Molecular epidemiology and clinical significance of Corynebacterium striatum isolated from clinical specimens

• Published in: Infection and drug resistance Vol. 12; pp. 161 - 171
• Main Authors: Suh, Jin Woong, Ju, Yongguk, Lee, Chang Kyu, Sohn, Jang Wook, Kim, Min Ja, Yoon, Young Kyung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Zealand Dove Medical Press Limited 01.01.2019; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: Abscess; Abscesses; Ampicillin; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; Bacteria; Cefotaxime; Clinical outcomes; Clinical significance; Corynebacterium striatum; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Disease transmission; DNA; Drug resistance in microorganisms; Epidemiology; Health aspects; Hospitals; Identification; Infectious diseases; Levofloxacin; Linezolid; Mass spectrometry; Medical laboratories; Medicine; Mortality; Multidrug resistance; Multidrug resistant organisms; multidrug-resistant; Multilocus sequence typing; Nosocomial infection; Nosocomial infections; opportunistic infections; Original Research; Patients; Penicillin; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Prostheses; RNA; rRNA; Scientific imaging; Skin; Spacer region; Strains (organisms); University colleges; Urine; Vancomycin; South Korea; United States > US; multilocus sequence typing; opportunistic infections; nosocomial infections; multidrug resistant; Corynebacterium striatum
• ISSN: 1178-6973; 1178-6973
• DOI: 10.2147/IDR.S184518

This study investigated the clinical epidemiology, antimicrobial susceptibility, and molecular epidemiology of isolates. An observational study was conducted at a university hospital in the Republic of Korea from August to December 2016. All subjects were patients who tested positive for clinically. Clinical data were analyzed to evaluate the microbiological and genotypic characteristics of strains. Sixty-seven isolates recovered from non-duplicated patients were characterized. Patients were classified into three groups according to the infection type: nosocomial infection (71.6%), health care-associated infection (8.7%), and community-acquired infection (18.8%). The most common clinical specimens were urine (35.8%) and skin abscesses (32.8%). Fifty-two (77.6%) isolates showed multidrug resistance, defined as resistance to ≥3 different antibiotic families. All strains were susceptible to vancomycin and linezolid. Resistance to other antibiotics varied: penicillin (n=65; 97.0%), ampicillin (n=63; 94.0%), cefotaxime (n=64; 95.5%), and levofloxacin (n=61; 91.0%). Phylogenetic analysis identified all 16 S rRNA gene sequences of the 67 isolates as those of where 98%-99% were homologous to ATCC 6940. In multilocus sequence typing for internal transcribed spacer region, , and sequencing, the most predominant sequence types (STs) were ST2, ST3, ST6, and ST5. isolates may cause opportunistic infections associated with nosocomial infections through horizontal transmission. The presence of multidrug resistance and intra-hospital dissemination implicate isolates as a potential target pathogen for infection control and antimicrobial stewardship programs.