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Le Infezioni in Medicina 2023Listeriosis is a known cause of community acquired bacterial meningitis/meningoencephalitis. It occurs more frequently in neonates, older people and immunocompromised...
BACKGROUND
Listeriosis is a known cause of community acquired bacterial meningitis/meningoencephalitis. It occurs more frequently in neonates, older people and immunocompromised hosts. Rarely, brain abscesses can complicate the course of infection, which poses a difficulty in the management and elevates morbidity and mortality. Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease that often requires immunosuppressive treatment, which increases the risk for invasive infections.
CASE DESCRIPTION
A 75-year-old myasthenic patient, treated with prednisone and pyridostigmine, was diagnosed with invasive listeriosis. He presented with muscle weakness, dyspnea, hemiparesis and altered mental status. Brain imaging revealed multiple abscesses and blood cultures were positive for . Despite combination antibiotic therapy, he died 6 weeks after admission.
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
Ninety-six cases of brain abscesses from 1968 to 2023 were reviewed; the majority of the patients were men, 54 years-old on average, and had at least one risk factor for invasive listeriosis. The mortality exceeded 22%. Blood cultures and CSF/abscess cultures were positive in only 79.2% and 54.6%, respectively. The most common therapeutic approach was a combination regimen that included amoxicillin or ampicillin. Only 8 patients underwent surgery, of which one died.
CONCLUSION
This case highlights the importance of as a cause of brain abscesses in populations at risk, including myasthenic patients. The challenge of diagnosing and treating this condition is aggravated by the paucity of literature and the high mortality rate.
PubMed: 38075415
DOI: 10.53854/liim-3104-16 -
Foods (Basel, Switzerland) Oct 2023The sale of ready-to-eat (RTE) street food represents an important source of income in many developing countries. However, these foods are frequently implicated in... (Review)
Review
The sale of ready-to-eat (RTE) street food represents an important source of income in many developing countries. However, these foods are frequently implicated in outbreaks of gastrointestinal diseases. Street food vendors face several constraints that hamper improvement in the microbiological quality of their products. The aim of this review was to update knowledge about the main causes of foodborne illnesses in developing countries, including the growing concern with the microbial transmission of antibiotic resistance. Following PRISMA guidelines, this systematic review was conducted on original articles published from January 2010 to July 2023. The search was carried out using Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, Food Science and Technology Abstracts (FSTA), the International Information System for Agricultural Sciences and Technology (AGRIS), as well as isolated searches of relevant articles from Google Scholar. The initial search identified 915 articles, 50 of which were included in this systematic review. The results indicate that, in the majority of the 15 countries examined, women constitute the predominant segment of street food vendors, representing more than 55% of the total number of these vendors. In 11 countries, street food vendors under the age of 18 were identified. Most vendors had a low level of education and, consequently, were unaware of good hygiene practices when handling food. The combination of factors such as poor hygiene practices on the part of food handlers and the lack of facilities, namely, the absence of available potable water, were frequently listed as the main causes of food contamination. Enterobacteriaceae such as (61.9%), (30.1%), and spp. (9.5%), as well as (30.1%) and (14.3%), were the most common pathogens found in RTE street foods. In 22 studies from 13 developing countries, 59% (13/22) reported high multidrug resistance in Enterobacteriaceae (40% to 86.4% in , 16.7 to 70% in , and 31 to 76.4% in . To address the challenges faced by street vendors and improve their economic activities, it is necessary for government entities, consumers, and vendors to work together collaboratively.
PubMed: 37893667
DOI: 10.3390/foods12203774 -
Biofilm Jun 2024This study investigates the potential of using bacteriophages to control foodborne pathogen biofilms on stainless steel surfaces in the food industry. Biofilm-forming...
This study investigates the potential of using bacteriophages to control foodborne pathogen biofilms on stainless steel surfaces in the food industry. Biofilm-forming bacteria can attach to stainless steel surfaces, rendering them difficult to eradicate even after a thorough cleaning and sanitizing procedures. Bacteriophages have been proposed as a possible solution, as they can penetrate biofilms and destroy bacterial cells within, reducing the number of viable bacteria and preventing the growth and spread of biofilms. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the potential of bacteriophages against different biofilm-forming foodborne bacteria, including , , , , and . Bacteriophage treatment generally causes a significant average reduction of 38 % in biofilm formation of foodborne pathogens on stainless steel. Subgroup analyses revealed that phages are more efficient in long-duration treatment. Also, applying a cocktail of phages is 1.26-fold more effective than applying individual phages. Phages at concentrations exceeding 10 PFU/ml are significantly more efficacious in eradicating bacteria within a biofilm. The antibacterial phage activity decreases substantially by 3.54-fold when applied at 4 °C compared to temperatures above 25 °C. This analysis suggests that bacteriophages can be a promising solution for controlling biofilms in the food industry.
PubMed: 38234712
DOI: 10.1016/j.bioflm.2023.100170 -
Food Research International (Ottawa,... Jul 2024Biopreservation strategies such as the use of Mediterranean plant extracts to ensure food safety are promising to deal with the emergence of antimicrobial resistances... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
Biopreservation strategies such as the use of Mediterranean plant extracts to ensure food safety are promising to deal with the emergence of antimicrobial resistances and the overreliance on food chemical additives. In the last few decades, antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) for evaluating the in vitro antibacterial potential of plant extracts against the most relevant foodborne pathogens has been widely reported in the literature. The current meta-analysis aimed to summarise and analyse the extensive evidence available in the literature regarding the in vitro antimicrobial capability of Allium, Ocimum and Thymus spp. extracts against foodborne pathogens. A systematic review was carried out to gather data on AST results of these extracts against Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus, including inhibition diameters (ID) and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC). A total of 742 records were gathered from a raw collection of 2,065 articles. Weighted mixed-effect linear models were adjusted to data to obtain pooled ID, pooled MIC and the relationship between both model estimations and observations. The pooled results revealed B. cereus as the most susceptible bacteria to Allium sativum (pooled ID = 20.64 ± 0.61 mm) by diffusion methods and S. aureus (pooled MIC = 0.146 mg/mL) by dilution methods. Diffusion methods did not yield conclusive results for Ocimum spp. extracts; however, the lowest pooled MIC was obtained for S. aureus (0.263 mg/mL). Among the foodborne pathogens evaluated, B. cereus showed the highest sensitivity to Thymus spp. extracts by both diffusion and dilution methods (pooled ID = 28.90 ± 2.34 mm and MIC = 0.075 mg/mL). The methodology used for plant extraction was found to not significantly affect MIC values (p > 0.05). Overall, the antimicrobial effectiveness of the studied extracts against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria was demonstrated. Finally, the robustness of the meta-regression model was confirmed, also revealing an inversely proportional correlation between the ID and MIC measurements (p < 0.0001). These results provide a robust scientific basis on the factors affecting the in vitro antimicrobial efficacy of extracts from Mediterranean plants. They also provide valuable information for stakeholders involved in their industrial application in food, including producers, regulatory agencies and consumers which demand green-labelled foods.
Topics: Thymus Plant; Plant Extracts; Ocimum; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Allium; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Food Microbiology; Food Safety; Bacillus cereus; Listeria monocytogenes
PubMed: 38823853
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2024.114408