Cholera Vibrios of nonO1/nonO139 Serogroups in Etiology of Acute Intestinal Infections: Current Situation in Russia and Around the World

Abstract

Cholera vibrios of nonO1/nonO139 serogroups (NAG vibrios) are well known as natural inhabitants of aquatic environments and as agents of acute intestinal infections (AII) with different degree of severity. On the background of the current vehement dissemination of the new highly virulent Vibrio cholerae El Tor strains, the moral and economic damage from NAG vibrios is not that evident, but still, not less real and rather significant. In spite of rare association with large outbreaks, NAG vibrios rank in the etiology of AII all over the world and pose a potential threat for the population health in our country. The paper reviews the present-day morbidity as regards NAG infections in various countries, including Russia; as well as the molecular premises of the agents’ pathogenicity and drug resistance. Analysis of the published data has revealed an utter heterogeneity of NAG populations, circulating in certain territories, by reference to the presence/absence of genetic determinants of pathogenicity, persistence, housekeeping and antibiotic resistance factors. Nevertheless, the joint gene-pool of the population includes rather a wide set of genes and can expand due to importations of strains, which differ from resident ones in the genotypes, from other regions. This brings about the danger of emergence of clones with higher pathogenic and, probably, even epidemic potential driven by gene exchange, and the consequences of their occurrence are unpredictable. Therefore, the NAG vibrios demand proper attention from investigators and sanitary-epidemiological institutions of the Russian Federation.

Keywords

• vibrio cholerae nono1/nono139
• наг-вибрионы
• заболеваемость
• факторы патогенности
• антибиотикорезистентность
• гетерогенность популяций
• nag vibrios
• morbidity
• pathogenicity factors
• antibiotic resistance
• population heterogeneity