Prevalence of virulence markers and pHS-2-like plasmids among Shigella sonnei and Shigella flexneri isolates originating from shigellosis cases in Romania

Abstract

The surveillance of shigellosis is carried out under the auspice of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control which requires a reliable laboratory-based surveillance at national level. To date, little information is published about the members of Shigella spp. responsible for Romanian cases of shigellosis which hinders the understanding of the current epidemiology of shigellosis. Consequently, this retrospective study aimed to assess the diversity of virulence profiles displayed by the strains circulating in our region, by using key chromosome- and plasmid-associated markers, and to document the prevalence of pHS-2-like plasmid previously proposed as a potential marker for reactive arthritis.

Keywords

• shigella
• virulence genes
• phs-2 plasmid