Toxigenic strains of Vibrio cholerae, although not endemic in New Zealand, are isolated occasionally from recent overseas travellers. Isolates should be confirmed biochemically and serologically and the presence of cholera toxin genes established by a reference laboratory, as non-toxigenic strains are found here in the summer months. Serotypes O1 and O139 are the causative agents of epidemic ch...

background shiga-toxigenic escherichia coli is an important human pathogen cause of diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, hemolytic uremic syndrome and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in humans is a significant public health. objectives the aim of this study was to determine the molecular characteristics and antimicrobial resistance properties of shiga toxigenic escherichia coli (stec) strains wit...

background: clostridium difficile (c. difficile) infection is one of the most important diseases in healthcare facilities and community. ribotypes 027 and 078 are known as hyper-virulent strain of c. difficile in molecular study. pcr-ribotyping is a suitable method to interpret the relation of c. difficile isolated from food and hospital. objectives: in the present study, the clostridim diffici...

A prospective study was conducted to investigate the incidence, clinical profiles and outcome of ICU-onset CDI in a 50-bed medical ICU at a university hospital in China. Stools were collected from patients who developed ICU-onset diarrhea and was screened for tcdA (toxin A gene) and tcdB (toxin B gene) by PCR. CDI cases were compared with the ICU-onset non-CDI diarrhea cases for demographics, c...

Chronic exposure to toxigenic molds in water-damaged buildings is an indoor environmental health problem to which escalating health and property insurance costs are raising a statewide concern in recent times. This paper reviews the structural and functional properties of mycotoxins produced by toxigenic molds and their interactive health implications with antifungal drugs. Fundamental bases of...

A 1947 base pair (bp) fragment of the toxin A gene of Clostridium difficile was sequenced. A continuous open reading frame was found, which contained 4 distinct groups of repeat nucleotide sequence with 88 to 100% identity within each group. The arrangement of the groups (A, 81 bp, B, C and D, 63 bp) was ABCCCDABCDDABCCCDABCCDABCDABC. Based on nucleotide sequence data from the C repeat group, a...

AIM To test the hypothesis that sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) may be caused by toxins of commonly occurring bacteria in infants lacking developed immunity. METHODS Nasopharyngeal microbial isolates from 22 pairs of SIDS cases and healthy infants matched for age (by month), sex, and sampling time (by month) were compared for lethal toxigenicity. Crude toxin preparations were made from is...