Incidence, clinical implications and impact on public health of infections with Shigella spp. and entero-invasive Escherichia coli (EIEC): results of a multicenter cross-sectional study in the Netherlands during 2016-2017.

BACKGROUND: Shigella spp. and entero-invasive E. coli (EIEC) use the same invasive mechanism to cause diarrheal diseases. Public health regulations apply only to Shigella spp. infections, but are hampered by the lack of simple methods to distinguish them from EIEC. In the last decades, molecular methods for detecting Shigella spp. and EIEC were implemented in medical microbiological laboratories (MMLs). However, shigellosis cases identified with molecular techniques alone are not notifiable in most countries. Our study investigates the impact of EIEC versus Shigella spp. infections and molecular diagnosed shigellosis versus culture confirmed shigellosis for re-examination of the rationale for the current public health regulations. METHODS: In this multicenter cross-sectional study, fecal samples of patients suspected for gastro-enteritis, referred to 15 MMLs in the Netherlands, were screened by PCR for Shigella spp. or EIEC. Samples were cultured to discriminate between the two pathogens. We compared risk factors, symptoms, severity of disease, secondary infections and socio-economic consequences for (i) culture-confirmed Shigella spp. versus culture-confirmed EIEC cases (ii) culture positive versus PCR positive only shigellosis cases. RESULTS: In 2016-2017, 777 PCR positive fecal samples with patient data were included, 254 of these were culture-confirmed shigellosis cases and 32 were culture-confirmed EIEC cases. EIEC cases were more likely to report ingestion of contaminated food and were less likely to be men who have sex with men (MSM). Both pathogens were shown to cause serious disease although differences in specific symptoms were observed. Culture-negative but PCR positive cases were more likely report travel or ingestion of contaminated food and were less likely to be MSM than culture-positive cases. Culture-negative cases were more likely to suffer from multiple symptoms. No differences in degree of secondary infections were observed between Shigella spp. and EIEC, and culture-negative and culture-positive cases. CONCLUSIONS: No convincing evidence was found to support the current guidelines that employs different measures based on species or detection method. Therefore, culture and molecular detection methods for Shigella spp. and EIEC should be considered equivalent for case definition and public health regulations regarding shigellosis. Differences were found regarding risks factors, indicating that different prevention strategies may be required.

Detection of Campylobacter species and Arcobacter butzleri in stool samples by use of real-time multiplex PCR.

The presence of Campylobacter (or Campylobacter-like) species in stools from patients suspected of infectious gastroenteritis (n = 493) was investigated using real-time PCR for detection of Arcobacter butzleri (hsp60 gene), Campylobacter coli (ceuE gene), Campylobacter jejuni (mapA), five acknowledged pathogenic Campylobacter spp. (C16S_Lund assay), and the Campylobacter genus (C16S_LvI assay). In total, 71.4% of the samples were positive for Campylobacter DNA (n = 352) by a Campylobacter genus-specific (C16S_LvI) assay. A total of 23 samples (4.7%) were positive in the C16S_Lund assay, used for detection of C. jejuni, C. coli, C. lari, C. upsaliensis, and C. hyointestinalis. Subsequent identification of these samples yielded detection frequencies (DF) of 4.1% (C. jejuni), 0.4% (C. coli), and 0.4% (C. upsaliensis). The DF of A. butzleri was 0.4%. Interestingly, sequencing of a subgroup (n = 46) of C16S_LvI PCR-positive samples resulted in a considerable number of Campylobacter concisus-positive samples (n = 20). PCR-positive findings with the C16S_Lund and C. jejuni/C. coli-specific assays were associated with more serious clinical symptoms (diarrhea and blood). Threshold cycle (C(T)) values of C. jejuni/C. coli PCR-positive samples were comparable to those of the C16S_Lund PCR (P = 0.21). C(T) values for both assays were significantly lower than those of the C16S_LvI assay (P < 0.001 and P < 0.00001, respectively). In conclusion, this study demonstrated that in combination, the C. jejuni/C coli-specific assays and the C16S_Lund assay are both useful for routine screening purposes. Furthermore, the DF of the emerging pathogen C. concisus was at least similar to the DF of C. jejuni.

A Comparison of Three Different Bioinformatics Analyses of the 16S-23S rRNA Encoding Region for Bacterial Identification.

Rapid and reliable identification of bacterial pathogens directly from patient samples is required for optimizing antimicrobial therapy. Although Sanger sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene is used as a molecular method, species identification and discrimination is not always achievable for bacteria as their 16S rRNA genes have sometimes high sequence homology. Recently, next generation sequencing (NGS) of the 16S-23S rRNA encoding region has been proposed for reliable identification of pathogens directly from patient samples. However, data analysis is laborious and time-consuming and a database for the complete 16S-23S rRNA encoding region is not available. Therefore, a better, faster, and stronger approach is needed for NGS data analysis of the 16S-23S rRNA encoding region. We compared speed and diagnostic accuracy of different data analysis approaches: de novo assembly followed by Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST), operational taxonomic unit (OTU) clustering, or mapping using an in-house developed 16S-23S rRNA encoding region database for the identification of bacterial species. De novo assembly followed by BLAST using the in-house database was superior to the other methods, resulting in the shortest turnaround time (2 h and 5 min), approximately 2 h less than OTU clustering and 4.5 h less than mapping, and a sensitivity of 80%. Mapping was the slowest and most laborious data analysis approach with a sensitivity of 60%, whereas OTU clustering was the least laborious approach with 70% sensitivity. Although the in-house database requires more sequence entries to improve the sensitivity, the combination of de novo assembly and BLAST currently appears to be the optimal approach for data analysis.

