title: Serology, virulence, antimicrobial susceptibility and molecular characteristics of clinical Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains circulating in southeastern China from 2009 to 2013.
abstract: Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a leading cause of food-borne diarrhoea in coastal countries. Although V. parahaemolyticus cases have been reported since 1950, they have been poorly documented. From July 2009 to June 2013, we collected 6951 faecal specimens for pathogen detection; V. parahaemolyticus strains were isolated from 563 specimens (8.1%). We then analysed the characteristics of the 501 V. parahaemolyticus strains that were isolated as the sole pathogen. Twenty-one serotypes were identified among these strains; O3:K6 was the most common serotype (65.1%), followed by O4:K8, O4:K68 and O1:K36. One strain of the O4:K18 serotype was isolated from clinical patients for the first time. Pandemic O3:K6 clones were predominant and accounted for 69.1% of all of the pandemic strains. This is the first report of one strain expressing the O3:K8 serotype with a pandemic genotype. The presence of the haemolysin gene tdh (93.0%) was the key characteristic of the virulent strains; however, a few strains carried the trh gene. We also confirmed the presence of the type III secretion system 2 (T3SS2) genes in all of the pathogenic strains. Subsequent multilocus sequence typing split the isolates into 16 sequence types (STs), with ST3 and ST88 as the most prevalent in southeastern China. Most isolates were sensitive to common antimicrobial agents, apart from ampicillin. However, the resistance rate to ampicillin has apparently increased in this area. In conclusion, our results indicate that pandemic O3:K6 V. parahaemolyticus isolates are predominant in southeastern China, and additional surveillance should be conducted to facilitate control of the transmission of this pathogen.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Center of Clinical Laboratory, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Center of Clinical Laboratory, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Center of Clinical Laboratory, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center of Clinical Laboratory, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Northern Jiangsu People's Hospital, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, the Beilun People's Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, the Quzhou People's Hospital, Quzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, the Huzhou Central Hospital, Huzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, the Huzhou Central Hospital, Huzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Centre for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. Electronic address: ljli@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D010802:Phylogeny; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D065288:Serogroup; D012703:Serotyping; D014735:Vibrio Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000266:history / Q000382:microbiology*; D014736:Vibrio parahaemolyticus / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents
keywords: Acute diarrhoea; Vibrio parahaemolyticus; antimicrobial resistance; multilocus sequence typing; serotypes; virulence genes