PROBLEMS of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases最新文献

{"title":"MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE TRANSMISSION CLUSTERS OF THE HIV-1 CIRCULATING RECOMBINANT FORMS CRF01_AE AND CRF02_ AG IN BULGARIA","authors":"I. Alexiev, Reneta Dimitrova, A. Gancheva, Asya Kostadinova, Lyubomira Grigorova, Aleksandra Partsuneva, I. Elenkov, N. Yancheva, M. Stoycheva, T. Doychinova, L. Pekova, R. Emilova, M. Nikolova","doi":"10.58395/pipd.v48i1.30","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.58395/pipd.v48i1.30","url":null,"abstract":"Background. The purpose of this study was to analyse the underlying HIV transmission clusters of individuals from different vulnerable groups infected with the recombinant forms of HIV-1 – CRF01_AE and CRF02_AG, between 1986 and 2011 using sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. \u0000Material and methods. Blood samples from randomly selected 242 individuals diagnosed with HIV-1 CRF01_AE and CRF02_AG in Bulgaria were analysed. HIV-1 pol gene fragment was sequenced using the ViroSeq HIV-1 Genotyping Test (Abbott) and/or TruGene DNA Sequencing System. The phylogenetic tree reconstruction was performed with the IQ-TREE program. Identification of the phylogenetic clusters was performed using the ClusterPicker program with two parameters to identify recent and distant infection. \u0000Results.Two main local independent epidemics confined to different geographical regions of the country were caused by HIV-1 CRF01_AE and CRF02_AG. The various viral strains circulate predominantly in two major separate regions – CRF01_AE in Sofia and CRF02_AG in Plovdiv. Most of the individuals infected with viral strains analysed in this study were people who inject drugs (PWID) or heterosexuals and only a few were men who have sex with men. The phylogenetic analysis revealed transmission clusters in both recombinant forms, few in number when confined within a short period of time and multiple clusters over an extended timeframe. \u0000Conclusions. The introduction and rapid spread of two different strains of HIV-1 into geographically distant groups of PWID triggered local epidemic outbreaks. The phylogenetic analysis indicated the accelerated transmission of HIV, which is a characteristic of the spread through injection practices. Our study demonstrated that transmission cluster monitoring is important for better understanding of the development of epidemic and could be used as a tool for the identification of risk indicator populations.","PeriodicalId":124630,"journal":{"name":"PROBLEMS of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases","volume":"59 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116287184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"IN SILICO DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-RESOLUTION MLVA TYPING SCHEME FOR ENTEROCOCCUS FAECIUM","authors":"I. Stoikov, I. Ivanov, S. Sabtcheva","doi":"10.58395/pipd.v48i1.27","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.58395/pipd.v48i1.27","url":null,"abstract":"Emergence of enterococci as nosocomial pathogens is frequently associated with hospital outbreaks. Vancomycin resistance is especially perturbing as it limits the possible therapeutic options. Based on vast in silico analysis, we introduce a new multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) scheme for genotyping of Enterococcus faecium isolates, parameters of which are comparable to these of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). The scheme was tested in silico on all available at this time E. faecium genomes in NCBI Genbank. Searching for suitable variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) loci was conducted with a set of free access applications. Ten VNTR loci were selected according to their polymorphic structure and stability using the Primer-BLAST utility of NCBI. Primers were designed to be compatible in a multiplex reaction and the method was adapted for high resolution separation techniques. As a result, a total of 60 MLVA profiles and 35 MLST profiles were generated from the analysis of 114 sequenced genomes. Minimum spanning trees were created for both MLVA and MLST in order to analyze the genetic relatedness between isolates. Hunter Gaston discriminatory index was measured for both MLVA (0,959) and MLST (0,926). Typeability was also measured for both methods (MLVA – 85.9%; MLST – 89.4%). These results suggest that the new MLVA scheme is suitable for epidemiological studies of hospital-adapted E. faecium isolates.","PeriodicalId":124630,"journal":{"name":"PROBLEMS of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132542780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF