Characterization and comparison of invasive Corynebacterium diphtheriae isolates from France and Poland

Abstract

Corynebacterium diphtheriae, the agent of diphtheria, is rarely responsible for bacteremia. However, high numbers of bacteremia have been reported in countries with extensive immunization coverage. Here, we used molecular and phenotypic tools to characterize and compare 42 invasive isolates collected in France (including New Caledonia) and Poland over a 23-year period.

Fig 1

Minimum spanning tree of the MLSTs of the 42 C. diphtheriae isolates. Each circle corresponds to an ST. The area of each circle corresponds to the number of isolates. Each ST is color coded according to its corresponding geographical origin. The relationships between strains are indicated by the connections between the isolates and the lengths of the branches linking them. Black lines connecting pairs of STs indicate that they differ in two or three alleles (thick lines), four alleles (dashed), and five or six alleles (thin).