• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.336-343
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• 2006

We compared the antimicrobial resistance and clonal relationships among the community-acquired (CA) and hospital-acquired (HA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains that were isolated from blood cultures in a university hospital over a 4-year period. A total of 131 MRSA isolates, including 28 CA-MRSA and 103 HA-MRSA strains, were identified; antimicrobial susceptibility testing indicated that the CA-MRSA isolates were more susceptible to erythromycin (21 % vs 6% ; P=0.02), clindamycin (46% vs 12%; P<0.01), ciprofloxacin (43% vs 11%; P<0.01), and gentamicin (43% vs 6%; P<0.01) than were the HA-MRSA isolates. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing and antimicrobial resistance profiles separated the 20 CA-MRSA isolates into 14 and 10 different patterns, respectively, and the 53 HA-MRSA isolates were separated into 24 and 7 different patterns, respectively. Twenty-one (40%) of the 53 HA-MRSA isolates belonged to two predominant PFGE types, and most of them showed multi-drug resistant patterns. Four (20%) of the 20 CA-MRSA and 10 (19%) of the 53 HA-MRSA isolates fell into two common PFGE patterns, and each of them showed the same multi-drug resistant pattern. This study suggests that, although the CA-MRSA blood isolates showed diverse PFGE and antimicrobial resistance patterns, some of these isolates may have originated from the HA-MRSA strains.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.447-455
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• 2013

Objectives: This study aims to understand the concentration, diversity, and antibiotic characteristics of staphylococci present in the indoor air of child-care facilities. Methods: Air sampling was performed from October 2012 to January 2013 in 120 child-care facilities in Seoul, Korea. Methicillin-resistant bacteria were selected from the total obtained airborne bacteria and subjected to 16S rRNA analysis for methicillin-resistant staphylococcal species determination. Identified staphylococcal strains were tested for resistance to a range of antibiotics. Results: Average total airborne bacterial concentration was $508.9{\pm}246.3CFU/m^3$. Indoor concentration of total airborne bacteria had a significant positive correlation with the $CO_2$ concentration in the child-care facilities. Methicillin-resistant staphylococci were present in 13.3% of the child-care facilities studied. A total of four species (S. epidermidis, S. cohnii, S. saprophyticus, S. sp.) and 55 strains were identified from the indoor air of the child-care facilities. Staphylococcus cohnii was the most common species (54.5%), followed by S. epidermidis (38.2%). All of the isolated staphylococcal strains exhibited high resistance to oxacillin, erythromycin, mupirocin, and ceftizoxime. Especially, S. saprophyticus strains showed more multidrug resistance to oxacillin, vancomycin, clindamycin, erythromycin, lincomycin, ceftizoxime, mupirocin, and tetracycline than did other species. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that a monitoring system for multidrug-resistant bacteria is needed in facilities for children, as the community-associated infections of these bacteria are increasing.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.233-239
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• 2000

Purpose : A great deal of youngsters suffer from otitis media, for which antimicrobials are frequently prescribed. Increased antimicrobial resistance forces physicians to judiciously use antimicrobial agents in treating patients with acute otitis media. There have however been few references with regard to otitis media in Korean children, and authors proceeded investigation to look for the causative agents of otitis media in Korean children and their antimicrobial susceptibility. Methods : The study included 65 patients younger than 15 years old who had been cared at the department of pediatrics and otolaryngology in Hanyang University Hospital from July 1994 to June 1999, and diagnosed of otitis media with otorrhea which contained microorganisms isolated in otorrhea culture. The medical records were reviewed for demographic data, isolated organisms and their antimicrobial susceptibility. Results : Among 65 patients, 37(57%) were boys and 28(43%) girls. Distribution of the patients was reciprocal to the age of the patients; 27 patients(41.5%) were younger than 1 year old, 24(36.9%) were 1 to 3 years old with the average of 2.9 years of age. Staphylococus aureus was isolated in 32 patients(49.2%), Streptococcus pneumoniae in 19 patients(29.2%) Haemophilus influenzae in 9 patients(13.8%), Streptococcus oralis in 3 patients(4.6%), Moraxella catarrhalis in 1 patient(1.5%). The isolated microorganisms were not different whether patients had cleft lip/palate or not. The antibiotic resistance rates of S. aureus were ${\geq}90%$ to erythromycin, imipenem, cephalothin, and clindamycin, 86.2% to oxacillin, 25% to chloramphenicol, 12.5% to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole(TMP/SMX), and 0% to vancomycin and teicoplanin. The antibiotic resistance rates of S. pneumoniae were 71.4% to penicillin and greater than 60% to erythromycin, tetracycline, TMP/SMX, 7.1% to chloramphenicol, and 0% to vancomycin and teicoplanin. The antibiotic resistance rates of H. influenzae were 55% to ampicillin and TMP/SMX, and 0% to chloramphenicol, ceftriaxone, aztreonam, imipenem and ciprofloxacin. Conclusion : With otorrhea culture, the causative organisms of otitis media appear to be S. aureus, S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae. The high antibiotic resistance rates of the isolated organisms should affect the choice of antibiotics in treating patients with otitis media. Prospective investigations utilizing tympanocentesis in microbiologic studies are needed.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.542-544
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• 2023