TAENIASIS IN BULGARIA CAUSED BY THE BEEF TAPEWORM FOR THE PERIOD 2008-2017","authors":"M. Videnova, R. Harizanov, N. Tsvetkova, R. Borisova, I. Rainova, A. Ivanova","doi":"10.58395/pipd.v48i1.32","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.58395/pipd.v48i1.32","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of the present study is to analyse the dynamics of the distribution of taeniasis caused by the beef tapeworm (Taeniarhynchus saginatus) among the population of Bulgaria for the period 2008-2017. \u0000Material and methods. The analysis is based on laboratory and clinical data on patients diagnosed with taeniarhynchosis in DPTM at NCIPD, as well as data from epidemiological studies carried out by RHIs in accordance with the current legislation in the country. \u0000Results. For the studied period, cases of human taeniarhynchosis were reported from 21 districts of the country, with 246 infected persons. The areas with the highest number of cases during the whole period were Shumen – 14.6%, Plovdiv – 13.8%, Targovishte – 10.9 and Sofia – 10.6%. Annual morbidity ranges from 0.63 per 100 000 (2008) to 0.23 per 100 000 (2017), with average morbidity of 0.37% 000. The prevalence was higher among female subjects (61%), and the distribution by age showed a significantly higher incidence in adults (88%) compared to the group of children and adolescents (22%). The most affected were the age groups 35-39 (11.79%) and 55-59 (11.38%) years. Patients of different ethnic origin represent 54% of cases. \u0000Conclusion. Data from our study shows that cases of taeniarhynchosis, even though sporadic, are reported annually in the country. The distribution is highest in regions with well-developed private livestock farming and high rate of home meat production without veterinary control. Poor health literacy of the population resulting in environmental contamination with human excreta and the possibility of infection of intermediate hosts, as well as consumption of uncooked homemade products and insufficient veterinary health control mainly contribute to the endemic spread of taeniarhynchosis in the country.","PeriodicalId":124630,"journal":{"name":"PROBLEMS of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases","volume":"120 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127273509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"ISONIAZID - MONORESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS IN BULGARIA","authors":"S. Yordanova, Ana Baykova, Y. Atanasova, Y. Todorova, E. Bachiyska","doi":"10.58395/pipd.v48i1.29","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.58395/pipd.v48i1.29","url":null,"abstract":"Background. Isoniazid is a common drug in the treatment regimens for TB infection. Monoisoniazid resistance reduces the probability of a successful treatment outcome and increases the risk of acquiring additional drug resistance. \u0000Material and methods. For the period 2015-2016 a total of 36 TB cases were confirmed in NRL TB, Sofia, as isoniazid-monoresistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Minimum inhibitory concentration testing for isoniazid was conducted with BАСТЕС MGIT 960 System in the following concentrations of the drug: 0.1 μg/ml, 0.15μg/ml, 0.2μg/ml, 0.3μg/ml, 0.4μg/ml. Molecular testing was performed with GenoType ® MTBDRplus in order to detect the most common mutations associated with resistance to isoniazid. \u0000Results. Only 25% of the tested M. tuberculosis complex isolates with phenotypic isoniazid monoresistance had the S315T1 mutation in katG; all isolates were with MIC over 0.4 μg/ml. C15T in the promoter region of inhA was detected in 22.22% of cases and only 1 of them showed MIC below 0.4 μg/ml. No mutations were detected in nearly half of the cases (n=19, 52.78%) and most of these isolates were with lower MIC values (n=12). Conclusion. The rapid testing with GenoType ® MTBDRplus can be used as a screening procedure indicating whether further examination of isoniazid MIC is relevant in resistant M. tuberculosis and whether higher doses could be considered.","PeriodicalId":124630,"journal":{"name":"PROBLEMS of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases","volume":"50 5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126063137","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"T CELL EFFECTOR AND REGULATORY SUBSETS, DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN ACTIVE AND LATENT MTB INFECTION","authors":"Y. Todorova, R. Emilova, V. Milanov, Lilia Eneva, E. Bachiyska, Y. Atanasova, Ana Baykova, M. Nikolova","doi":"10.58395/pipd.v47i1.15","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.58395/pipd.v47i1.15","url":null,"abstract":"Last