A prospective study of intrafamilial transmission and antimicrobial susceptibility of Moraxella catarrhalis

作者:Masaki Hironori; Qin Liang*; Zhou Zhaoyan; Onizuka Tomoko; Watanabe Kiwao; Hu Bijie; Watanabe Hiroshi
来源:Microbiology and Immunology, 2011, 55(9): 599-604.
DOI:10.1111/j.1348-0421.2011.00360.x

摘要

Moraxella catarrhalis has been recognized as a particularly threatening respiratory tract pathogen in humans. A prospective study was performed to investigate which strains of M. catarrhalis can be transmitted within families; the study also addressed features of antimicrobial susceptibility. Seventy-five strains were isolated from six participants between July 2002 and February 2004, including 73 that were verified as beta-lactamase- producing strains. Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested for six types of antibiotics and no treatment issues were found. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed on all strains and 25 independent PFGE patterns were detected. The dominant pattern L (defined in the present study) was found in 21 (28%) of strains that were continuously recovered from children from the same family over an 8-month period. Strains with the patterns G, J, L, M, R, S, U, and W seemed to spread among the children, but there was no evidence of child-parent transmission. In the present study, the characteristics of M. catarrhalis within families have been documented, and PFGE profiles found to reveal alternating colonization and intrafamilial transmission.