Development and Validation of a Reference Data Set for Assigning Staphylococcus Species Based on Next-Generation Sequencing of the 16S-23S rRNA Region.

Many members of the Staphylococcus genus are clinically relevant opportunistic pathogens that warrant accurate and rapid identification for targeted therapy. The aim of this study was to develop a careful assignment scheme for staphylococcal species based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the 16S-23S rRNA region. All reference staphylococcal strains were identified at the species level using Sanger sequencing of the 16S rRNA, sodA, tuf, and rpoB genes and NGS of the 16S-23S rRNA region. To broaden the database, an additional 100 staphylococcal strains, including 29 species, were identified by routine diagnostic methods, 16S rRNA Sanger sequencing and NGS of the 16S-23S rRNA region. The results enabled development of reference sequences encompassing the 16S-23S rRNA region for 50 species (including one newly proposed species) and 6 subspecies of the Staphylococcus genus. This study showed sodA and rpoB targets were the most discriminative but NGS of the 16S-23S rRNA region was more discriminative than tuf gene sequencing and much more discriminative than 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Almost all Staphylococcus species could be distinguished when the max score was 99.0% or higher and the sequence similarity between the best and second best species was equal to or >0.2% (min. 9 nucleotides). This study allowed development of reference sequences for 21 staphylococcal species and enrichment for 29 species for which sequences were publicly available. We confirmed the usefulness of NGS of the 16S-23S rRNA region by identifying the whole species content in 45 clinical samples and comparing the results to those obtained using routine diagnostic methods. Based on the developed reference database, all staphylococcal species can be reliably detected based on the 16S-23S rRNA sequences in samples composed of both single species and more complex polymicrobial communities. This study will be useful for introduction of a novel diagnostic tool, which undoubtedly is an improvement for reliable species identification in polymicrobial samples. The introduction of this new method is hindered by a lack of reference sequences for the 16S-23S rRNA region for many bacterial species. The results will allow identification of all Staphylococcus species, which are clinically relevant pathogens.

Targeted next-generation sequencing of the 16S-23S rRNA region for culture-independent bacterial identification - increased discrimination of closely related species.

The aim of this study was to develop an easy-to-use culture-free diagnostic method based on next generation sequencing (NGS) of PCR amplification products encompassing whole 16S-23S rRNA region to improve the resolution of bacterial species identification. To determine the resolution of the new method 67 isolates were subjected to four identification methods: Sanger sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene; NGS of the 16S-23S rRNA region using MiSeq (Illumina) sequencer; Microflex MS (Bruker) and VITEK MS (bioMérieux). To evaluate the performance of this new method when applied directly on clinical samples, we conducted a proof of principle study with 60 urine samples from patients suspected of urinary tract infections (UTIs), 23 BacT/ALERT (bioMérieux) positive blood culture bottles and 21 clinical orthopedic samples. The resolution power of NGS of the 16S-23S rRNA region was superior to other tested identification methods. Furthermore, the new method correctly identified pathogens established as the cause of UTIs and blood stream infections with conventional culture. NGS of the 16S-23S rRNA region also showed increased detection of bacterial microorganisms in clinical samples from orthopedic patients. Therefore, we conclude that our method has the potential to increase diagnostic yield for detection of bacterial pathogenic species compared to current methods.

Multicenter evaluation of molecular and culture-dependent diagnostics for Shigella species and Entero-invasive Escherichia coli in the Netherlands.

An inter-laboratory collaborative trial for the evaluation of diagnostics for detection and identification of Shigella species and Entero-invasive Escherichia coli (EIEC) was performed. Sixteen Medical Microbiological Laboratories (MMLs) participated. MMLs were interviewed about their diagnostic methods and a sample panel, consisting of DNA-extracts and spiked stool samples with different concentrations of Shigella flexneri, was provided to each MML. The results of the trial showed an enormous variety in culture-dependent and molecular diagnostic techniques currently used among MMLs. Despite the various molecular procedures, 15 out of 16 MMLs were able to detect Shigella species or EIEC in all the samples provided, showing that the diversity of methods has no effect on the qualitative detection of Shigella flexneri. In contrast to semi quantitative analysis, the minimum and maximum values per sample differed by approximately five threshold cycles (Ct-value) between the MMLs included in the study. This indicates that defining a uniform Ct-value cut-off for notification to health authorities is not advisable.