Extensive background knowledge of patients regarding symptoms and underlying diseases enabled us to compare strains causing mild symptoms to strains causing severe symptoms. Initial subtyping of the strains was performed using MLST and MLVA. These two methods target different parts of the chromosome and areas with different genetic variability, leading to differences in the discriminatory power of the methods. MLVA methods are generally high-discriminatory typing methods developed for outbreak investigations, and the S. Typhimurium

MLVA method used in this study was specifically developed to differentiate the highly similar DT104 clone [16]. This method is based on highly variable repeat regions on the chromosome and on a plasmid. MLST is developed to estimate long term #Nec-1s supplier randurls[1|1|,|CHEM1|]# development and is based on conserved housekeeping genes with minimal variation [17]. Most strains in this study belonged

to ST19, except for three strains with different STs. The difference between ST19 and each of the other STs was a single nucleotide change in selleck compound one allele, so the similarity of the strains was high as expected with MLST. The strains all had different MLVA profiles, corresponding well with the fact that MLVA is a more discriminatory typing method and the strains were selected to be epidemiologically unrelated. The strains were tested for antimicrobial resistance and eight of 21 strains showed resistance to three or more antimicrobial agents. Three strains from the group with mild symptoms, four strains from the group with severe symptoms, and a single outbreak strain showed resistance to antimicrobial agents. Astemizole The resistance pattern did not correlate with the severity of disease in patients. The lack of increased virulence of resistant strains has previously been

shown in DT104 strains [18, 19]. An American study described that humans who ingested antimicrobials are more prone to get a subsequent infection with a resistant S. Typhimurium strain [20]. Two of the patients included in our study were administered antimicrobials within a month before onset of the S. Typhimurium infection, one patient was in the group with severe symptoms and the other patient was in the group with mild symptoms. Both infections were caused by resistant S. Typhimurium strains. Differences between the S. Typhimurium strains were detected in the prophage marker group. The DT104 strains were different as seen by detection of the ORF84 marker, previously shown to be present primarily in DT104 strains [21]. The Salmonella prophage ST64B (sb10 and sb54) was detected in different phagetypes in this study, but notably this prophage is present in all DT104 strains, and these observations corresponded to previous findings [22]. Other genes showing variability within the prophage marker group were the S. Typhi specific genes STY3672, STY3676 and STY4625. The markers of these genes were detected in three S. Typhimurium strains.