Hainan Institute, Zhejiang University, Sanya 572025, China; Department of Veterinary Medicine & Institute of Preventive Veterinary Sciences, Zhejiang University College of Animal Sciences, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Department of Veterinary Medicine & Institute of Preventive Veterinary Sciences, Zhejiang University College of Animal Sciences, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Int J Food Microbiol. 2023 Mar 16;389:110105. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2023.110105. Epub 2023 Jan 23.
Enterococcus has been considered one of the most important nosocomial pathogens for human infections, and the hospital environment is an important reservoir for vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) that leads to antimicrobial therapeutic failure. However, infant foods and their production environments could pose risks for the immature population, while this question remains unaddressed. This study conducted an extensive and thorough Enterococcus isolation, VRE risk assessment of the Chinese infant food production chains and additional online-marketing infant foods, including powdered infant formula (PIF) and infant complementary food (ICF). To investigate the prevalence of Enterococcus along infant food chains and commodities, a total of 482 strains of Enterococcus, including E. faecium (n = 363), E. faecalis (n = 84), E. casseliflavus (n = 13), E. mundtii (n = 12), E. gallinarum (n = 4), E. hirae (n = 4), and E. durans (n = 2) were recovered from 459 samples collected from infant food production chains (71/254) and food commodities (67/205). A decreasing trend for Enterococcus detection rate was found in the PIF production chain (PIF-PC), particularly during the preparation of the PIF base powder (From 100 % in raw milk to 8.70 % in end products), while an increasing trend was observed in the ICF production chain (ICF-PC) mainly during the initial processing of farm crops and the further processing of the product (20 % at farm crops increasing to 76.92 % at end products). The result indicated that the PIF-PC process effectively reduced Enterococcus contamination, while the ICF-PC showed the opposite trend. Importantly, eleven VRE isolates were recovered from the infant food production chain, including seven E. casseliflavus isolates carrying vanC2/C3 and four E. gallinarum isolates carrying vanC1. Ten VRE isolates were from food production environments. Collectively, our study demonstrated that infant food production environments represent potential reservoirs for VRE non-nosocomial infections in vulnerable populations.
肠球菌已被认为是人类感染最重要的医院病原体之一，而医院环境是导致万古霉素耐药肠球菌（VRE）的重要储库，这导致抗菌治疗失败。然而，婴儿食品及其生产环境可能对不成熟人群构成风险，但这个问题尚未得到解决。本研究广泛而彻底地分离了肠球菌，对中国婴儿食品生产链和额外的在线销售婴儿食品（包括配方奶粉和婴儿补充食品）中的 VRE 风险进行了评估。为了调查婴儿食品链和商品中肠球菌的流行情况，共从 459 份从婴儿食品生产链（71/254）和食品商品（67/205）中采集的样本中回收了 482 株肠球菌，包括屎肠球菌（n=363）、粪肠球菌（n=84）、鹑鸡肠球菌（n=13）、屎肠球菌（n=12）、鸡肠球菌（n=4）、海氏肠球菌（n=4）和坚韧肠球菌（n=2）。在 PIF 生产链（PIF-PC）中发现肠球菌检测率呈下降趋势，特别是在 PIF 基础粉的制备过程中（从生牛乳的 100%降至成品的 8.70%），而在 ICF 生产链（ICF-PC）中则呈上升趋势，主要发生在农作物的初始加工和产品的进一步加工过程中（从农作物的 20%上升到成品的 76.92%）。结果表明，PIF-PC 工艺有效地降低了肠球菌污染，而 ICF-PC 则呈现相反的趋势。重要的是，从婴儿食品生产链中回收了 11 株 VRE 分离株，包括 7 株携带 vanC2/C3 的鹑鸡肠球菌分离株和 4 株携带 vanC1 的鸡肠球菌分离株。10 株 VRE 分离株来自食品生产环境。总的来说，我们的研究表明，婴儿食品生产环境代表了脆弱人群中 VRE 非医院感染的潜在储库。
