Recent trends of antigenic variation in Bordetella pertussis isolates in Korea.

Pertussis is a representative vaccine-preventable disease. However, there have been recent outbreaks in countries where even higher vaccination against the disease. One reason is the emergence of antigenic variants, which are different to vaccine type. In Korea, reported cases have rapidly increased since 2009. Therefore, we analyzed genotype of strains isolated in 2011-2012 by multilocus sequence typing method. As expected, the genotype profiles of tested genes dramatically changed. The major sequence type changed from ST1 to ST2, and new sequence type (ST8) appeared. In the minimum spanning tree, recent isolates belonging to the ACC-I-ST3 subgroup were detected that were composed of ST2, ST3, and ST6. In particular, the ST2 frequency increased to 81%. The novel ST8 was linked to the increased frequency of ST2. In addition, toxic strains carrying the ptxP3 promoter type were confirmed. This ptxP3 type emerged from 2009 and its frequency had increased to 100% in 2012. Based on these results, it can be inferred that the genotypic changes in the currently circulating strains are strongly associated with the recent increasing of pertussis in Korea. Therefore, the surveillance system should be strengthened, and genetic characterization of the isolates should be expanded to the whole genome sequence level.

Novel antibody/gold nanoparticle/magnetic nanoparticle nanocomposites for immunomagnetic separation and rapid colorimetric detection of Staphylococcus aureus in milk.

We demonstrated the new antibody/gold nanoparticle/magnetic nanoparticle nanocomposites (antibody/AuNP/MNPs) and their application in the detection of the foodborne pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), in milk. The nanocomposites were synthesized by coating the MNPs with bovine serum albumin (BSA) then adsorbing the AuNPs and anti-S. aureus antibodies on their surface. Using the completed immunomagnetic nanostructures, S. aureus inoculated in the milk sample was captured and isolated from the medium using the permanent magnet. The nanoparticle-bound cells as well as the unbound cells in the supernatant were enumerated via surface plating to evaluate the target binding capacity of the nanocomposites. The capture efficiencies of the antibody/AuNP/MNPs were 96% and 78% for S. aureus in PBS and the milk sample respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the antibody-coupled MNPs without any AuNP. The captured cells were also applied to the selective filtration system to produce color signals that were used for the detection of the target pathogen. During the filtration, the cells bound to the antibody/AuNP/MNPs remained on the surface of the membrane filter while unbound nanoparticles passed through the uniform pores of the membrane. After the gold enhancement, the cells-particles complex resting on the membrane surface rendered a visible color, and the signal intensity became higher as the target cell concentration increased. The detection limits of this colorimetric sensor were 1.5×10(3) and 1.5×10(5)CFU for S. aureus in PBS and the milk sample respectively. This sensing mechanism also had the high specificity for S. aureus over the other pathogens such as Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella enterica. The assay required only 40min to obtain the results. With the use of the appropriate antibodies, our immunomagnetic nanocomposites-based detection strategy can provide an easy, convenient, and rapid sensing method for a wide range of pathogens.

A Multicenter Study of Pertussis Infection in Adults with Coughing in Korea: PCR-Based Study.

BACKGROUND: Limited data on the incidence and clinical characteristics of adult pertussis infections are available in Korea. METHODS: Thirty-one hospitals and the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborated to investigate the incidence and clinical characteristics of pertussis infections among adults with a bothersome cough in non-outbreak, ordinary outpatient settings. Nasopharyngeal aspirates or nasopharyngeal swabs were collected for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and culture tests. RESULTS: The study enrolled 934 patients between September 2009 and April 2011. Five patients were diagnosed as confirmed cases, satisfying both clinical and laboratory criteria (five positive PCR and one concurrent positive culture). Among 607 patients with cough duration of at least 2 weeks, 504 satisfied the clinical criteria of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (i.e., probable case). The clinical pertussis cases (i.e., both probable and confirmed cases) had a wide age distribution (45.7±15.5 years) and cough duration (median, 30 days; interquartile range, 18.0~50.0 days). In addition, sputum, rhinorrhea, and myalgia were less common and dyspnea was more common in the clinical cases, compared to the others (p=0.037, p=0.006, p=0.005, and p=0.030, respectively). CONCLUSION: The positive rate of pertussis infection may be low in non-outbreak, ordinary clinical settings if a PCR-based method is used. However, further prospective, well-designed, multicenter studies are needed.

Multilocus Sequence Analysis of Housekeeping Genes and Antigenic Determinant Genes in Bordetella pertussis Strains Isolated in Korea.

OBJECTIVES: To confirm genotype diversities of clinical isolates of Bordetella pertussis and to evaluate the risk of pertussis outbreak in Korea. METHODS: Seven housekeeping genes and 10 antigenic determinant genes from clinical B. pertussis isolates were analyzed by Multilocus sequence typing (MLST). RESULTS: More variant pattern was observed in antigenic determinant genes. Especially, PtxS1 gene was the most variant gene; five genotypes were observed from eight global genotypes. In the bacterial type, the number of observed sequence types in the isolates was seven and the most frequent form was type 1 (79.6%). This major sequence type also showed a time-dependent transition pattern. Older isolates (1968 and 1975) showed type 1 and 6 in housekeeping genes and antigenic determinant genes, respectively. However, these were changed to type 2 and 1 in isolates 1999-2008. This transition was mainly attributed to genotype change of PtxS1 and Fim3 gene; the tendency of genotype change was to avoid vaccine-derived genotype. In addition, there was second transition in 2009. In this period, only the sequence type of antigenic determinant genes was changed to type 2. Based Upon Related Sequence Types (BURST) analysis confirmed that there were two clonal complexes (ACCI and ACCII) in the Korean isolates. Moreover, the recently increased sequence type was revealed as AST2 derived from AST 3 in ACCI. CONCLUSIONS: Genotype changes in Korean distributing strains are still progressing and there was a specific driving force in antigenic determinant genes. Therefore continuous surveillance of genotype change of the distributing strains should be performed to confirm interrelationship of genotype change with vaccine immunity.