Surveillance and analysis of etiology characteristics of Campylobacter infection in adult diarrhea patients in Shunyi district of Beijing, 2016–2018

ObjectiveTo understand the molecular type, antibiotic susceptibility and distribution characteristics of Campylobacter isolated from adult diarrhea patients in Shunyi district of Beijing, and provide evidence for the prevention and control of Campylobacter infection as well as related risk evaluation.

MethodsStool samples were collected from the adult diarrhea patients in a surveillance project in Shunyi from 2016 to 2018. Campylobacter strains was isolated using filtration method and the species identification was carried out using Biochemical test and Real-time PCR. Multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were used for molecular sub-typing. The antibiotic susceptibility test was performed with agar dilution method.

ResultsThe isolation rate of Campylobacter was 5.65% (17/301) in 2016, 10.51% (39/371) in 2017 and 7.75% (29/374) in 2018, respectively. A total of 87 strains of Campylobacter were isolated. Among them, 87.36% (76/87) were C. jejuni strains and 12.64% (11/87) were C. coli strains. All the C. jejuni isolates belonged to 55 STs and 11 C. coli isolates belonged to 9 STs. PFGE was performed for the isolates with same ST and the close isolation time in 6 clusters, and 5 PFGE patterns were observed. The antibiotic susceptibility tests indicated that 55.26% (42/76) of the C. jejuni isolates and 90.91% (10/11) of the C. coli isolates exhibited resistance to three or more types of antibiotics.

ConclusionCampylobacter is an important pathogen causing diarrhea in adults in Shunyi of Beijing. The filtration method is an effective method for isolation of Campylobacter from stool samples. Multi-drug resistance in C. coli is serious in Campylobacter from patient stool sample in Shunyi, to which more attention should be paid in public health and clinical practices.