HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by WANG, C.-C. Articles by CHU, M.-L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by WANG, C.-C. Articles by CHU, M.-L. Agricola Articles by WANG, C.-C. Articles by CHU, M.-L.

Use of automated riboprinter and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis for epidemiological studies of invasive Haemophilus influenzae in Taiwan

CHIH-CHIEN WANG, L.K. SIU^*, MIN-KUNG CHEN, YEN-LING YU, F.M. LIN^*, MONTO HO^* and MONG-LING CHU

Department of Paediatrics, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, *Division of Clinical Research, National Health Research Institute, Department of Paediatrics, Taichung Provincial Hospital and Center for Diseases Control, Department of Health, Taiwan

Corresponding author: Dr M-L. Chu (e-mail: mlchu{at}cde.org.tw).

Received 1 Feb. 2000; revised version received 11 Aug. 2000; accepted 23 Aug. 2000.

Abstract

A total of 87 invasive isolates of Haemophilus influenzae isolated throughout Taiwan from 1994 to 1998 was collected; 57 were from children <14 years old. In all, 60.9% of isolates were resistant to ampicillin and produced ß-lactamase. Ribotyping revealed six different profiles in 55 isolates of type b, nine profiles in 10 isolates of non-type b and 12 profiles in 22 isolates of non-typable H. influenzae. Among isolates from 35 cases of meningitis, 30 (86%) were in ribogroups 1, 2 and 3 with >90% genetic similarity. Compared with all the other ribogroups, ribogroups 1, 2 and 3, which encompassed all H. influenzae type b, were significantly more prevalent as a cause of meningitis in children <14 years old. Further subtyping of the predominant ribogroup by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) identified differences of 0–6 bands among these isolates of ribogroup 1, which indicated distant relatedness. Automated ribotyping was found to be a useful method and was less time-consuming for molecular epidemiology studies of H. influenzae. PFGE is suggested as an addition to ribotyping to improve discrimination if H. influenzae type b is involved. Differentiating ribogroups between type b and non-type b H. influenzae by genotyping may help to understand the molecular characteristics of outbreaks, endemicity and value of vaccination. According to the results of ribotyping and PFGE, it seems possible that spread of invasive H. influenzae type b had occurred and ribotyping confirmed that there was no clonal spread of non-type b H. influenzae in Taiwan.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Aracil, M. Slack, M. Perez-Vazquez, F. Roman, M. Ramsay, and J. Campos Molecular Epidemiology of Haemophilus influenzae Type b Causing Vaccine Failures in the United Kingdom. J. Clin. Microbiol., May 1, 2006; 44(5): 1645 - 1649. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. R. Gilsdorf, C. F. Marrs, and B. Foxman Haemophilus influenzae: Genetic Variability and Natural Selection To Identify Virulence Factors Infect. Immun., May 1, 2004; 72(5): 2457 - 2461. [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Bruant, S. Watt, R. Quentin, and A. Rosenau Typing of Nonencapsulated Haemophilus Strains by Repetitive-Element Sequence-Based PCR Using Intergenic Dyad Sequences J. Clin. Microbiol., August 1, 2003; 41(8): 3473 - 3480. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. M. Pettigrew, B. Foxman, Z. Ecevit, C. F. Marrs, and J. Gilsdorf Use of Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis, Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus Typing, and Automated Ribotyping To Assess Genomic Variability among Strains of Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae J. Clin. Microbiol., February 1, 2002; 40(2): 660 - 662. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]