Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is a species often isolated from animals, as a common element of their microbiota or an agent of infection, and from people associated with an animal habitat, including owners of home pets—dogs and cats. As with many other species, adaptation of these bacteria to the human body can occur, and they become important human pathogens. 59 S. pseudintermedius strains were investigated in this study to determine the factors contributing to human body colonization: inhibition growth of human skin residents isolated from human skin (Staphylococcus epidermidis, Corynebacterium spp., Cutibacterium acnes (formerly Propionibacterium acnes)), biofilm formation, and the presence of ten genes encoding infection-promoting features (including ebpS, spsE, lukS, lukF, pvl, lip, hlgA, hlgB). The ability of human skin to be colonized and the presence of genes that promote the development of skin infections showed the significant potential of the studied strains in their adaptation to the host. However, while a comparison of the characteristics of animal strains and those isolated from human infections does not allow us to claim that we are the witnesses of the speciation of a new human pathogen, it does indicate their gradual adaptation to the human organism.

StreszczenieW artykule przedstawiono zagadnienia dotyczące diagnostyki chorób odkleszczowych w Polsce, które stanowią obecnie jedną z grup chorób zawodowych o najszerszym zasięgu na terenie naszego kraju. Problem ten jest aktualny z uwagi na stale rosną-cą liczbę przypadków zachorowań na choroby odkleszczowe (m.in. boreliozę z Lyme, odkleszczowe zapalenie mózgu, tularemię, gorączkę Q, ludzką anaplazmozę granulocytarną, babeszjozę). Odzwierciedlają ten stan zwłaszcza ostatnie meldunki epidemiologiczne Narodowego Instytutu Zdrowia Publicznego -Państwowego Zakładu Higieny (NIZP -PZH) w Warszawie. W niniejszym artykule zawarto również informacje dotyczące taksonomii wektorów poszczególnych czynników etiologicznych chorób tej grupy i ich rezerwuarów oraz możliwości transmisji przedstawionych drobnoustrojów. Ryzyko zakażenia nimi dotyczy szczególnie osób przebywających na terenach leśno-łąkowych w celach zarówno rekreacyjnych, jak i zawodowych (pracowników terenów leśnych, rolników, osób związanych z łowiectwem). Artykuł zawiera najnowsze dane z zakresu epidemiologii, etiopatogenezy, symptomatologii, diagnostyki laboratoryjnej i wpływających na nią czynników, opracowane z uwzględnieniem obowiązują-cych na terenie Polski zaleceń Polskiego Towarzystwa Epidemiologów i Lekarzy Chorób Zakaźnych oraz rekomendacji Krajowej Izby Diagnostów Laboratoryjnych. Szczególny nacisk położono na problematykę współczesnych metod laboratoryjnych wykorzystywanych w trudnej diagnostyce chorób odkleszczowych z uwzględnieniem algorytmów diagnostycznych oraz fazy przedanalitycznej (rodzaj materiału biologicznego) i analitycznej tych badań (metody referencyjne, skuteczność poszczególnych technik, czynniki interferujące, prawidłowość postępowania diagnostycznego). Med. Pr. 2016;67(1):73-87 Słowa kluczowe: epidemiologia, boreliozy, zoonozy, kleszcze, przenosiciele chorób, kliniczne techniki laboratoryjne AbstractThe article presents an overview of diagnostics of tick-borne diseases in Poland, which form one of the most prevalent group of occupational illnesses in the Polish area. This is a current issue due to a constantly growing number of tick-borne infections, i.e., Lyme borreliosis, tick-borne encephalitis, tularemia, Q fever, human granulocytic anaplasmosis and babesiosis. The scale of the problem is well illustrated by the latest reports of the Polish National Institute of Public Health -National Institute of Hygiene (NIPH -NIH). The article also covers the taxonomy of vectors of etiological factors, as well as their reservoirs and possible transmission to humans. The highest risk of tick-borne infection is particularly connected with people either resting or working in the forest or meadow surroundings (i.e., foresters, farmers, hunters). The article contains up-to-date data on epidemiology, etiopathogenesis, symptomatology, laboratory medicine and factors affecting the credibility of results according to current recommendations of the Polish Society of Epidemiology and Physicians of Infectious Diseases and the Polish National Chamber of ...

The paper presents an analysis of 51 Staphylococcus pseudintermedius clinically isolated strains from humans and from animals. Staphylococcus pseudintermedius strains’ ability to produce β-haemolysin was evaluated with phenotypic methods (hot–cold effect, reverse CAMP test). In order to determine the hlb gene presence (coding for β-haemolysin) in a genomic DNA, PCR reactions were conducted with two different pairs of primers: one described in the literature for Staphylococcus aureus and recommended for analysing SIG group staphylococci and newly designed one in CLC Main Workbench software. Only reactions with newly designed primers resulted in product amplification, the presence of which was fully compatible with the results of phenotypic β-haemolysin test. Negative results for S. aureus and S. intermedius reference ATCC strains suggest that after further analysis the fragment of hlb gene amplified with primers described in this study might be included in the process of S. pseudintermedius strains identification.

Staphylococci constitute an important component of the human microbiome. Most of them are coagulase-negative species, whose importance in the pathogenesis of human infections has been widely recognized and is being documented on a regular basis. Until recently, the only well-known coagulase-positive staphylococcus species recognized as human pathogen was Staphylococcus aureus. Previously, the ability to produce coagulase was used as its basic diagnostic feature, because other coagulase-positive species were associated with animal hosts. Progress in the laboratory medicine, in which automatic or semi-automatic systems identify the staphylococci species, revealed a phenomenon of spreading of the coagulase positive staphylococci to new niches and hosts, as they are being isolated from human clinical materials with increasing frequency. As a result, many reaserchers and laboratories have turned their attention to the phenomenon, which caused an inflow of new data on these species. An increasingly expansive pathogenic potential of coagulase-positive staphylococci against humans has been documented. In the presented study, recent data on both S. aureus and species previously considered to be animal, i.e.

In recent years, the incoming information about the emergence of new superbacteria and superviruses has been causing growing anxiety. However, also fungi are with increasing frequency reported as the sources of intercontinental microbiological hazards. According to the latest reports, quickly spreading, multidrug-resistant and difficult to identify yeast Candida auris may soon become the center of attention for clinicians, laboratory diagnosticians and the groups of advisers on the hospital-acquired infections, also in Poland. Unfortunately, the methods employed in routine microbiological diagnostics in the Polish medical laboratories cannot reliably identify this dangerous species. It is, therefore, necessary to implement measures to develop this field.