Bacterial ribotype leading to Clostridioides difficile infection

Clostridioides difficile infection is the leading cause of infectious diarrhoea in hospitalized patients. It is reported that ribotype 002 was a prevalent ribotype in Hong Kong that associated with increased mortality. The study “Biological characteristics associated with virulence in Clostridioides difficile ribotype 002 in Hong Kong“ investigated the bacteriological characteristics and in vivo virulence of ribotype 002 compared with other common ribotypes. Ribotype 002 presented higher toxin production, heightened sporulation and extended stationary phase. These findings may provide mechanistic insights that can help public surveillance and develop novel therapeutics to combat against this infection. (Emerg Microbes Infect. 2020 Mar 17;9(1):631-638. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2020.1739564. eCollection 2020.)

Anyone interested in future collaboration in this field of research is welcome to contact our key investigator Prof. Sunny WONG in the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, CUHK. Prof. Wong’s research focuses on gut microbiota and host interaction in diseases.

Read full article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/22221751.2020.1739564

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