Whole-Genome Sequence Analysis of Streptococcus pneumoniae Strains That Cause Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia Infections [Bacteriology]

In this study, we analyzed S. pneumoniae strains that caused 19 pneumonia episodes in long-term inpatients with severe underlying disease in a hospital during a period of 14 months (from January 2014 to February 2015). Serotyping and whole-genome sequencing analyses revealed that 18 of the 19 pneumonia cases were caused by S. pneumoniae strains belonging to 3 genetically distinct groups: clonal complex 9999 (CC9999), sequence type 282 (ST282), and ST166. The CC9999 and ST282 strains appeared to have emerged separately by a capsule switch from the pandemic PMEN 1 strain (Spain23F-ST81). After all the long-term inpatients were inoculated with the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, no other nosocomial pneumonia infections occurred until March 2016.
Source: Journal of Clinical Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Bacteriology Source Type: research