Brief Report
Version 1
This version is not peer-reviewed
Multidrug Resistance and Virulence Profiling of Fomite-Resident Streptococcus species
Version 1
: Received: 10 August 2024 / Approved: 12 August 2024 / Online: 14 August 2024 (00:17:47 CEST)
How to cite: Gyapong, F.; Isawumi, A. Multidrug Resistance and Virulence Profiling of Fomite-Resident Streptococcus species. Preprints 2024, 2024080990. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0990.v1 Gyapong, F.; Isawumi, A. Multidrug Resistance and Virulence Profiling of Fomite-Resident Streptococcus species. Preprints 2024, 2024080990. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0990.v1
Abstract
Nose mask is a fomite and its usage was mandatory during the COVID-19 outbreak. Its effectiveness has been established; however, as a fomite, it can harbor opportunistic respiratory pathogens such as Streptococcus spp., which could complicate COVID-19 infections. This study profiled Streptococcus species resident on nose masks obtained from consenting participants. Phenotypic assays and 16S rRNA sequencing were used to identify Streptococcus spp. resident on the interior and exterior of 100 nose masks analyzed. Antibiotic resistance (AMR) was determined with disc diffusion and broth microdilution assays. AMR and virulence makers were profiled with primer-specific PCR amplification. 23% of the analyzed samples had Streptococcus isolates. The isolates were highly resistant to the antimicrobials, including conventional, last-resort antibiotics, disinfectants and antiseptics. All the isolates are multidrug resistant with 80-100% levels of AMR to the 16 antibiotics tested with a Multiple-Antibiotic Resistance index greater than 0.2, indicative of potential pathogens. The isolates harbored tetB, ermB, pbp2B, pbp2b1 (resistance) and lytA, lytA1, ply1, cbpA, lytA, pavA (virulence) markers, which might constitute a serious public health risk. Overall, the study emphasizes the need to assess mask usage and the risks associated with opportunistic pathogens that are resident on frequently used nose masks in the COVID-19 era.
Keywords
Streptococcus; Nose masks; Multidrug-resistance; virulence genes; Streptococcus pyogenes
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public, Environmental and Occupational Health
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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