Frecuency of carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae in anal swabs from an adult unit intensive care

The carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae (CPE) are one of the main concerns of global health, mainly those that are encoded by plasmids. The aim was to describe the progress of colonization by CPE in anal swabs of patients of intensive care unit (ICU) and COVID-ICU in an adult hospital from Chaco province, Argentina. A descriptive retrospective study was carried out between 2021 January to August. 379 anal swabs were studied, in 26% (n=98) CPE were detected. K. pneumoniae was the more frequent isolate. In January, in COVID-ICU, 18% of anal swabs where positive, being all identified as KPC carbapenemase. In August, in COVID-ICU, the total of positive anal swab raised to 81% and all detected carbapenemase were MBL type. In ICU, the percentage of positive anal swabs increased from 14% in January to 49% in August, where both KPC and MBL carbapenemases were detected. Of The total of colonized patients, 15% developed CPE infection. Active surveillance and control measures are necessary to keep down the spread of CPE.

[Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with paracoccidioidomycosis diagnosed in a hospital of Resistencia, Chaco]

In order to describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of paracoccidioidomycosis, a descriptive study of all the cases diagnosed by the Clinical Microbiology Service at Dr. Julio C. Perrando hospital in the city of Resistencia (Chaco Province, Argentina) was conducted. Between 2011 and 2014, 46 cases were detected. In the period 2013-2014, an almost 4-fold increase in the incidence rate was detected. The chronic form of the disease was predominant with an average age of 53 years. Serological tests in 39 out of 46 patients were performed. In 15 of 39 patients, serological tests were the only diagnostic tool while in 4 patients with a microbiological diagnosis serological tests were non-reactive. In patients from endemic areas with non-specific infectious syndrome it is important to include paracoccidioidomycosis in the differential diagnosis and to apply all available diagnostic tools to reach a timely diagnosis and to reduce the long-term sequelae and their socio-economic impact.

[Detection of virulence genes of the enteroaggregative pathotype in Escherichia coli strains isolated from groundwater sources in the province of Chaco, Argentina]

Groundwater is an important source of drinking water for many communities in Northern Argentina; particularly, in the province of Chaco, where about 14% of households use this natural resource. Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli is an emerging pathogen whose global importance in public health has increased in recent years. Despite the significant risk of disease linked to contaminated water exposure, the prevalence of E. coli pathotypes in aquatic environments is still not so well defined. The aim of the present study was to detect the presence of typical enteroaggregative E. coli through the recognition of its virulence factors aap, AA probe and aggR by molecular techniques. A total of 93 water samples from different small communities of Chaco were analyzed. E. coli was identified in 36 (38.7%) of the tested samples. Six strains isolated from different samples harbored the studied genes. Of these 6 isolates, 3 carried the aap gene, 2 the AA probe and the last one the combination of aap/aggR genes. The prevalence of E. coli isolates harboring enteroaggregative virulence genes in groundwater sources was 6.4%. This work represents the first contribution to the study of the presence and distribution of virulence genes of EAEC in groundwater sources in this region of Argentina.