An outbreak of Clostridioides difficile infections due to a 027-like PCR ribotype 181 in a rehabilitation centre: Epidemiological and microbiological characteristics.

Clostridioides difficile is one of the most important healthcare-associated pathogens. Recently, several new 027-like types have been found that all belong to the multilocus sequence typing (MLST) Clade 2. We report a rapidly spreading outbreak of C. difficile infections (CDI) due to a newly identified PCR ribotype (RT) 181 in a Rehabilitation Centre (RC). Genomic analysis revealed the outbreak strain, not previously identified in Greece, belonged to clade 2, sequence type (ST) 1 and had a 18bp deletion in tcdC at position 311 together with a single nucleotide deletion at position 117, similarly to RT 027. The presence of a clonal outbreak was confirmed by whole genome sequencing, yet the source of this ribotype remained unclear. The emergence and rapid spread of new C. difficile ribotypes highlights the need for ongoing C. difficile surveillance and better understanding of overall Clade 2 phylogeny.

Epidemiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of Staphylococcus lugdunensis in a Greek tertiary-care hospital.

Staphylococcus lugdunensis is considered more pathogenic than other coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS), with its virulence resembling that of Staphylococcus aureus. We report a retrospective study of all S. lugdunensis infection cases during a 3.5-year period in a large tertiary university hospital in Greece. S.lugdunensis was susceptible to most tested antibiotics, although a high resistance percentage was found to clindamycin (27%) and erythromycin (25%). The susceptibility rate to penicillin was 49%, much lower than previously reported elsewhere, indicating that penicillin may not be an optimal treatment choice for S. lugdunensis infections in our region.