Clostridium difficile (CD) produces antibiotic associated diarrhea and leads to a broad range of diseases. The source of CD infection (CDI) acquisition and toxigenic profile are factors determining the impact of CD. This study aimed at detecting healthcare facility onset- (HCFO) and community-onset (CO) CDI and describing their toxigenic profiles in Bogotá, Colombia. A total of 217 fecal samples from patients suffering diarrhea were simultaneously submitted to two CDI detection strategies: (i) in vitro culture using selective chromogenic medium (SCM; chromID, bioMérieux), followed verification by colony screening (VCS), and (ii) molecular detection targeting constitutive genes, using two conventional PCR tests (conv.PCR) (conv.16S y conv.gdh) and a quantitative test (qPCR.16s). The CD toxigenic profile identified by any molecular test was described using 6 tests independently for describing PaLoc and CdtLoc organization. High overall CDI frequencies were found by both SCM (52.1%) and conv.PCR (45.6% for conv.16S and 42.4% for conv.gdh), compared to reductions of up to half the frequency by VCS (27.2%) or qPCR.16S (22.6%). Infection frequencies were higher for SCM and conv.16S regarding HCFO but greater for CO concerning conv.gdh, such differences being statistically significant. Heterogeneous toxigenic profiles were found, including amplification with lok1/3 primers simultaneously with other PaLoc markers (tcdA, tcdB or tcdC). These findings correspond the first report regarding the differential detection of CDI using in vitro culture and molecular detection tests in Colombia, the circulation of CD having heterogeneous toxigenic profiles and molecular arrays which could affect the impact of CDI epidemiology.

Clostridium difficile , the causal agent of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, has a complex epidemiology poorly studied in Latin America. We performed a robust genomic and phenotypic profiling of 53 C . difficile clinical isolates established from diarrheal samples from either intrahospital (IH) or community (CO) populations in central Colombia. In vitro tests were conducted to evaluate the cytopathic effect, the minimum inhibitory concentration of ten antimicrobial agents, the sporulation efficiency and the colony forming ability. Eleven different sequence types (STs) were found, the majority present individually in each sample, however in three samples two different STs were isolated. Interestingly, CO patients were infected with STs associated with hypervirulent strains (ST-1 in Clade-2). Three coexistence events (two STs simultaneously detected in the same sample) were observed always involving ST-8 from Clade-1. A total of 2,502 genes were present in 99% of the isolates with 95% of identity or more, it represents a core genome of 28.6% of the 8,735 total genes identified in the set of genomes. A high cytopathic effect was observed for the isolates positive for the two main toxins but negative for binary toxin (TcdA+/TcdB+/CDT− toxin production type), found only in Clade-1. Molecular markers conferring resistance to fluoroquinolones ( cdeA and gyrA ) and to sulfonamides ( folP ) were the most frequent in the analyzed genomes. In addition, 15 other markers were found mostly in Clade-2 isolates. These results highlight the regional differences that C . difficile isolates display, being in this case the CO isolates the ones having a greater number of accessory genes and virulence-associated factors.

The carbapenemase OXA-244 is a derivate of OXA-48, and its detection is very difficult in laboratories. Here, we report the identification and genomic analysis of an Escherichia coli isolate (28Eco12) harboring the blaOXA-244 gene identified in Colombia, South America. The 28Eco12 isolate was identified during a retrospective study, and it was recovered from a patient treated in Colombia. The complete nucleotide sequence was established using the PacBio platform. A comparative genomics analysis with other blaOXA-244–harboring Escherichia coli strains was performed. The 28Eco12 isolate belonged to sequence type (ST) 38, and its genome was composed of two molecules, a chromosome of 5,343,367 bp and a plasmid of 92,027 bp, which belonged to the incompatibility group IncY and did not harbor resistance genes. The blaOXA-244 gene was chromosomally encoded and mobilized by an ISR1-related Tn6237 composite transposon. Notably, this transposon was inserted and located within a new genomic island. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a blaOXA-244–harboring Escherichia coli isolate in America. Our results suggest that the introduction of the OXA-244-producing E. coli isolate was through clonal expansion of the ST38 pandemic clone. Other isolates producing OXA-244 could be circulating silently in America.

Infections due to multidrug-resistant pathogens are a growing problem worldwide. The production of carbapenemases in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacterales cause a high impact on the mortality of infected patients.

Introducción. Clostridium difficile es el principal responsable de la diarrea asociada al uso de antibióticos. En Colombia y en Latinoamérica, el conocimiento sobre el comportamiento epidemiológico de la infección por C. difficile todavía es limitado.Objetivo. Describir las características de una serie de pacientes con infección por C. difficile.Materiales y métodos. Se hizo un estudio descriptivo de una serie de casos de pacientes con infección por C. difficile atendidos en la Fundación Clínica Shaio, entre enero de 2012 y noviembre de 2015.Resultados. Se estudiaron 36 pacientes con una edad promedio de 65 años. Se determinaron los siguientes factores relacionados con la infección por C. difficile: uso previo de antimicrobianos (94,4 %), hospitalización en los últimos tres meses (66,7 %) y uso de inhibidores de la bomba de protones (50 %). Las comorbilidades más comunes fueron la enfermedad renal crónica (41,7 %) y la diabetes mellitus (30,6 %). Los síntomas más frecuentes fueron más de tres deposiciones diarreicas (97,1 %) y dolor abdominal (42,9 %). En cuanto a la gravedad de los casos, 44,4 % se clasificó como leve a moderado, 38,9 % como grave, y 11,1 % como complicado o grave. El método de diagnóstico más utilizado (63,8% de los pacientes) fue la identificación de la toxina mediante reacción en cadena de la polimerasa (PCR). La mortalidad global durante la hospitalización fue de 8 %. Se identificaron cuatro cepas del serotipo NAP1/027 y nueve muestras fueron positivas para la toxina binaria.Conclusión. La infección por C. difficile debe sospecharse en pacientes con deposiciones diarreicas y factores asociados tradicionalmente a esta enfermedad. Se reportó la circulación de cepas hipervirulentas del serotipo NAP1/027 en Colombia, lo cual debe enfrentarse con la vigilancia epidemiológica y el diagnóstico temprano