generation IFN gamma – based assays (IGRAs) evaluate bulk CD4 and CD8 T cell responses, and do not discriminate between latent and active Micobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection. The identification of biomarkers predicting the clinical course and specific therapy effect in latent MTB infection (LTBI) is a major contemporary challenge. \u0000Using multicolor flow cytometry, we compared the levels of circulating CD8 and CD4 effector subsets, in relation to the levels of phenotypically defined regulatory subsets, in two groups of age- and sex-matched MTB-infected individuals: clinically and microbiologically confirmed ATB (n=15), and QFT+ stable LTBI (n=15). \u0000As compared to LTBI subjects, ATB patients are characterized with decreased proportions of CD4 and CD8 CD45RO+CCR7- effectors (14.6% vs. 24%, and 28% vs. 40%, p <0.05 for both), decreased Th1 (10% vs. 16,5 %) and Th1/Th17 (12,5% vs. 21,5%) effector subsets. These changes are accompanied by a significantly increased share of induced (CD39+) FoxP3+CD4Treg (46% vs. 22.6%, p<0.05). The difference affected mostly the Th17-specific (CD39+CCR6+Treg) subset (10.5% vs 4.8%, p<0.05), which correlated inversely with the level of Th1/Th17 effectors (R= -0.5, p<0.05). \u0000In conclusion, we describe a clear-cut distinction between the effector/ regulatory T subset balance in ATB and LTBI. The combined evaluation of Th17Treg and Th1/Th17 effectors in peripheral blood can be employed for MTB-infection monitoring. \u0000ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: This work was supported by the Bulgarian National Science Fund (Research Grant ДН 13/1; 14.12.2017)","PeriodicalId":124630,"journal":{"name":"PROBLEMS of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123952721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"IMPACT OF THE ENVIRONMENT ON DEVELOPMENT OF HELMINTH AND PROTOZOAN INVASIVE ELEMENTS AND CONTEMPORARY METHODS FOR SANITARY- PARASITOLOGICAL DIAGNOSTICS","authors":"M. Videnova","doi":"10.58395/pipd.v47i2.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.58395/pipd.v47i2.7","url":null,"abstract":"According to the World Health Organisation, more than 1.5 billion of the world population is affected by parasitic diseases caused by geohelminths. The number of persons suffering from foodborne and waterborne protozoan diseases is similar. In developed countries, including Bulgaria, systematic sanitary and parasitological studies of soil and water are the basis for monitoring and control in protecting public health. Occurrence and prevalence of human parasitic infections is determined by the peculiarities of life cycle of parasites, peculiarities of hosts as reservoir sources, the abiotic and biotic factors of the environment as a complex providing conditions for the development or sterilisation of different parasite stages, as well as socioeconomic factors that play a leading role in the whole epidemiological process. \u0000Systematic sanitary-parasitological studies require the application of classical and novel reliable, sensitive and practical diagnostic methods that are also easy to perform, economical and efficient enough.","PeriodicalId":124630,"journal":{"name":"PROBLEMS of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130338285","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"SURVEILLANCE DATA ON BACTERIAL ENTEROCOLITIS IN BULGARIA FOR 2014-2018","authors":"M. Pavlova, V. Velev, M. Karageorgiev, E. Alexandrova, E. Kamenov, T. Kantardjiev","doi":"10.58395/pipd.v47i2.9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.58395/pipd.v47i2.9","url":null,"abstract":"Worldwide, 30% of cases of infectious diarrhoea are caused by bacterial pathogens. As in other countries of the European Union, in Bulgaria the most common etiological agents are Escherichia coli (STEC), Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Campylobacter spp. and Yersinia enterocolitica. Acute gastroenteritis and enterocolitis infections are most common in young children. According to our survey, the leading pathogens for 2014-2018 are Salmonella spp., E. coli (EPEC, ETEC) and Campylobacter spp. The rate of infections caused by Shigella spp. is relatively high compared to other European countries. \u0000The number of enterocolitis cases of undefined aetiology continues to increase because of the neglect towards diarrhoeal syndrome by patients who rarely visit a doctor or do not seek medical attention at all.","PeriodicalId":124630,"journal":{"name":"PROBLEMS of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126582046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"SEROPREVALENCE OF WEST NILE VIRUS IN BULGARIA, 2018","authors":"E. Panayotova, I. Christova, I. Trifonova, E. Taseva, T. Gladnishka, V. Ivanova","doi":"10.58395/pipd.v47i2.