Sporulation is an important strategy for certain bacterial species within the phylum Firmicutes to survive longer periods of time in adverse conditions. All spore-forming bacteria have two phases in their life; the vegetative form, where they can maintain all metabolic activities and replicate to increase numbers, and the spore form,...
A beta Poisson dose-response model for Vibrio vulnificus food poisoning cases leading to septicemia was used when evaluating the effect of 15°C depuration on the estimated risk of raw oyster consumption. Statistical variability sources included V. vulnificus load at harvest, time and temperature during harvest and transportation to processing plants,...
Clostridium difficile´s presence has been reported in meat products stored typically at low temperatures. This study evaluated the viability in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) of spores from epidemic C. difficile strain R20291 (4.6 log CFU/ml) and M120 (7.8 log CFU/ml). Viability was assessed during 4 months at -80°C, -20°C, 4°C...
High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) is the most-widely adopted novel non-thermal technology for the commercial pasteurization of foods. However, HHP-induced inactivation of bacterial spores remains a challenge due their resistance to the treatment limits of currently available industrial HHP units (i.e., ~650 MPa and 50°C). Several reports have demonstrated that high...
The most frequent cause of pseudomembranous colitis is Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection. This type of colitis is characterized by an endoscopic pattern of numerous small, yellowish or whitish plaques diffusely distributed, which typically compromises the rectum extending to proximal colon. Occasionally, the pseudomembranes compromise only the transverse or right...
Clostridium difficile is an important nosocomial pathogen that has become a major cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea.
There is a general consensus that C. difficile spores play an important role in C. difficile pathogenesis, contributing to infection,
persistence, and transmission. Evidence has demonstrated that C. difficile spores have an outermost layer,...
English: Clostridium difficile is an emerging anaerobic, spore forming pathogen, recognized as the etiological agent of ~ 30% of antibiotic associated diarrheas. Clinical symptoms can fluctuate from mild to moderate diarrhea, pseudomembranous colitis and toxic megacolon. The incidence of C. difficile associated infections (CDAI) is ~ 1% of total hospitalized...
The increased severity of Clostridium difficile infection is primarily attributed to the appearance of an epidemic strain characterized as PCR ribotype 027. The only report that identified epidemic C. difficile ribotype 027 in an American country outside of North America comes from Costa Rica, raising the possibility that strains 027...
Clostridium difficile is the causative agent of the majority of antibiotic associated diarrheas. C.
difficile spores are recognized as the morphotype of transmission, infection and persistence.
However, there is a lack of knowledge on how C. difficile spores interact with the host’s
epithelial surfaces. In this context, we have characterized...
Consumer demand for improved-quality and fresh-like food products have led to the development of new non-thermal preservation methods. High pressure processing (HPP) is currently the novel non-thermal technology best established in the food processing industry. However, many potential HPP applications would require long treatment times to ensure an adequate inactivation...