@article{ItzekWeissbachMeintrupetal.2023, author = {Itzek, Andreas and Weißbach, Victoria and Meintrup, David and Rieß, Beate and van der Linden, Mark and Borgmann, Stefan}, title = {Epidemiological and Clinical Features of Streptococcus dysgalactiae ssp. equisimilis stG62647 and Other emm Types in Germany}, volume = {12}, pages = {589}, journal = {Pathogens}, number = {4}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {2076-0817}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12040589}, year = {2023}, abstract = {(1) Background: Streptococcus dysgalactiae subspecies equisimilis (SDSE) is an important β-hemolytic pathogen historically described as mainly affecting animals. Studies epidemiologically assessing the pathogenicity in the human population in Germany are rare. (2) Methods: the present study combines national surveillance data from 2010 to 2022 with a single-center clinical study conducted from 2016 to 2022, focusing on emm type, Lancefield antigen, antimicrobial resistance, patient characteristics, disease severity, and clinical infection markers. (3) Results: The nationwide reported invasive SDSE infections suggest an increasing infection burden for the German population. One particular emm type, stG62647, increased over the study period, being the dominant type in both study cohorts, suggesting a mutation-driven outbreak of a virulent clone. The patient data show that men were more affected than women, although in the single-center cohort, this trend was reversed for patients with stG62647 SDSE. Men affected by stG62647 developed predominantly fascial infections, whereas women suffering from superficial and fascial non-stG62647 SDSE infections were significantly younger than other patients. Increasing age was a general risk factor for invasive SDSE infections. (4) Conclusions: further studies are needed to further elucidate the raised questions regarding outbreak origin, underlying molecular mechanisms as well as sex-dependent pathogen adaptation.}, language = {en} } @article{BorgmannRiessMeintrupetal.2020, author = {Borgmann, Stefan and Rieß, Beate and Meintrup, David and Klare, Ingo and Werner, Guido}, title = {Long-Lasting Decrease of the Acquisition of Enterococcus faecium and Gram-Negative Bacteria Producing Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL) by Transient Application of Probiotics}, volume = {17}, pages = {6100}, journal = {International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH)}, number = {17}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {1660-4601}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176100}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Previously it was shown that application of probiotics stopped the acquisition of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) by patients in an early rehabilitation ward. Once the application of probiotics ended, we examined whether acquisition of VRE reoccurred. Furthermore, we examined whether probiotics altered prevalence of vancomycin-susceptible E. faecium (VSE) and Gram-negative bacteria, which produce extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL). Although probiotic application ceased in April 2018, VRE-colonized patients rarely presented on that ward until 2019. Probiotic treatment also resulted in a decreased number of patients with VSE and ESBL. While decreased incidence of VRE occurred immediately, decreased VSE and ESBL numbers occurred months later. A probiotic-mediated decrease of VSE and ESBL incidence cannot be explained when assuming bacterial transmission exclusively as a linear cause and effect event. The decrease is better understood by considering bacterial transmissions to be stochastic events, which depend on various driving forces similar to an electric current. We hypothesize that VRE, VSE and ESBL uptake by patients and by staff members mutually reinforced each other, leading staff members to form a bacterial reservoir, similar to a condenser that stores electrical energy. Probiotic treatment then inhibited regeneration of that store, resulting in a breakdown of the driving force.}, language = {en} }