Recent Records on Bacterial Opportunistic Infections via the Dietary Route

Abstract

This narrative review was aimed at identifying the opportunistic bacterial pathogens that can be transmitted by contaminated food and represent a current threat for patients particularly susceptible to infections because of underlying conditions or predisposing factors. The analysis was focused on recent case or outbreak reports and systematic reviews published in the years 2019 to 2023 and resulted in sorting 24 bacterial groups comprising the genera or species able to cause a variety of systemic or invasive infections if ingested with food or drinking water. These included both bacteria known to cause mild infections in immunocompetent persons and bacteria considered to be innocuous, which are used in food fermentation or as probiotics. No recent cases of infections transmitted through dietary routes were reported for the critical nosocomial pathogens widely found in food products, primarily Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae. However, the very first sources of their introduction into the clinical environment still need to be established. In many instances, risky dietary habits, such as eating raw fish, seafood, raw meat, unpasteurized milk, and their derived products or the lack of control in fermentation processes, has led to the reported illnesses, pointing out the necessity to improve the hygiene of production and consumer awareness of the risks.

Bacterial Metabarcoding of Raw Palm Sap Samples From Bangladesh With Nanopore Sequencing

“…Beyond fermentation bacteria we identified a number of opportunistic bacteria from the Enterobacter, Citrobacter, Acinetobacter, Streptococcus and Serratia genera. Enterobacter was found in four samples (barcodes 4, 8, 9, 13); Citrobacter in one sample (barcode 6); Acinetobacter in seven samples (barcodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11) and Serratia in four samples (barcodes 5,6,11,13). Interestingly, Streptococcus was identified only in those two samples, where the Lactococcus dominance is observable.…”

“…However the sequencing method could not provide species-level details of these, simply the presence of these bacteria supports the potential for causing negative health effects such as gastrointestinal problems. Particularly, Streptococcus may refer to faecal contamination which may originate from visiting animals during the collection [13].…”

Bacterial Metabarcoding of Raw Palm Sap Samples from Bangladesh with Nanopore Sequencing

“…Nonetheless, the presence of these bacteria supports the potential to cause negative health effects, such as gastrointestinal problems. In particular, Streptococcus may be associated with fecal contamination, which may originate from visiting animals during collection [21]. These genera have multiple members with opportunistic pathogenic potential, and some of them are known to cause nosocomial infections, such as some Enterobacter species [16].…”