Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is the leading cause of neonatal invasive infections and an emerging pathogen in the elderly. Our objectives were to describe the evolution of GBS resistance to antibiotics in France and to investigate the emergence of fluoroquinolone (FQ)-resistant isolates. A total of 8,757 unrelated GBS isolates were collected and tested for antibiotic susceptibility from 2007 to 2014 according to EUCAST recommendations. All isolates were susceptible to penicillin G, amoxicillin, and vancomycin. Resistance to macrolides decreased from 47.0% to 30.0%, whereas high-level resistance to aminoglycosides, especially amikacin, increased from 6.4% to 8.8% and 24 isolates (0.3%) were highly resistant to gentamicin. FQ resistance gradually increased from 0.2% in 2007 (n ‫؍‬ 1) to 1.5% in 2014 (n ‫؍‬ 18, P < 0.01). Capsular polysaccharide (CPS) genotyping, multilocus sequence typing, and sequencing of the quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR) showed that GBS isolates of sequence type 19 (ST-19) CPS type V were largely overrepresented in FQ-resistant isolates (n ‫؍‬ 30, 45.5%). All 30 strains displayed the same QRDR mutations and were often associated with cross-resistance to macrolides (93.3%) and gentamicin (30%). In conclusion, we report the rise of FQ-and aminoglycoside-resistant GBS in France over an 8-year study period, an evolution likely linked to the clonal expansion of ST-19 CPS V-resistant isolates. This study emphasizes the need for a continuous surveillance of GBS epidemiology and antibiotic susceptibility. G roup B Streptococcus (Streptococcus agalactiae; GBS) is aGram-positive encapsulated bacterium colonizing the intestinal and vaginal tracts of 10 to 30% of healthy adults. This commensal bacterium is also the leading cause of neonatal invasive infections (bacteremia and meningitis) in industrialized countries and a pathogen of growing importance in the elderly, especially in people suffering from underlying diseases such as diabetes or cancer (1-5). The mortality rate of neonatal infections reaches approximately 10%, and up to 40% of infants who survive meningitis are left with permanent neurologic sequelae, making the global burden of GBS infections significant (2,5,6). Epidemiological studies based on capsular polysaccharide (CPS) typing revealed that GBS isolates are not similarly represented among colonizing and infectious strains. Among the 10 serotypes described to date (Ia, Ib, and II to IX), CPS types Ia, II, III, and V are almost equally prevalent among colonizing strains and are responsible for 70% of adult invasive infections worldwide (3-5, 7, 8). Conversely, CPS type III has been identified since the 1970s as strongly associated with neonatal infections and is currently responsible for more than 60% of these (1-3, 7).Penicillins or aminopenicillins are recommended as the firstline antibiotics against GBS infections (9). These antibiotics remain highly active, even though strains with reduced susceptibility were recently described in Asia and North America (10-12). Macroli...

Quantitative PCR (qPCR) is now a key diagnostic tool forPneumocystispneumonia. However, cutoffs to distinguish between infected and colonized patients according to their HIV status have not yet been determined. According to clinical, radiological, and biological data, we retrospectively classified bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples subjected to qPCR over a 3-year period into four categories, i.e., definite PCP, probable PCP,Pneumocystiscolonization, and no infection. Fungal burden was then analyzed according to the HIV status of the patients. Among 1,212 episodes of pneumonia screened in immunocompromised patients, 52 and 27 HIV-positive patients were diagnosed with a definite and probable PCP, whereas 4 and 22 HIV-negative patients had definite and probable PCP, respectively. Among patients with definite or a probable PCP, HIV-negative patients had a significantly lower burden than HIV-positive patients (P< 10−4). In both groups, the median fungal burden was significantly higher in patients with definite PCP than in colonized patients. A single cutoff at 1.5 × 104copies/ml allowed to differentiate colonized and infected HIV-positive patients with 100% sensitivity and specificity. In HIV-negative patients, cutoff values of 2.87 × 104and 3.39 × 103copies/ml resulted in 100% specificity and sensitivity, respectively. Using cutoffs determined for the whole population would have led us to set aside the diagnosis of PCP in 9 HIV-negative patients with definite or probable PCP. qPCR appeared to be the most sensitive test to detectPneumocystisin BAL samples. However, because of lower inocula in HIV-negative patients, different cutoffs must be used according to the HIV status to differentiate between colonized and infected patients.

Objectives: Group B Streptococcus (GBS) (Streptococcus agalactiae) is a pathogen of growing importance in adults. The objective of this study was to describe the features of invasive infections by GBS in nonpregnant adults. Methods: GBS infections were reported to the national reference centre for streptococci. Clinical information was abstracted from questionnaires. Capsular typing, identification of the hypervirulent CC-17 clone, and antibiotic susceptibility testing were performed for all GBS isolates. Multi-locus sequence typing and assignment to clonal complexes (CCs) was performed on a representative sample of 324 isolates. Results: In total, 1960 GBS invasive infections were analysed from 2007 to 2019. The median age at onset was 71 years old (range 18e103). The main manifestation was bacteraemia without focus (54.5%). Meningitis was more frequent in patients under 40 (26/180, 14.4% versus 78/1780, 4.4%, p < 0.0001). Capsular types Ia, Ib, II, III and V accounted for 91.0% of the cases (1786/1960). CC-1, -10, -17, -19 and -23 accounted for 96.3% (312/324) of the cases. Capsular type III and CC-17 were overrepresented in meningitis (38/104, 36.5%, p < 0.001 and 22/104, 21.2%, p 0.01, respectively). All isolates were susceptible to blactam antibiotics. Resistance to erythromycin (32.7%) and clindamycin (26.3%) remained stable, whereas decreased susceptibility to fluoroquinolones increased, reaching 2.7% in 2019 (p for trend 0.002). Conclusions: This work highlights the susceptibility of the elderly to GBS infections and differences in the clinical manifestations according to the patients' age and GBS type. In agreement with worldwide reports on emerging multidrug-resistant GBS, it reinforces the need for a continued surveillance of GBS epidemiology.

In these sentinel, urban populations there is tremendous variation in the rate of HIV-1 infection (over 70-fold). The very high seroprevalence at some sentinel hospitals indicates the need for routine screening for HIV-1 infection among some groups of patients, regardless of clinical presentation.

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Serum specimens from patients attending sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics in Denver and several southeastern US cities were tested for antibody to human T-lymphotropic virus type I or II (HTLV-I/II). In Denver, 8 (2.1%) of 384 patients with a history of intravenous (IV) drug use, versus none of 201 non-IV-drug users, were HTLV-I/II seropositive. Only 2 (0.18%) of 1095 STD clinic patients from the southeastern USA had antibodies to HTLV-I/II. These data document a low prevalence of HTLV-I/II in STD clinic patients from the southeastern USA and confirm that IV drug use is an important risk factor for HTLV-I/II in the USA.

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