Molecular epidemiology of Haemophilus influenzae within families in Santiago, Chile

Rosanna Lagos, A. Avendano, I. Horwitz, James M. Musser, Susan K. Hoiseth, David R. Maneval, M. Jeanette Jones, Myron M. Levine, J. P. Dattas, I. Prenzel, N. Enriquez, S. Topelberg, F. Olivari, J. Glenn Morris

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Thirty-six consecutive patients with invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) infections at Roberto del Rio Children's Hospital, Santiago, Chile, were enrolled in a prospective study. Throat cultures were obtained from household contacts of each index case, adjacent neighbors, and matched community control households. Colonization rates for H. influenzae were comparable among groups; however, among household contacts 18% of colonizing isolates were Hib, compared with 2% and 3% among neighbor and community controls. When selected isolates were evaluated further by outer membrane protein (OMP) profiles and multilocus enzyme electrophoresis, only one of the four Hib isolates from household members matched the corresponding index case isolate. One serologically nontypeable isolate from a household contact had an OMP profile and electrophoretic type identical to that of the corresponding Hib index case isolate; hybridization studies with a 9-kb capsular gene probe showed a profile consistent with a capsule-deficient mutant. Hib strains were isolated more frequently from household contacts than from control persons living in Santiago, but colonizing Hib strains were often unrelated to the index case strain.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1149-1153
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Infectious Diseases
Volume164
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1991

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Immunology and Allergy
  • Infectious Diseases

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