In conclusion, mother-to-child transmission is the main route of intrafamilial transmission of H. pylori in Iranian families. Molecular typing of H. pylori can be useful in identifying a high-risk population.

ObjectivesThe clinical importance of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is attributed to notable virulence factors, surface proteins, toxins, and enzymes as well as the rapid development of drug resistance. The aim of this study was to compare the occurrence of virulence factors produced by S. aureus strains isolated from children in an Iranian referral children's hospital.MethodsThe presence of genes encoding for the enterotoxins A (sea), B (seb), C (sec), D (sed), TSST-1 (tsst), exfoliative toxin A (eta), and exfoliative toxin B (etb) were detected by Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using specific primers. In addition, the standardized Kirby-Bauer disc-diffusion method was performed on Mueller-Hinton agar.ResultsIn total, 133 S. aureus isolates were obtained from different patients. Of these S. aureus isolates, 64 (48%) were methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), and all of these tested positive for the mecA gene. Regarding the classical enterotoxin genes, sea gene (40.6%) was the most prevalent followed by seb (19.6%), tsst (12.8%), eta (11.3%), etb (9%), sed (4.5%), and sec (3%). Among methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates, seb and tsst were the more prevalent toxins in comparison with MRSA isolates (p < 0.05), while the frequency of sea, sed, eta, and etb genes were higher among MRSA isolates (p > 0.05).ConclusionIn our study enterotoxin A was produced by 40.6% of the isolates (48% from MRSA and 33% from MSSA isolates) which was higher than in previous reports. According to our results, strict hygiene and preventative measures during food processing are highly recommended.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic is an overwhelming crisis across the world. Human Coronavirus OC43 (HCoV‐OC43) is a Betacoronavirus responsible mostly for mild respiratory symptoms. Since the presentations of HCoV‐OC43 and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐COV‐2) are believed to resemble a lot, the aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency and characteristics of HCoV‐OC43 in the current pandemic and the rate of coinfection for the two viruses. One hundred and seventeen patients referred to Children's Medical Center, Tehran, Iran with respiratory symptoms were included. Real‐time reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) methods were performed for the detection of HCoV‐OC43 and SARS‐COV‐2. Totally, 23 (20%) had a positive RT‐PCR for HCoV‐OC43 and 25 (21%) were positive for SARS‐COV‐2. Two patients (2%) had a positive PCR for both HCoV‐OC43 and SARS‐COV‐2. The two groups showed significant differences in having contact with family members with suspected or confirmed COVID‐19 (p = 0.017), fever (p =  0.02), edema (p = 0.036), vomiting (p < 0.001), abdominal complaints (p = 0.005), and myalgia (p = 0.02). The median level of lymphocyte count in patients with HCoV‐OC43 was significantly lower than patients with SARS‐COV‐2 infection (p =  0.039). The same frequency of SARS‐COV‐2 and HCoV‐OC43 was found in children with respiratory symptoms during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The rate of coinfection of SARS‐COV‐2 with HCoV‐OC43 in our study was 0.08. Further research into the cocirculation of endemic coronaviruses, such as HCoV‐OC43 and SARS‐CoV2, in different regions, is highly recommended. Attempts to determine the geographic distribution and recruit more flexible test panel designs are also highly recommended.

IntroductionA serious problem affecting human society is the development of bacterial resistance. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the antibiotic resistance of Gram-positive bacteria (GPB) and genotyping of common GPB causing hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in patients who were referred to Children’s Medical Center during a 6-month period by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequence polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR).MethodsDuring the 6-month period, antimicrobial resistance profiles of GPB isolates recovered from patients in Children’s Medical Center were determined using the Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion and MIC. Typing of common GPB was performed and the results were analyzed by gel compare software.ResultsIn this cross-sectional study, 6524 cultures were performed and 138 Ggram-positive bacteria were isolated (2%). Staphylococcus aureus strains showed the highest antibiotic penicillin resistance (96.3%). Twenty-six per cent of the strains were methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and no resistance was found against vancomycin. All isolates of Enterococcus faecium were resistant to ciprofloxacin (100%). The resistance to vancomycin was very high (67%) and no resistance was observed to linezolid. The results of genotyping analysis of S. epidermidis strains showed the presence of two clones with a genetic relationship of over 80%. All of the S. aureus strains were in one cluster and half of the E. faecium strains were in a cluster with a genetic predilection of over 80%.ConclusionThis study indicated frequent occurrence of antimicrobial resistance, especially in Enterococcus spp. isolates. Rapid spreads of MRSA and VREF from a clonal origin require implementing careful isolation and infection control measures.

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