Maria Carvalho

• PhD
• Researcher at University of Aveiro

Hospital surfaces can harbour bacterial pathogens, which may disseminate and cause nosocomial infections, contributing towards mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). During the BARNARDS study, hospital surfaces from neonatal wards were sampled to assess the degree of environmental surface and patient care equipment colonisation by G...

A mobile colistin resistance gene mcr was first reported in 2016 in China and has since been found with increasing prevalence across South-East Asia. Here we survey the presence of mcr genes in 4907 rectal swabs from mothers and neonates from three hospital sites across Nigeria; a country with limited availability or history of colistin use clinica...

Exchange of antimicrobial resistance genes via mobile genetic elements occur in the gut which can be transferred from mother to neonate during birth. This study is the first to analyze transmissible colistin resistance gene, mcr, in pregnant mothers and neonates. Samples were collected from pregnant mothers (rectal) and septicaemic neonates (rectal...

Inanimate surfaces in hospital settings can harbour bacterial pathogens, which can disseminate and cause nosocomial infections, resulting in unacceptable mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). As part of the BARNARDS study, this hospital swabs study determined which hospital surfaces were colonised by Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) ca...

Background- Inter- and intra-species exchange of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) primarily via mobile genetic elements take place in the gut. ARGs or antibiotic-resistant isolates can be transferred to neonate from the mother’s gut. This study evaluated carriage of mcr in pregnant mothers and their neonates along with deciphering transmission...

Early development of the microbiome has been shown to affect general health and physical development of the infant and, although some studies have been undertaken in high-income countries, there are few studies from low- and middle-income countries. As part of the BARNARDS study, we examined the rectal microbiota of 2,931 neonates (term used up to...

Background In low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) Staphylococcus aureus is regarded as one of the leading bacterial causes of neonatal sepsis, however there is limited knowledge on the species diversity and antimicrobial resistance caused by Gram-positive bacteria (GPB). Methods We characterised GPB isolates from neonatal blood cultures from L...

Background Neonatal sepsis is a primary cause of neonatal mortality and is an urgent global health concern, especially within low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), where 99% of global neonatal mortality occurs. The aims of this study were to determine the incidence and associations with neonatal sepsis and all-cause mortality in facility-...

Purpose This protocol is intended to guide users in creating genomic libraries for MinION & GridION sequencing, using Oxford Nanopore’s SQK-RBK004 rapid kit with high molecular weight microbial gDNA.

Introduction Newborn sepsis accounts for more than a third of neonatal deaths globally and one in five neonatal deaths in Ethiopia. The first-line treatment recommended by WHO is the combination of gentamicin with ampicillin or benzylpenicillin. Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) are increasingly resistant to previously effective antibiotics. Objectives...

Background Sepsis is a major contributor to neonatal mortality, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). WHO advocates ampicillin–gentamicin as first-line therapy for the management of neonatal sepsis. In the BARNARDS observational cohort study of neonatal sepsis and antimicrobial resistance in LMICs, common sepsis pathogens...

Antimicrobial resistance in neonatal sepsis is rising, yet mechanisms of resistance that often spread between species via mobile genetic elements, ultimately limiting treatments in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), are poorly characterized. The Burden of Antibiotic Resistance in Neonates from Developing Societies (BARNARDS) network was init...

The polymixin colistin is a “last line” antibiotic against extensively-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Recently, the mcr-1 gene was identified as a plasmid-mediated resistance mechanism in human and animal Enterobacteriaceae, with a wide geographical distribution and many producer strains resistant to multiple other antibiotics. mcr-1 encodes a m...

During previous studies to evaluate the phylogenetic diversity of Aeromonas from untreated waters and vegetables intended for human consumption, a group of isolates formed a unique gyrB phylogenetic cluster, separated from those of all other species described so far. A subsequent extensive phenotypic characterization, DNA-DNA hybridization, 16S rRN...

RGNOSIS (Resistance in Gram Negative Organisms- Studying Intervention Strategies) is an European collaborative study involving clinical studies supported by highly innovative microbiological analysis to determine the efficacy of cutting edge interventions to reduce carriage, infection and dissemination of multi-drug resistant Gram-negative organism...

Antibiotic resistance (AMR) in Gram-negative bacteria, has expanded massively in recent years and is now of global public health concern. AMR determinants in many cases have originated from environmental bacteria. Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has facilitated the dissemination of these genes to organisms of different species and genera, including...

The blaNDM-1 gene is associated with extensive-drug resistance in Gram-negative bacteria. This probably spread to Enterobacteriaceae from Acinetobacter spp., and we characterised plasmids associated with blaNDM-1 in Acinetobacter spp. to gain insight into their role in this dissemination. Four clinical NDM-1 producing Acinetobacter spp. strains fro...

It is well known that water constitutes an important contamination route for microorganisms. This is especially true for Aeromonas which are widespread in untreated and treated waters. In this study. Portuguese untreated waters not regularly monitored were screened for the presence and diversity of aeromonads. A total of 206 isolates were discrimin...

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