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius Z0118SP0130 was isolated from eye specimen of a companion dog in South Korea. The complete genome of Z0118SP0130 consisted of a 2,663,277 bp chromosome and there was no plasmid. The strain was identified as the sequence type 45 and contained a mecA gene which comprised of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec type Vb (5C2&5). Antimicrobial resistance to erythromycin, clindamycin, quinupristin-dalfopristin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, mupirocin, oxacillin, streptomycin, and gentamicin was observed in the strain.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.918-926
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• 2021

We isolated 28 Vibrio vulnificus strains from seawater and fisheries and investigated the positive rate of eight virulence genes. Additionally, we evaluated the susceptibility of these strains to 25 antimicrobials. The positive rates of fur, vvhA, tcp, rtxA, vcgC, viuB, vvp, and acfA were 100, 92.9, 92.9, 67.9, 64.3, 25.0, 14.3, and 7.1%, respectively. A disk diffusion susceptibility test revealed that, all the investigated strains had the highest resistance to amoxicillin and oxacillin, followed by that to streptomycin (96.4%), cefoxitin (92.9%), clindamycin (82.1%), amikacin (67.9%), vancomycin (46.4%), nalidixic acid (7.1%), penicillin G (7.1%), and ampicillin (3.6%). Moreover, they were susceptible to 10 other antimicrobials, including cefotaxime, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, gentamicin, and rifampicin. Notably, amoxicillin, oxacillin, and streptomycin had average minimum inhibitory concentrations of 132.6, 603.4, and 23.1 ㎍/mL against V. vulnificus, respectively. These observations provide new insights regarding the necessity for sanitation of commercial fisheries and can potentially, help reduce the risk posed by fisheries contaminated with bacteria resistant to antimicrobials.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.223-237
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• 2024

Citrobacter freundii was the second most abundant bacterium isolated from domestically farmed Anguilla japonica. C. freundii is distributed across various environments as a facultative pathogen, and disease outbreaks have been reported in various aquatic and terrestrial animals. In this study, phylogenetic analysis, strain characteristics, antibiotic susceptibility, and pathogenicity to freshwater fish were analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis performed on 12 strains revealed the strains isolated from the same region belonged to the same clade. Three isolates (C. freundii AC52, C. freundii AC74, and C. freundii AG102) grew well in LA, BHIA, TSA, NA and MHA. They also showed growth under conditions of salinities of 0.5 to 7.5%, temperature of 10 to 40℃, and pH 5 to 10. As the results of antibiotic susceptibility test, 12 strains showed high resistance to ampicillin, amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, cephalexin, clindamycin, and erythromycin. Moreover, they also had resistance genes such as tetD, floR, qnrB, strA-strB, and bla_TEM. When immunosuppressed by dexamethasone injection, mortality was induced by C. freundii injection in Cyprinus carpio and Anguilla japonica. These results suggest that C. freundii can survive under various conditions of temperature, salinity, and drugs, spread through aquaculture wastewater or equipment, and can cause pathogenicity in freshwater fish.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.52 no.7
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• pp.425-431
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• 2014

Objectives : The purpose of our study was to evaluate penicillin as a still drug of choice for severe endodontic infection, by analyzing the antimicrobial susceptibilities from endodontic infections with swelling to figure out appropriate antibiotics as empirical treatment. Materials and methods : This study involved 18 patients who attended for emergency treatment because of facial or periapical swelling associated with root canal infections. Identification and antimicrobial susceptibility test of each pathogen were performed by Vitek2 Systems (bioM$\acute{e}$rieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France). Results : The most frequent bacteria was Streptococcus spp.(77%), and the resistance against penicillin was 35% in overall patients, followed by clindamycin and erythromycin (17%), which was much higher than previous studies. Conclusions : In our study, the higher resistance made penicillin alone not to be chosen as the first antibiotic drug for severe endodontic infections. Combinations with other drug, penicillin with wider spectrum of activity, or changing to other antibiotics was considered while remembering the increased risk of resistant microorganism.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.207-221
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• 2020

