Resistance data for 24, 684 isolates were reported and analyzed. The most common specimen sources were respiratory and urine which accounted for 29% and 23% of all specimens respectively. The rest of the specimen sources were blood 18% and wounds 16%. There were 197 genital tract, 315 CSF, and 431 stool isolates reported.
Human ; Animal ; DRUG RESISTANCE, MICROBIAL ; STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE ; HAEMOPHILUS INFLUENZAE ; STAPHYLOCCOCUS AUREUS ; ESCHERICHIA COLI

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and oral characteristics of cancer patients treated with bisphosphonates in the oncology and maxillofacial prosthesis departments of the General Hospital of Mexico between 2011 and 2013. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study included patients who received prior treatment with bisphosphonates; an intraoral examination was performed by 2 standardized examiners. RESULTS: The prevalence of bisphosphonate-related necrosis in 75 patients was 2.6%; the most common malignancy was breast cancer (84.0%), followed by prostate cancer (16.0%). Exostosis was present in 9.3% of patients and the mean Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth index was 4.64; 44.0% of the study group had a Community Periodontal Index value between 2 and 2.9 (mean, 0.60). CONCLUSION: A detailed intraoral assessment must be performed before initiating treatment with bisphosphonates to identify risk factors for osteonecrosis.
Breast Neoplasms ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Diphosphonates* ; Exostoses ; Hospitals, General* ; Humans ; Jaw* ; Maxillofacial Prosthesis ; Mexico* ; Necrosis ; Osteonecrosis* ; Periodontal Index ; Prevalence* ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Risk Factors ; Tooth

OBJECTIVE: To develop, teach and evaluate a training workshop that could rapidly prepare large numbers of health professionals working in hospitals in the Philippines to detect and safely manage Ebola virus disease (EVD). The strategy was to train teams (each usually with five members) of key health professionals from public, private and local government hospitals across the Philippines who could then guide Ebola preparedness in their hospitals. METHODS: The workshop was developed collaboratively by the Philippine Department of Health and the country office of the World Health Organization. It was evaluated using a pre- and post-workshop test and two evaluation forms. Chi-square tests and linear regression analyses were conducted comparing pre- and post-workshop test results. RESULTS: A three-day workshop was developed and used to train 364 doctors, nurses and medical technologists from 78 hospitals across the Philippines in three initial batches. Knowledge about EVD increased significantly (P < 0.009) although knowledge on transmission remained suboptimal. Confidence in managing EVD increased significantly (P = 0.018) with 96% of participants feeling more prepared to safely manage EVD cases. DISCUSSION: The three-day workshop to prepare hospital staff for EVD was effective at increasing the level of knowledge about EVD and the level of confidence in managing EVD safely. This workshop could be adapted for use as baseline training in EVD in other developing countries to prepare large numbers of hospital staff to rapidly detect, isolate and safely manage EVD cases.