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.58395/pipd.v47i2.6","url":null,"abstract":"In Bulgaria, the first laboratory-confirmed West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND) case occurred in 2015 and more cases have been reported ever since. The aim of our study was to track the current circulation of West Nile virus (WNV) in the country. We collected 1830 serum samples from healthy people of every district in Bulgaria. Commercially available ELISA kits were used to detect specific anti-WNV IgG antibodies. All positive samples were tested for specific IgM antibodies using the same method. Possible risk factors were identified by calculating odds ratio. Specific IgG antibodies were detected in 22 of the samples (1.2%, CI 0.8% to 1.8%). No IgM antibodies were detected in the positive samples. The highest seroprevalence rates were found in the districts of Pleven, Varna, Silistra and Yambol. This study showed the continuous circulation and spread of WNV in Bulgaria","PeriodicalId":124630,"journal":{"name":"PROBLEMS of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases","volume":"120 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126859701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"STUDY OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF PNEUMOCYSTOSIS IN BULGARIA BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 2017 AND APRIL 2019 BY USING REAL- TIME PCR","authors":"A. Ivanova, N. Tsvetkova, R. Harizanov, R. Borisova","doi":"10.58395/pipd.v47i2.8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.58395/pipd.v47i2.8","url":null,"abstract":"Pneumocystis jirovecii is an opportunistic organism that inhabits predominantly the human pulmonary alveoli. The fully sequenced genome of P. jirovecii was first reported in 2012. According to some authors, P. jirovecii is an obligate pathogen because genes encoding virulence factors and most enzymes for amino acid biosynthesis were not found in the genome. This suggests that the microorganism normally colonises the human lungs but causes disease only in immunocompromised persons. Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is one of the most common opportunistic infections in patients developing acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The use of conventional microscopic methods in diagnosis is associated with considerable limitations. Therefore, detection of Pneumocystis DNA in clinical samples by PCR techniques leads to significant advances in the diagnosis of PCP. \u0000The aim of this study is to determine the importance of PCR-based methods in the diagnosis of human pneumocystosis and to evaluate their diagnostic value in comparison with conventional microscopy methods. For a period of 20 months in the National Reference Laboratory “Diagnosis of Parasitic Diseases” at the National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases 33 patients were tested by real-time PCR and 11 of them were found positive for the presence of P. jirovecii DNA. Eight of the patients (72.7%) were HIV-infected. Although limited in extent, this is the first real-time PCR study on the distribution of human pneumocystosis in Bulgaria. Our data shows that PCR techniques have higher sensitivity and specificity than microscopic methods and provide new opportunities for the diagnosis of Pneumocystis pneumonia.","PeriodicalId":124630,"journal":{"name":"PROBLEMS of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases","volume":"66 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124462874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"CUTANEOUS MANIFESTATIONS IN BLASTOCYSTIS SPP. INFECTION","authors":"V. Vassilev, Simona Davidovska","doi":"10.58395/pipd.v47i2.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.58395/pipd.v47i2.3","url":null,"abstract":"The pathogenic potential of Blastocystis spp. is extremely controversial. Recently, many researchers have discussed its inductive role in the etiology of various dermatological syndromes such as palmoplantar pruritus, acute, and chronic urticaria. The growing number of urticaria patients showing improvement after eradication of Blastocystis spp. infection, has proven its causative nature. Herein, we present a broad overview of the modern concept of the precise parasitological verification in the routine work-up of urticaria patients.","PeriodicalId":124630,"journal":{"name":"PROBLEMS of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases","volume":"113 7-8","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134323015","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}