Endemic and epidemic lineages of Escherichia coli that cause urinary tract infections.
Women with urinary tract infections (UTIs) in California, USA (1999-2001), were infected with closely related or indistinguishable strains of Escherichia coli (clonal groups), which suggests point source dissemination. We compared strains of UTI-causing E. coli in California with strains causing such infections in Montréal, Québec, Canada. Urine specimens from women with community-acquired UTIs in Montréal (2006) were cultured for E. coli. Isolates that caused 256 consecutive episodes of UTI were characterized by antimicrobial drug susceptibility profile, enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus 2 PCR, serotyping, XbaI and NotI pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, multilocus sequence typing, and phylogenetic typing. We confirmed the presence of drug-resistant, genetically related, and temporally clustered E. coli clonal groups that caused community-acquired UTIs in unrelated women in 2 locations and 2 different times. Two clonal groups were identified in both locations. Epidemic transmission followed by endemic transmission of UTI-causing clonal groups may explain these clusters of UTI cases.
Manges
Amee R
AR
Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada. amee.manges@mcgill.ca
Tabor
Helen
H
Tellis
Patricia
P
Vincent
Caroline
C
Tellier
Pierre-Paul
PP
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques / Q000379:methods; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010802:Phylogeny; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D012703:Serotyping; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*