Background: Salmonella enterica ser. Typhi and Salmonella enterica ser. Paratyphi are agents of typhoid fever, a severe systemic disease, which remains to be a public health concern in the Philippines. Infection due to non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS), on the other hand, most often results in a self-limiting acute gastroenteritis but may result in invasive disease in some cases. There is scarcity of information on the Salmonella serotypes in the Philippines which limits understanding of the distribution, transmission and antimicrobial resistance of these bacteria. Objective: This study describes the serotype distribution and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella in the Philippines over a 15-year period. Methodolgy: Salmonella isolates were collected through the Philippine Department of Health-Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program (DOH-ARSP) from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2018. The isolates were serotyped using Sven Gard method for slide agglutination using antigens from Denka Seiken (Japan), and S and A serotest (Thailand). Antigenic formula obtained were classified according to White-Kauffmann-LeMinor scheme. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing for ampicillin, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, were performed using both automated and conventional methods (Kirby Bauer disk diffusion and gradient diffusion method). Antimicrobial susceptibility results were interpreted using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) 2018 interpretive criteria (M100Ed28E). Results: A total of 2,387 isolates were collected from human specimens during the 15-year study period. There were 69 serotypes of Salmonella identified with the most common being Salmonella enterica ser. Typhi: n=1895 (79.39%), Salmonella enterica ser. Enteritidis: n=182 (7.62%), Salmonella enterica ser. Typhimurium: n=87 (3.64%), Salmonella enterica ser. Weltevreden: n=24 (1.00%), Salmonella enterica ser. Paratyphi A: n=17 (0.71%), Salmonella enterica ser. Stanley: n=17 (0.71%), Salmonella enterica ser. Anatum: n=13 (0.54%), Salmonella enterica ser. Heidelberg: n=12 (0.50%), Salmonella enterica ser. Choleraesuis var. Kunzendorf: n=9 (0.38%). The multidrug resistant Salmonella serotypes reported in this study were mostly resistant to ampicillin, cefotaxime, ciprofloxacin combinations. Conclusion This present study showed that prevailing Salmonella serotypes in the Philippines were similar with Salmonella serotypes reported from other Asian countries. Typhoidal isolates were high among 6-17 years old and were mostly from males. The antimicrobial resistance rates for typhoidal Salmonella isolates to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone and cefotaxime were lower compared with the antimicrobial resistance rates for non-typhoidal Salmonella isolates. Multidrug resistance for both Salmonella Typhi and NTS were relatively low. Continued and enhanced surveillance is needed to monitor the rising levels of antimicrobial resistance, determine risk factors and exposures associated with Salmonella Typhi and NTS infection to guide prevention and control measures.
Salmonella typhi ; Drug Resistance, Multiple

Objective: Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic nosocomial pathogen that has increasingly become resistant to carbapenems worldwide. In the Philippines, rates of carbapenem resistance and multidrug resistance are above 50%. We undertook a genomic study of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii in the Philippines to characterize the population diversity and antimicrobial resistance mechanisms. Methods: We sequenced the whole genomes of 117 A. baumannii isolates recovered by 16 hospitals in the Philippines between 2013 and 2014. From the genome sequences, we determined the multilocus sequence type, presence of acquired determinants of antimicrobial resistance and relatedness between isolates. We also compared the phenotypic and genotypic resistance results. Result: Carbapenem resistance was mainly explained by acquisition of the class-D Beta-lactamase gene blaOXA-23. The concordance between phenotypic and genotypic resistance to imipenem was 98.15%, and it was 94.97% overall for the seven antibiotics analysed. Twenty-two different sequence types were identified, including 7 novel types. The population was dominated by the high-risk international clone 2 (i.e. clonal complex 92), in particular by ST195 and ST208 and their single locus variants. Using whole-genome sequencing, we identified local clusters representing potentially undetected nosocomial outbreaks, as well as multi-hospital clusters that indicated interhospital dissemination. Comparison with global genomes suggested that the establishment of carbapenem-resistant international clone 2 in the Philippines is likely the result of clonal expansion and geographical dissemination, and at least partly explained by inadequate hospital infection control and prevention. Discussion This is the first extensive genomic study of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii in the Philippines, and it underscores the importance of hospital infection control and prevention measures to contain high-risk clones.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remains one of the leading causes of both nosocomial and community infections worldwide. In the Philippines, MRSA rates have remained above 50% since 2010, but resistance to other antibiotics, including vancomycin, is low. The MRSA burden can be partially attributed to pathogen-specific characteristics of the circulating clones, but little was known about the S. aureus clones circulating in the Philippines. We sequenced the whole genomes of 116 S. aureus isolates collected in 2013–2014 within the Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program. The multilocus sequence type, spa type, SCCmec type, presence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) determinants and virulence genes and relatedness between the isolates were all derived from the sequence data. The concordance between phenotypic and genotypic resistance was also determined. The MRSA population in the Philippines comprised a limited number of genetic clones, including several international epidemic clones, such as CC30-spa-t019-SCCmec-IV-PVL+, CC5-SCCmec-typeIV and ST239-spa-t030-SCCmec-typeIII. The CC30 genomes were related to the South-West Pacific clone but formed a distinct, diverse lineage, with evidence of global dissemination. We showed independent acquisition of resistance to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim in various locations and genetic clones but mostly in paediatric patients with invasive infections. The concordance between phenotypic and genotypic resistance was 99.68% overall for eight antibiotics in seven classes. We have made the first comprehensive genomic survey of S. aureus in the Philippines, which bridges the gap in genomic data from the Western Pacific Region and will constitute the genetic background for contextualizing prospective surveillance.

