Detection of Hanseniaspora opuntiae in anovaginal samples of pregnant women in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil-a case report.

In this study, we report the first isolation of Hanseniaspora opuntiae obtained from four pregnant women in Brazil. Clinical isolates were obtained from four samples taken between 35 and 37 gestational weeks, as part of the routine antenatal care for maternal colonization screening for Streptococcus agalactiae group B. The patients were immunocompetent, with two of them diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus. Species identification was performed by MALDI-TOF MS and rDNA sequencing. While Hanseniaspora species have not traditionally been considered a typical opportunist pathogen, our findings emphasize the importance of investigating and screening for Hanseniaspora in pregnant populations, highlighting H. opuntiae as a potential agent of human infections.

Candida guilliermondii as an agent of postpartum subacute mastitis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Case report.

Candida spp. can cause mild-to-severe human infections. Certain species have been described as the etiologic agent of human mastitis, inflammation of the breast tissue. Mastitis affects millions of lactating women and can be a source of disease transmission to the infant. In this work, we report the detection of the unusual etiologic agent of human mastitis, Candida guilliermondii, isolated from the milk of a puerperal woman with subacute mastitis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Species identification was performed by MALDI-TOF MS and genetic sequencing. The patient had a full recovery after antifungal therapy.

The landscape of antimicrobial resistance in the neonatal and multi-host pathogen group B Streptococcus: review from a One Health perspective.

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) stands out as a major agent of pediatric disease in humans, being responsible for 392,000 invasive disease cases and 91,000 deaths in infants each year across the world. Moreover, GBS, also known as Streptococcus agalactiae, is an important agent of infections in animal hosts, notably cattle and fish. GBS population structure is composed of multiple clades that differ in virulence, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and niche adaptation; however, there is growing evidence of interspecies transmission, both from evolutionary analysis and from disease investigations. The prevention of GBS infections through vaccination is desirable in humans as well as animals because it reduces the burden of GBS disease and reduces our reliance on antimicrobials, and the risk of adverse reactions or selection for AMR. In this perspective article, we navigate through the landscape of AMR in the pediatric and multi-host pathogen GBS under the One Health perspective and discuss the use of antimicrobials to control GBS disease, the evolution of AMR in the GBS population, and the future perspectives of resistant GBS infections in the post-pandemic era.

Characterization of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 19F-variants occurring in Brazil uncovers a predominant lineage that can lead to misinterpretation in capsular typing.

BACKGROUND: Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) of serogroup 19 are mainly represented by serotypes 19A and 19F, which are associated with antimicrobial resistance and disease. The wzy gene, a component of the pneumococcal capsular locus, is the target to differentiate serotypes 19A and 19F by PCR-based capsular typing. In the last decade, allelic variants of the wzy19F gene have been described, leading to misinterpretation of capsular typing results. METHODS: A collection of 154 serotype 19F S. pneumoniae strains recovered from carriage and disease in Brazil was evaluated to identify and characterize wzy19F variant isolates. RESULTS: Eleven (7%) wzy19F variant isolates were detected and identified as belonging to ST810 (n = 10) or ST13673 (n = 1; single-locus variant of ST810). They were mostly recovered from diseased patients, susceptible to the antimicrobial agents tested (except for one multidrug-resistant strain) and did not harbor pili genes. Sequences of the wzy19F gene of these variants were identical to each other and to those previously described in Brazil, but slightly different from wzy19F variants identified in other countries. CONCLUSION: This study indicated that wzy19F variants present a geographically driven distribution and was the first to uncover phenotypic and genetic features of a wzy19F variant lineage occurring in Brazil since 1989.

Virulence-Associated Characteristics of Serotype 14 and Serogroup 9 Streptococcus pneumoniae Clones Circulating in Brazil: Association of Penicillin Non-susceptibility With Transparent Colony Phenotype Variants.

Streptococcus pneumoniae remains a major agent of invasive diseases, especially in children and the elderly. The presence of pneumococcal capsule, pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA), and pilus type 1 (PI-1) and the ability of colony phase variation are assumed to play important roles in the virulence potential of this microorganism. Differences in the capsular polysaccharide allow the characterization of more than 90 pneumococcal serotypes; among them, serotype 14 and serogroup 9 stand out due to their prevalence in the pre- pneumococcal conjugate vaccine era and frequent association with penicillin non-susceptibility. Here we investigated the distribution of PI-1 and pspA genes and colony phase variants among 315 S. pneumoniae isolates belonging to serotype 14 and serogroup 9, recovered over 20 years in Brazil, and correlated these characteristics with penicillin susceptibility and genotype as determined by multilocus sequence typing. All strains were shown to carry pspA genes, with those of family 2 (pspA2) being the most common, and nearly half of the strains harbored P1-1 genes. The pspA gene family and the presence of PI-1 genes were conserved features among strains belonging to a given clone. A trend for increasing the occurrence of pspA2 and PI-1 genes over the period of investigation was observed, and it coincided with the dissemination of CC156 (Spain9V -3) clone in Brazil, suggesting a role for these virulence attributes in the establishment and the persistence of this successful clone. Opaque variant was the colony phenotype most frequently observed, regardless of clonal type. On the other hand, the transparent variant was more commonly associated with penicillin-non-susceptible pneumococci and with strains presenting evidence of recombination events involving the genes coding for polysaccharide capsule and PspA, suggesting that pneumococcal transparent variants may present a higher ability to acquire exogenous DNA. The results bring to light new information about the virulence potentials of serotype 14 and serogroup 9 S. pneumoniae isolates representing the major clones that have been associated with the emergence and the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance in our setting since the late 1980s.