This study aimed to investigate the physiological characteristics and anti-obesity effects of milk fermented by L. plantarum KI134. The lipase, α-amylase, and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of milk fermented by L. plantarum KI134 was 94.57±1.25%, 9.44±2.85%, and 2.74±1.24% (10 fold dilution), respectively. L. plantarum KI134 showed higher sensitivity to clindamycin and erythromycin in comparison to sixteen different antibiotics. It demonstrated the highest resistance toward ampicillin and vancomycin. The strain showed higher β-galactosidase, leucine arylamidase, valine arylamidase, acid phosphatase, β-glucosidase, and N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase activities compared to other enzymes. It also did not produce carcinogenic enzymes, such as β-glucuronidase. The survival rate of L. plantarum KI134 in 0.3% bile was 96.90%. Moreover, the strain showed a 91.45% survival rate at a pH of 2.0. L. plantarum KI134 has resistance to Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus at the rates of 70.00%, 68.18%, 59.05%, and 40.63%, respectively. L. plantarum KI134 (23.01%) showed higher adhesion ability than the positive control (16.32%) L. rhamnosus GG. These results demonstrated that milk fermented by L. plantarum KI134 demonstrated an anti-obesity effect under in vitro conditions, with confirmed potential as a probiotic.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.171-180
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• 2022

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance and virulence factors in staphylococci isolated from canine otitis externa. A total 295 causative microorganisms were isolated. The most common isolated species were Staphylococcus (S) pseudintermedius (94 isolates) followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (60 isolates), S. schleiferi (25 isolates), Escherichia coli (23 isolates) and Proteus mirabilis (20 isolates). Staphylococci isolates were showed high resistance to penicillin (78.6%), erythromycin (55.9%), tetracycline (52.4%), clindamycin (51.7%) and ciprofloxacin (42.8%). Of the 145 staphylococci isolates, 49 (33.8%) methicillin-resistant staphylococci (MRS) were observed, distributed among S. pseudintermedius (n=34), S. schleiferi (n=6), S. epidermis (n=4), S. hominis (n=2), S. aureus, S. caprae and S. saprophyticus (n=1, respectively). Forty-three (87.8%) of 49 MRS and 10 (10.4%) of 96 methicillin-susceptibility staphylococci harbored mecA gene. About 80% of MRS were multidrug-resistant with resistance to at least one antibiotic in three or more antibiotic classes. Resistance genes blaZ (93/114, 81.5%), ermB (35/81, 43.2%), ermC (3/81, 3.7%), aacA-aphD (50/54, 92.5%), tetM (69/76, 90.7%) and tetK (6/76, 7.8%) were detected among resistant isolates. Virulence factors genes lukF and lukS were found in 100%(145/145) and 43.4%(63/145), respectively. Genes encoding ermA, eta, etb and tsst were not detected. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which investigated for the presence of genes encoding antimicrobial resistance and staphylococcal toxins in staphylococci isolated from canine otitis externa. A continuous monitoring and surveillance program to prevent antimicrobial resistance in companion animals is demanded.

• Infection and chemotherapy
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.328-339
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• 2018

Background: Pneumococcal disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in patients with comorbidities and advanced age. This study evaluated trends in epidemiology of adult pneumococcal disease in Crete, Greece, by identifying serotype distribution and antimicrobial resistance of consecutive Streptococcus pneumoniae strains isolated from adults during an 8-year time period (2009-2016) and the indirect effect of the infant pneumococcal higher-valent conjugate vaccines 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV10) and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13). Materials and Methods: Antimicrobial susceptibility was performed by E-test and serotyping by Quellung reaction. Multidrug resistance (MDR) was defined as non-susceptibility to penicillin (PNSP) combined with resistance to ${\geq}2$ non-${\beta}$-lactam antimicrobials. Results: A total of 135 S. pneumoniae strains were isolated from adults during the study period. Twenty-one serotypes were identified with 17F, 15A, 3, 19A, and 11A, being the most common. The coverage rates of PCV10, and PCV13 were 17.8% and 37.8%, respectively. PCV13 serotypes decreased significantly from 68.4% in 2009 to 8.3% in 2016 (P = 0.002). The most important emerging non-PCV13 serotypes were 17F, 15A, and 11A, with 15A being strongly associated with antimicrobial resistance and MDR. Among all study isolates, penicillin-resistant and MDR strains represented 7.4% and 14.1%, respectively. Predominant PNSP serotypes were 19A (21.7%), 11A (17.4%), and 15A (17.4%). Erythromycin, clindamycin, tetracycline, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and levofloxacin resistant rates were 30.4%, 15.6%, 16.3%, 16.3%, and 1.5%, respectively. Conclusion: Although pneumococcal disease continues to be a health burden in adults in Crete, our study reveals a herd protection effect of the infant pneumococcal higher-valent conjugate vaccination. Surveillance of changes in serotype distribution and antimicrobial resistance among pneumococcal isolates are necessary to guide optimal prevention and treatment strategies.