Infections by group B streptococci in Portugal and Iceland: raising awareness and contributing to preventive strategies

Project funded by a grant from the governments of Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway (EEA PT06 grant).

This project is a collaboration between the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal and the Landspitali University Hospital, Iceland. The principal investigator is Prof. Mário Ramirez.

Summary

Reductions in infant mortality (IM) and of the years of potential life lost (YPLL) are major targets of National Health Plans and Programs. Here we propose to survey the characteristics of Streptococcus agalactiae (Lancefield group B streptococci – GBS) causing human infections in Portugal and Iceland, focusing on two major risk groups: young infants and adults suffering from diabetes. This will raise the awareness of GBS infection, contributing to a stronger adherence to antibiotic prevention policies for neonatal infections and to a better management of adult infections, leading to reductions in IM and YPLL. A greater understanding of the disease in these two at risk populations will clarify if the same GBS genetic lineages are present in both populations. This can be critical to identify particularly pathogenic lineages for certain hosts or to cause certain disease presentations, identifying them as targets for specific prevention or treatment strategies.

Scientific papers

Martins ER, Pedroso-Roussado C, Melo-Cristino J, Ramirez M, Portuguese Group for the Study of Streptococcal Infections. 2017. Streptococcus agalactiae causing neonatal infections in Portugal (2005-2015): diversification and emergence of a CC17/PI-2b multidrug resistant sublineage. Front Microbiol 8:499. (PMID: 28400757)

Ribeiro-Gonçalves B, Francisco AP, Vaz C, Ramirez M, Carriço JA. 2016. PHYLOViZ Online: web-based tool for visualization, phylogenetic inference, analysis and sharing of minimum spanning trees. Nucleic Acids Res. 44:W246-251. (PMID: 27131357)

Björnsdóttir ES, Martins ER, Erlendsdóttir H, Haraldsson G, Melo-Cristino J, Kristinsson KG, Ramirez M. 2016. Changing epidemiology of group B streptococcal infections among adults in Iceland: 1975-2014. Clin Microbiol Infect. 22:379.e9-379.e16. (PMID: 26691681)

Scientific meeting presentations

Martins ER, Fernandes T, Lopes E, Melo-Cristino J, Ramirez M. 2016. Changing serotypes of Streptococcus agalactiae causing invasive infections in adults in Portugal (2009-2014) (EP0089). 26th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), Amsterdam, Netherlands, 9-12 April.

Martins ER, Roussado C, Melo-Cristino J, Ramirez M. 2016. Diversification and emerging resistance among the hypervirulent CC17 clone of Streptococcus agalactiae (EV0283). 26th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), Amsterdam, Netherlands, 9-12 April.

Martins ER, Roussado C, Melo-Cristino J, Ramirez M. 2016. Infections by Streptococcus agalactiae among neonates in Portugal: 2005-2014 (EV0577). 26th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), Amsterdam, Netherlands, 9-12 April.

Björnsdóttir ES, Martins ER, Erlendsdóttir H, Haraldsson G, Melo-Cristino J, Ramirez M, Kristinsson KG. 2016. Group B streptococcal neonatal infections in Iceland: 1979-2014 (P0981). 26th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), Amsterdam, Netherlands, 9-12 April.

Martins ER, Roussado C, Melo-Cristino J, Ramirez M. 2016. Ongoing evolution in the hypervirulent CC17 clone of Streptococcus agalactiae (P040). 11th International Meeting on Microbial Epidemiological Markers (IMMEM XI), Estoril, Portugal, 8-11 March.

Martins ER, Roussado C, Melo-Cristino J, Ramirez M. 2015. Invasive group B streptococcal infections among neonates in Portugal (O25 S4). Microbiotec'15, Évora, Portugal, 10-12 December.

Martins ER, Björnsdóttir E, Erlendsdóttir H, Haraldsson G, Melo-Cristino J, Kristinsson K, Ramirez M. 2015. Comparative epidemiology of group B streptococcal infections among adults in Portugal and Iceland (P126 S4). Microbiotec'15, Évora, Portugal, 10-12 December.