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Fungal communities in house dust samples from patients with asthma: preliminary results

Publication . Amaro, R.; Coelho, S.D.; Teixeira, J. P.; Pereira, C.C.; Pastorinho, M.R.; Taborda-Barata, L.; Sousa, A.C.A.

People spend about 90% of their time indoors, being exposed to a large number of indoor contaminants, including fungi. Some fungi are associated with a wide range of adverse health effects, including the risk of asthma onset or exacerbation. Many studies support this fact, showing associations between the exposure to indoor damp and mould and the risk of asthma.

2016-06-21Conference object

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A meta-analytic perspective on Arcobacter spp. antibiotic resistance

Publication . Ferreira, Susana; Luís, Ângelo; Oleastro, Mónica; Pereira, Luísa; Domingues, Fernanda C

Objectives: Over the years, an increased prevalence of resistant strains of Arcobacter has been observed, which may be due to Arcobacter exposure to antibiotics used both in animal production and human medicine. A systematic review was performed with the objective of summarising the results of the rates of antimicrobial resistance of Arcobacter isolates. Methods: The systematic review was performed according to PRISMA (Preferred Reported Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) recommendations, followed by meta-analysis. Results: It was observed that the resistance rate ranged between 69.3-99.2% for penicillins and 30.5-97.4% for cephalosporins. The overall percentage of resistance to fluoroquinolones ranged from 4.3% to 14.0%, with the highest resistance percentage observed for levofloxacin. Resistance rates ranged between 10.7-39.8% for macrolides, 1.8-12.9% for aminoglycosides and 0.8-7.1% for tetracyclines. Conclusions: These results show that Arcobacter spp. present resistance to various antibiotics commonly used and advocate further studies of the associated resistance mechanisms.

2019-01-03Journal article

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Current insights on Arcobacter butzleri in food chain

Publication . Ferreira, Susana; Oleastro, Mónica; Domingues, Fernanda

Arcobacter butzleri is an emerging pathogen with a global distribution, frequently found in the food chain. Its wide spread and association with human illness may point this bacterium as a possible causative agent of foodborne diseases usually associated with unknown aetiology. Thus, the true pathogenic potential of A. butzleri and the associated risk of disease development must be clarified. Since its dispersion throughout the food chain is clear, this points towards a potential public health problem due to contaminated food and water, which is strengthened by the ability of this microorganism to survive in food products and water and by its resistance to stress created during food storage and processing.

2019-02-28Journal article

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Occurrence, genetic diversity and antibiotic resistance of Arcobacter sp. in a dairy plant

Publication . Ferreira, S; Oleastro, M; Domingues, F C

Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence, diversity and resistance to antibiotics of Arcobacter sp. in a dairy plant samples. Methods and Results: A total of 75 samples from dairy plant surfaces and materials and several food products collected in different steps of the cheese production process were analysed by culture, under aerobic and microaerobic atmospheric conditions, and by enrichment molecular detection. Isolates were identified and genotyped by ERIC-PCR, and their susceptibility to nine antibiotics was evaluated by agar dilution. Global prevalence of Arcobacter sp. was 42 7%, where 20 of the 42 food samples analysed were positive for A. butzleri by both culture and molecular detection, one for A. marinus by culture and one for A. cryaerophilus by molecular detection only; 10 of the 30 analysed materials and plant surfaces were positive for A. butzleri. All A. butzleri isolates were resistant to nalidixic acid and showed high resistance rates to ampicillin (56 2%) and cefotaxime (97 9%), being all strains susceptible to gentamicin and erythromycin. Conclusions: Contamination of dairy plant environment with A. butzleri and its progression along cheese production process were observed, however, the cheese ripening process may have a relevant role in the reduction of the contamination. Significance and Impact of the Study: This study showed the presence of Arcobacter sp. in a dairy plant, displaying its high prevalence and genetic diversity and highlighting its high resistance rates. The data obtained could contribute to further acknowledge the Arcobacter food contamination as a potential health hazard.

2017-10Journal article

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Arcobacter spp. at retail food from Portugal: Prevalence, genotyping and antibiotics resistance

Publication . Vicente-Martins, Sofia; Oleastro, Mónica; Domingues, Fernanda C.; Ferreira, Susana

Arcobacter genus is considered a foodborne emergent pathogen able to cause disease among humans and animals. The wide distribution and high prevalence of Arcobacter in food is becoming a concern, since consumption of contaminated food and water is considered the most probable route of Arcobacter transmission to humans. In this work, ready-to-eat packaged vegetables, poultry, pork, beef and fish meat were purchased from several retail markets and supermarkets and tested for the presence of Arcobacter spp. Suspected colonies were isolated and identified, characterized through ERIC-PCR and resistance to nine antibiotics commonly used to treat infections by this microorganism was assessed; in parallel, Arcobacter spp. was directly detected on enrichment broth by multiplex PCR. The results show a high prevalence of Arcobacter spp. among retail food, with an overall prevalence of 60.5% obtained by both molecular and culture detection. A. butzleri was the most frequently isolated species (58.5%) followed by A. cryaerophilus (35.8%) and A. skirrowii (5.7%). A high genetic diversity among the isolates was observed, despite the detection of a possible cross-contamination between food samples. Also, a high rate of multidrug resistance among the isolates (85.7%) was observed. Taken together, our results suggest that the consumption of Arcobacter-contaminated food products is of public health concern.

2018Journal article

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