequence types (STs) based on nucleotide sequence variations in seven housekeeping genes, including fucK. However, the ST cannot be assigned if one of the housekeeping genes is absent or cannot be detected by the current protocol. Occasionally, strains of H. influenzae have been reported to lack the fucK gene. In this study, we examined the prevalence of this mutation among our collection of H. influenzae isolates. Of the 704 isolates studied, including 282 encapsulated and 422 nonencapsulated isolates, nine were not typeable by MLST owing to failure to detect the fucK gene. All nine fucK-negative isolates were nonencapsulated and belonged to various biotypes. DNA sequencing of the fucose operon region confirmed complete deletion of genes in the operon in seven of the nine isolates, while in the remaining two isolates, some of the genes were found intact or in parts. The significance of these findings is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the introduction of the Haemophilus influenzae serotype b (Hib) vaccine, invasive Hib disease has decreased substantially, but nontypeable H. influenzae (NT Hi) disease appears to be increasing. In order to understand the origin of NT Hi strains and their relationship with serotypeable strains, we analysed 125 NT Hi isolates collected from individual patients with either invasive disease (70 isolates) or respiratory tract infections (55 isolates). Serotype-specific and capsular transport genes were absent by PCR analysis, confirming their nonencapsulated status, which also suggested the NT Hi isolates were not encapsulated strains that shed their capsules. Multilocus sequence typing confirmed the NT Hi isolates did not have the same genetic background as serotypeable strains, including Hib. Despite the genetic heterogeneity found, two major genetic clusters were identified, both containing invasive and respiratory isolates. Fourteen invasive isolates and nine respiratory isolates produced β-lactamase and were ampicillin resistant. More invasive (26.8%) than respiratory isolates (10.9%) showed decreased susceptibility towards ampicillin by a mechanism unrelated to β-lactamase production. Besides a change in the capsule status of invasive Hi strains, the burden of invasive Hi disease, which used to be mainly a childhood disease, has now shifted to involve both adults and infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study focused on analyzing the impact of non-Hib strains, and serotype a (Hia) on patients suffering from haemophilus influenzae disease. The study was conducted on 161 patients by performing multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). According to the results, clonal structure of Hia acts differently on different genetic lineages.

The quinolone resistance-determining regions of gyrA and parC of both quinolone-sensitive and quinolone-resistant Haemophilus parainfluenzae strains were amplified and sequenced. Similar to Haemophilus influenzae, resistance to quinolones in H parainfluenzae is associated with mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining regions of both gyrA and parC. The present study discusses the importance of this finding.

Nineteen beta-lactamase-negative ampicillin-resistant (BLNAR) and 2 beta-lactamase-positive amoxicillin-clavulanic acid-resistant Canadian Haemophilus influenzae strains were characterized. All 21 isolates were found to have the N526K mutations in their ftsI genes, and their ampicillin MIC(50) values were 4-8 times that of beta-lactamase-negative ampicillin-susceptible strains. The difficulty in detection of BLNAR strains was discussed.