Survey on microbial contamination of opened skin care products used for tattooing.

AIMS: Inadequate hygiene measures as well as the use of contaminated inks or non-sterile needles are considered as important infection sources in the process of tattooing. In tattoo parlors and at conventions, it is common practice to apply cosmetic products from bulk packs as lubricants during tattooing and as ointments for tattoo aftercare. The objective of our study was to assess the microbial load of opened skin care products used during tattooing or for tattoo aftercare. METHODS AND RESULTS: First, we established a homogenization method suitable for the microbiological examination of water-immiscible products. To this end, we compared the efficiency of FastPrepTM and Stomacher® homogenizers on artificially contaminated petroleum jelly. FastPrep homogenates revealed significantly higher detection rates (≥97%) compared to Stomacher ones (31%-64%). Second, we investigated 106 cosmetic bulk pack products collected from tattoo artists. After FastPrep homogenization for 30 seconds, total aerobic mesophilic bacteria and the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans were determined through culture. We also tested for Mycobacteria spp. by qPCR. In total, 4.7% of the cosmetic products under study turned out to be contaminated. CONCLUSION: The observed microbial contamination of opened skin care bulk packs can hold a risk to introduce bacteria into the fresh skin wound resulting from tattooing and may be a risk factor for post-tattoo infections.

Draft genome sequences of a blaCTX-M-15-harboring and an atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli isolate recovered from slaughterhouses in Nigeria.

We present the draft genome sequences of two Escherichia coli strains isolated from slaughterhouses in Edo State, Nigeria, in 2019. The isolates were identified as blaCTX-M-15-harboring (19-47-58) and atypical enteropathogenic E. coli (aEPEC) (19-47-66), belonging to multilocus sequence types (MLST) ST46 and ST2089, respectively.

Biocide Susceptibility and Antimicrobial Resistance of Escherichia coli Isolated from Swine Feces, Pork Meat and Humans in Germany.

Phenotypic susceptibility testing of Escherichia (E.) coli is an essential tool to gain a better understanding of the potential impact of biocide selection pressure on antimicrobial resistance. We, therefore, determined the biocide and antimicrobial susceptibility of 216 extended-spectrum ß-lactamase-producing (ESBL) and 177 non-ESBL E. coli isolated from swine feces, pork meat, voluntary donors and inpatients and evaluated associations between their susceptibilities. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of benzalkonium chloride, chlorhexidine digluconate (CHG), chlorocresol (PCMC), glutaraldehyde (GDA), isopropanol (IPA), octenidine dihydrochloride and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) showed unimodal distributions, indicating the absence of bacterial adaptation to biocides due to the acquisition of resistance mechanisms. Although MIC95 and MBC95 did not vary more than one doubling dilution step between isolates of porcine and human origin, significant differences in MIC and/or MBC distributions were identified for GDA, CHG, IPA, PCMC and NaOCl. Comparing non-ESBL and ESBL E. coli, significantly different MIC and/or MBC distributions were found for PCMC, CHG and GDA. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed the highest frequency of resistant E. coli in the subpopulation isolated from inpatients. We observed significant but weakly positive correlations between biocide MICs and/or MBCs and antimicrobial MICs. In summary, our data indicate a rather moderate effect of biocide use on the susceptibility of E. coli to biocides and antimicrobials.

Towards a Harmonized Terminology: A Glossary for Biocide Susceptibility Testing.

Disinfection is a key strategy to reduce the burden of infections. The contact of bacteria to biocides-the active substances of disinfectants-has been linked to bacterial adaptation and the development of antimicrobial resistance. Currently, there is no scientific consensus on whether the excessive use of biocides contributes to the emergence and spread of multidrug resistant bacteria. The comprehensive analysis of available data remains a challenge because neither uniform test procedures nor standardized interpretive criteria nor harmonized terms are available to describe altered bacterial susceptibility to biocides. In our review, we investigated the variety of criteria and the diversity of terms applied to interpret findings in original studies performing biocide susceptibility testing (BST) of field isolates. An additional analysis of reviews summarizing the knowledge of individual studies on altered biocide susceptibility provided insights into currently available broader concepts for data interpretation. Both approaches pointed out the urgent need for standardization. We, therefore, propose that the well-established and approved concepts for interpretation of antimicrobial susceptibility testing data should serve as a role model to evaluate biocide resistance mechanisms on a single cell level. Furthermore, we emphasize the adaptations necessary to acknowledge the specific needs for the evaluation of BST data. Our approach might help to increase scientific awareness and acceptance.