Introduction: Shigella spp. are Gram-negative, nonsporulating, rod-shaped bacteria that belong to the family Enterobacteriaceae and are responsible for shigellosis or bacillary dysentery, an important cause of worldwide morbidity and mortality. Methods: We studied the antibiotic resistance profiles of 122 Shigella spp. strains (81 S. flexneri, 41 S. sonnei, 1 S. boydii) isolated from patients (female and male from 0 to 80 years of age) presenting diarrhea in different districts of the State of Pará, in the North of Brazil. The antibiotic resistance of the strains, isolated from human fecal samples, was determined by the diffusion disk method and by using the VITEK-2 system. Results: The highest resistance rate found was the resistance rate to tetracycline (93.8%), followed by the resistance rate to chloramphenicol (63.9%) and to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (63.1%). Resistance to at least three drugs was more common among S. flexneri than S. sonnei (39.5% vs. 10%). Six (4.9%) strains were susceptible to all the antibiotics tested. All strains were susceptible to cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid and nitrofurantoin. Conclusions: High rates of multidrug resistance in Shigella spp. are a serious public health concern in Brazil. It is extremely important to continuously monitor the antimicrobial resistances of Shigella spp. for effective therapy and control measures against shigellosis.

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Introduction: The outbreak occurred between February and June 2006 and included identification of the cases, analysis of medical records, cultures from environmental sources, resistance analyses and genotyping profile of Serratia marcescens. Methods: The cultures were composed of 13 blood isolates, 17 rectal and hand swabs and air sampling. Results: The data obtained by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis exhibited three strains that contaminated 24 patients. Systemic infection was the most common in neonates with lower weight, long periods of hospitalization, premature delivery and the use of mechanical ventilation. Conclusions: This investigation revealed the multifactorial nature of the outbreak. An endemic clone of S. marcescens was detected.

Aim: Serratia marcescens is pathogen associated with nosocomial outbreaks among immunocompromised individuals. Molecular typing methods are useful tools for determining genetic relationships among bacterial isolates. The present study reports the analysis of the clonal relationships among S. marcescens isolates from an outbreak occurred in the neonatal unit (NU) at a referral public hospital of Belém, Pará, Brazilian Amazon, using PFGE and rep-PCR.Material and Methods: Thirty isolates were obtained from referral hospital in the Brazilian Amazon. The molecular typing of isolates was performed using pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and semiautomated rep-PCR in the DiversiLab System®.Results: Results revealed that by PFGE there was the formation of three main clusters containing three, 13 and nine isolates. The DiversiLab rep-PCR analysis identified an agreement of 80.64% (25 of the 31 strains) compared to PFGE. Conclusions:The semiautomated rep-PCR was similarly efficient as the PFGE for S. marcescens, demonstrating to be as efficient tool for outbreaks investigation.

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Typhoidal salmonellosis is a global public health problem occurring in developing endemic regions. In Brazil, cases are mostly registered in the North and Northeast regions. Molecular characterization of the strains is important to understand the epidemiology of disease infections and to design control strategies. The present study retrospectively evaluates the genotyping features of sporadic and outbreak-related Salmonella Typhi isolates from the Brazilian North region. Bacterial isolates were recovered from blood and a rectal swab of patients in the states of Acre and Pará, Brazilian North region, in the period of 1995 to 2013, and were submitted to genotyping by applying Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) reference methods. MLST genotyping revealed the presence of epidemic clones ST1 and ST2, and 20 pulsotypes were identified by PFGE, including four distinct clusters (A–D), and six subclusters (A1–D1) with indistinguishable strains in different periods and locations. To conclude, the obtained data demonstrates the temporal stability, adaptation, and transmission of outbreak-related and sporadic S. Typhi strains over time, contributing to the transmission chain in the region.