Antimicrobial-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a major threat to public health and is of particular concern in the Western Pacific Region, where the incidence of gonorrhoea is high. The Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program (ARSP) has been capturing information on resistant gonorrhoea since 1996, but genomic epidemiology studies on this pathogen are lacking in the Philippines. We sequenced the whole genomes of 21 N. gonorrhoeae isolates collected in 2013–2014 by ARSP. The multilocus sequence type, multiantigen sequence type, presence of determinants of antimicrobial resistance and relatedness among the isolates were all derived from the sequence data. The concordance between phenotypic and genotypic resistance was also determined. Ten of 21 isolates were resistant to penicillin, ciprofloxacin and tetracycline, due mainly to the presence of the blaTEM gene, the S91F mutation in the gyrA gene and the tetM gene, respectively. None of the isolates was resistant to ceftriaxone or cefixime. The concordance between phenotypic and genotypic resistance was 92.38% overall for five antibiotics in four classes. Despite the small number of isolates studied, they were genetically diverse, as shown by the sequence types, the N. gonorrhoeae multiantigen sequence typing types and the tree. Comparison with global genomes placed the Philippine genomes within global lineage A and led to the identification of an international transmission route. This first genomic survey of N. gonorrhoeae isolates collected by ARSP will be used to contextualize prospective surveillance. It highlights the importance of genomic surveillance in the Western Pacific and other endemic regions for understanding the spread of drug-resistant gonorrhoea worldwide.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen often causing nosocomial infections that are resilient to treatment due to an extensive repertoire of intrinsic and acquired resistance mechanisms. In recent years, increasing resistance rates to antibiotics such as carbapenems and extended-spectrum cephalosporins have been reported, as well as multi-drug resistant and possible extremely drug-resistant rates of approximately 21% and 15%, respectively. However, the molecular epidemiology and AMR mechanisms of this pathogen remains largely uncharacterized. We sequenced the whole genomes of 176 P. aeruginosaisolates collected in 2013-2014 by the Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program. The multi-locus sequence type, presence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) determinants, and relatedness between the isolates were derived from the sequence data. The concordance between phenotypic and genotypic resistance was also determined. Carbapenem resistance was associated namely with loss-of function of the OprD porin, and acquisition of the metallo-?-lactamase VIM. The concordance between phenotypic and genotypic resistance was 93.27% overall for 6 antibiotics in 3 classes, but varied widely between aminoglycosides. The population of P. aeruginosain the Philippines was diverse, with clonal expansions of XDR genomes belonging to multi-locus sequence types ST235, ST244, ST309, and ST773. We found evidence of persistence or reintroduction of the predominant clone ST235 in one hospital, as well as transfer between hospitals. Most of the ST235 genomes formed a distinct Philippine lineage when contextualized with international genomes, thus raising the possibility that this is a lineage unique to the Philippines. This was further supported by long-read sequencing of one representative XDR isolate, which revealed the presence of an integron carrying multiple resistance genes, including blaVIM-2, with differences in gene composition and synteny to other P. aeruginosaclass 1 integrons described before. We produced the first comprehensive genomic survey of P. aeruginosain the Philippines, which bridges the gap in genomic data from the Western Pacific region and will constitute the genetic background to contextualize ongoing prospective surveillance. Our results also highlight the importance of infection control interventions aimed to curtail the spread of international epidemic clone ST235 within the country.