MALDI-TOF identification of Campylobacter isolated from patients consulted in private laboratories in France

Campylobacter is a major agent of gastroenteritis worldwide. The incidence and prevalence of campylobacteriosis have been increasing in both developed and developing countries over the last decade. In this study, 197 strains of successive Campylobacter-like were identified in French laboratories in September 2018. Bacterial isolates from clinical samples were identified with a mass spectrometer (Ultraflex III TOF/TOF and the BIOTYPER database from Bruker Daltonics). Of the 197 isolates tested, 143 were identified as Campylobacter jejuni (72.59%), 28 as Campylobacter coli (14.21%), 2 as Arcobacter butzleri (1.02%), 1 as Campylobacter fetus and 1 as Campylobacter lari with (0.51% each) by the MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Isolation rate of Campylobacter was highest in the 0 - 9 age group (22%). The proportion of male and female patients was 59.4% (CI 95% = 52.2-66.3) and 40.6% (CI 95% = 33.7-42.8) respectively. Sixty strains (30.5%) were resistant to tetracycline and 52 (26.4%) resistant to ampicillin. This study showed that the MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry is a rapid and accurate identification method of Campylobater spp in patients treated in private French laboratories.