Molecular typing of Streptococcus pneumoniae in northeastern Romania: unique clones of S. pneumoniae isolated from children hospitalized for infections and from healthy and human immunodeficiency virus-infected children in the community.

Microbiologic, serologic, and molecular typing techniques were used to characterize 272 isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae colonizing or infecting children in Iasi, Romania, during a surveillance study conducted in 1996-1998. The 574 children in the study were from the following groups: healthy children attending 2 institutions, healthy children hospitalized for elective surgery, hospitalized children with pneumococcal infections, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children in an orphanage. Pneumococci colonizing healthy children from closed communities showed close similarities to pneumococci from children with pneumococcal infections; they expressed a limited number of similar serotypes, showed high frequency of penicillin and multidrug resistance, and shared several common clonal types. In contrast, isolates recovered from healthy children hospitalized for elective surgery expressed a large variety of serotypes, were less frequently resistant to antimicrobial agents, and showed great genetic diversity. Pneumococcal flora colonizing HIV-infected children showed a more complex epidemiology. These observations suggest a possible epidemiologic connection between the flora of S. pneumoniae colonizing healthy children in closed communities and the flora found in children hospitalized for infection.

Nasopharyngeal carriage of multidrug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae in institutionalized HIV-infected and HIV-negative children in northeastern Romania.

OBJECTIVES: The study compared nasopharyngeal carriage of resistant pneumoniae in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seropositive and -seronegative children. METHODS: Nasopharyngeal colonization with Streptococcus pneumoniae was investigated during May 1996 in 162 HIV-negative infants and children (age range, 1-38 mo) and 40 HIV-infected children (age range, 39-106 mo) living in an orphanage in Iasi, northeastern Romania. The HIV-infected children lived separated from the other children and were cared for by a different staff. Streptococcus pneumoniae was isolated from 12 of 40 (30%) HIV-infected and from 81 of 160 (50%) HIV-negative children. Antimicrobial susceptibility to penicillin and ceftriaxone was determined by E-test, and to another five antibiotics by disk diffusion. Serotyping was performed by the Quellung method on 81 of 93 (87%) isolates. RESULTS: Serotypes 6A, 6B, 19A, and 23F together represented 98% of all isolates. Ninety-nine percent of S. pneumoniae isolates were resistant to penicillin, and 74% were highly resistant to penicillin (minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] > 1 mg/mL); MIC50 and MIC90 to penicillin of the isolates were 2 mg/mL and 8 mg/mL, respectively. Eighty-nine of ninety-one isolates were susceptible to ceftriaxone; 99%, 87%, 87%, 48%, and 21% of the isolates were resistant to trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole, erythromycin, clindamycin, tetracycline, and chloramphenicol, respectively. Eighty-two (89%) isolates were multidrug resistant (resistant to =/>3 antibiotic classes); 37 of 92 (40%) isolates were resistant to 5 or more antibiotic classes, and 16 of these 37 (43%) belonged to serotype 19A. All serotype 19 isolates were highly resistant to penicillin. CONCLUSIONS: No significant differences were observed in the resistance rates of S. pneumoniae in HIV-infected children compared to HIV-negative children. Multidrug-resistant pneumococci were highly prevalent in this Romanian orphanage in both HIV-negative and older HIV-infected children. The observed high prevalence of multidrug-resistant pneumococci (coupled with high penicillin resistance) with a limited number of circulating serotypes emphasizes the need to further evaluate the conjugate vaccines in children at risk for invasive pneumococcal infection.

Use of the presence of anti-protein gag antibodies as an evolution marker of HIV infection.

The paper studies the modifications occurring in the prevalence of anti-protein gag antibodies during the evolution of the infection in a paediatric population iatrogenically infected and not submitted to antiretroviral treatment. The study was performed by annual clinical examination of children and by laboratory determinations: western-blot, p24 Ag assay, determination of lymphocyte population by flowcytometry. The predictive capacity of p17 antibodies was revealed, their occurrence after seroconversion pointing to a favourable evolution, with a longer asymptomatic period; the disappearance of these antibodies during the disease indicates a more advanced stage of the disease. The disappearance of p24 and p55 antibodies during the evolution of the disease shows a more advanced stage of the disease, both clinically and as concerning the immunosuppression degree.

[The antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated in units with an elevated nosocomial risk and in outpatient facilities in 1995]. / Rezistenta la antibiotice a unor tulpini de Staphylococcus aureus izolate din unitati cu risc nosocomial ridicat si din ambulatorii în anul 1995.

Antibiotic susceptibility testing in 231 strains of S. aureus isolated from patients highly exposed to the nosocomial risk and from patients treated in ambulatories for staphylococcal infections revealed significant discrepancies in respect to the incidence of multiple resistant strains and dispersion of resistance phenotypes. MRSA incidence rose to 58-85% in hospital boards, that indicated an "alarm state" which requests the supply of the efficient antibiotic. The 27.18% of MRSA between the strains isolated in ambulatories points to the risk of spreading this strains abroad the community and into the hospital boards and requests the monitoring of the chemotherapy in such of health carry units and of the antibiotic "automedication".

[The parameters of the immune function in the evolution of HIV-1 infection in institutionalized children in Romania]. / Parametri ai functiei imune în evolutia infectiei HIV1 la copii institutionalizati din România.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the evolution of HIV-1 + horizontal infected children nursed in closed community. METHOD: The biological status of 26 HIV-1 + children nursed in Iasi Orphanage was assessed in dynamic during April. 1993-Feb. 1994. The income age ranged among 1 month-3 years. RESULTS: The following progressive stages could be drawn accordingly to the biological status parameters dynamic: stage 1 ("oligosymptomatic"), stage 2 ("multiform, medium or severe symptomatology"), and stage 3 ("severe immunodepression, with predominant infectious symptomatology, waves evolution"). These stages could not be assimilated to the currently CDC or WHO classifications. The following thresholds of the immunologically parameters separate the stages 1 and 2, and respective stages 2 and 3: CD4% lymphocytes (27% respective 20%); absolute CD4+ lymphocytes (1150/microliter respective 700 + 750/microliter), CD4/CD8 ratio (0.75 respective 0.45), beta 2-microglobulin (1.5 mg/1000 respective 2.5 mg/ 1000). Lymphocytes lacking the markers CD4, CD8, CD19, CD3, ranging between 15 + 20% were also detected by flow-cytometry; these cells could be attributed to the immature subpopulations (typically for dystrophy) or to down-regulation of membrane expression of some markers. Also, a dichotomy in the distribution of the CD2/CD3 surface markers was recorded in the case of lymphocytes. CONCLUSIONS: Immunological features demarcate this epidemiological group versus the current described models for the HIV-1 + child.