-
Heatwave-associated Vibrio infections in Germany, 2018 and 2019
-
View Affiliations Hide AffiliationsThomas Theo Brehmt.brehm uke.de
-
View Collaborators
German Vibrio Study Group: Veronika Balau, Elsa Baufeld, Simone Brechmann, Lutz Briedigkeit, Stephan Diedrich, Ulrike Ebert, Helmut Fickenscher, Bojana Grgic, Claus-Dieter Heidecke, Peter Hinz, Ada Hoffmann, Meike Holbe, Ralf Ignatius, Olaf Kaup, Martin Kern, Martina Kerwat, Ingo Klempien, Georg Lamprecht, Astrid Meerbach, Alexander Mischnik, Andreas Podbielski, Stephan Schaefer, Roman Schwarz, Eckhard Strauch, Philipp Warnke, Simone Weikert-Asbeck, Maria Witte, Waleed ZakiView Citation Hide Citation
Citation style for this article: . Heatwave-associated Vibrio infections in Germany, 2018 and 2019. Euro Surveill. 2021;26(41):pii=2002041. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.41.2002041 Received: 04 Dec 2020; Accepted: 15 Apr 2021
Abstract
Vibrio spp. are aquatic bacteria that prefer warm seawater with moderate salinity. In humans, they can cause gastroenteritis, wound infections, and ear infections. During the summers of 2018 and 2019, unprecedented high sea surface temperatures were recorded in the German Baltic Sea.
We aimed to describe the clinical course and microbiological characteristics of Vibrio infections in Germany in 2018 and 2019.
We performed an observational retrospective multi-centre cohort study of patients diagnosed with domestically-acquired Vibrio infections in Germany in 2018 and 2019. Demographic, clinical, and microbiological data were assessed, and isolates were subjected to whole genome sequencing and antimicrobial susceptibility testing.
Of the 63 patients with Vibrio infections, most contracted the virus between June and September, primarily in the Baltic Sea: 44 (70%) were male and the median age was 65 years (range: 2–93 years). Thirty-eight patients presented with wound infections, 16 with ear infections, six with gastroenteritis, two with pneumonia (after seawater aspiration) and one with primary septicaemia. The majority of infections were attributed to V. cholerae (non–O1/non-O139) (n = 30; 48%) or V. vulnificus (n = 22; 38%). Phylogenetic analyses of 12 available isolates showed clusters of three identical strains of V. vulnificus, which caused wound infections, suggesting that some clonal lines can spread across the Baltic Sea.
During the summers of 2018 and 2019, severe heatwaves facilitated increased numbers of Vibrio infections in Germany. Since climate change is likely to favour the proliferation of these bacteria, a further increase in Vibrio-associated diseases is expected.
Full text loading...