Relapse of toxocariasis after completion of four-week treatment with albendazole

Food-borne toxocariasis caused by the consumption of raw meat or liver has occasionally been reported from East Asia. We treated a 38-year-old Japanese man who was infected with Toxocara in China and underwent a four-week treatment with albendazole. The liver and lung lesions disappeared after the treatment, suggesting that the treatment was successful. One month after the end of the treatment, the patient relapsed, and albendazole was administered again for eight weeks. The patient has remained relapse-free for one year. Although toxocariasis can heal spontaneously, in some cases, such as the present case, the disease relapses even after long-term treatment. In conclusion, different durations of treatment are recommended by various guidelines, and the duration of treatment needs to be modified with each case, considering the response to the treatment.

Emergence and serovar profiling of non-typhoidal Salmonellae (NTS) isolated from gastroenteritis cases-A study from South India

Human infection with non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) serovars is often a neglected and undiagnosed infection in the developing world. Invasive NTS is now being established as having a new and emerging pathogenic role. There is not sufficient data on the prevalence of NTS serovars and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern from India. Faecal specimens collected from patients with acute gastroenteritis were processed to isolate Salmonella according to the standard protocol for a period from January 2011-December 2014. Salmonella isolates were serotyped and tested for antibiotic susceptibility. Of the total 320 (10.04%) bacterial enteric pathogens isolated, 64 (20%) were non-typhoidal Salmonella. Among the serogroup, O:4 (B) (n = 26; 40.6%) was found to be the commonest followed by O:7 (C1) (n = 11; 17.1%) and O:3,10 (E1) (n = 11; 17.1%). NTS infection in cancer patients could also be termed as nosocomial NTS diarrhoea due to primary community infection with prolonged incubation periods, consumption of contaminated food during hospital stay or Nosocomially acquired infection. Serovar Oslo has been predominant (9/17) in NTS isolates from cancer patients, whereas serovars Bovismorbificans, Wangata and Schleissheim have been reported for the first time in the country. The isolates were mostly susceptible to antibiotics except Salmonella ser Kentucky, which showed resistance to ciprofloxacin is reported for the first time in the country. Continuous surveillance is required to monitor resistance of NTS isolates.

Inactivation of bacterial pathogens in yoba mutandabota, a dairy product fermented with the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus yoba

Mutandabota is a dairy product consumed as a major source of proteins and micronutrients in Southern Africa. In this study the microbial safety of traditional and a variant of mutandabota fermented with the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus yoba (yoba mutandabota) was investigated by challenging the products with five important food pathogens: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Bacillus cereus. Pasteurized full-fat cow's milk was used for producing traditional and yoba mutandabota, and was inoculated with a cocktail of strains of the pathogens at an inoculum level of 5.5 log cfu/mL. Survival of the pathogens was monitored over a potential consumption time of 24h for traditional mutandabota, and over 24h of fermentation followed by 24h of potential consumption time for yoba mutandabota. In traditional mutandabota (pH3.4 ± 0.1) no viable cells of B. cereus and C. jejuni were detected 3h after inoculation, while L. monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. significantly declined (P<0.05), but could still be detected (<3.5 log inactivation) at the end of the potential consumption time. This indicated that consumption of traditional mutandabota exposes consumers to the risk of food-borne microbial infections. In yoba mutandabota, L. rhamnosus yoba grew from 5.5 ± 0.1 log cfu/mL to 9.1 ± 0.4 log cfu/mL in the presence of pathogens. The pH of yoba mutandabota dropped from 4.2 ± 0.1 to 3.3 ± 0.1 after 24h of fermentation, mainly due to organic acids produced during fermentation. Only Salmonella spp. was able to grow in yoba mutandabota during the first 9h of fermentation, but then decreased in viable plate count. None of the tested pathogens were detected (>3.5 log inactivation) after 3h into potential consumption time of yoba mutandabota. Inactivation of pathogens in mutandabota is of public health significance because food-borne pathogens endanger public health upon consumption of contaminated food, especially in Southern Africa where there are many vulnerable consumers of mutandabota such as children, elderly and immuno-compromised people with HIV/AIDS. The findings of this study demonstrate that mutandabota fermented with L. rhamnosus yoba has antimicrobial properties against the tested pathogens and it is safer compared to the traditional mutandabota.