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Rare serotype c Haemophilus influenzae invasive isolate: characterization of the first case in Portugal

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Abstract

We report for the first time in Portugal a serotype c Haemophilus influenzae isolated from an adult, with HIV-1 infection. Whole-genome sequencing characterized the isolate as clonal complex ST-7, albeit with a novel MLST (ST2754) due to a unique atpG profile. Integration of this genome with other available H. influenzae serotype c genomes from PubMLST revealed its overall genetic distinctiveness, with the closest related isolate being identified in France in 2020. This surveillance study, involving collaboration among hospitals and reference laboratory, successfully contributed to the identification and characterization of this rare serotype.

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Fig. 1

Data availability

Reads sequencing data were deposited in the European Nucleotide Archive (Accession #ERR11588142), and genome assembly was deposited in the PubMLST website (Id #25086).

Code availability

Not applicable.

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Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript. This work was fully supported by Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Lisboa, Portugal.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Haemophilus Influenzae Reference Laboratory, Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health, Lisbon, Portugal

    Maria Paula Bajanca-Lavado

  2. Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit, Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health, Lisbon, Portugal

    Miguel Pinto

  3. Laboratório de Microbiologia, Serviço de Patologia Clínica, Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte, Lisbon, Portugal

    Maria Dinah Carvalho & José Melo-Cristino

  4. Infectious Diseases Department, Santa Maria Hospital–Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte, Lisbon, Portugal

    Gonçalo Jantarada Domingos

  5. Instituto de Microbiologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    José Melo-Cristino

Authors
  1. Maria Paula Bajanca-Lavado
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  5. José Melo-Cristino
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Contributions

Maria Paula Bajanca-Lavado coordinated the study. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Maria Paula Bajanca-Lavado and Miguel Pinto. Maria Paula Bajanca-Lavado, Miguel Pinto, Maria Dinah Carvalho, Gonçalo Jantarada Domingos, and José Melo-Cristino commented on previous versions of the manuscript. Maria Paula Bajanca-Lavado and Maria Dinah Carvalho performed laboratory work. Miguel Pinto performed bioinformatics data analysis. Gonçalo Jantarada Domingos attended the patient and wrote clinical history. Maria Paula Bajanca-Lavado, Miguel Pinto, Maria Dinah Carvalho, Gonçalo Jantarada Domingos, and José Melo-Cristino read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Paula Bajanca-Lavado.

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Ethics approval

Not applicable. Despite being a clinical case, there is no information that identifies the patient, as all data are completely anonymized at the originating hospital. The aim of the paper is to characterize the isolate and only a brief summary of the clinical history is provided.

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Not applicable.

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Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Maria Paula Bajanca-Lavado and Miguel Pinto contributed equally to this article and shared the first authorship.

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Bajanca-Lavado, M.P., Pinto, M., Carvalho, M.D. et al. Rare serotype c Haemophilus influenzae invasive isolate: characterization of the first case in Portugal. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 43, 791–795 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-024-04774-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-024-04774-2

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