Bacteriological Profile of Hospital Acquired Infection and Their Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns in a Tertiary Care Hospital

A hospital-acquired infection (HAI) is acquired in a hospital or other health care facilities. This is an extra burden in every unit of hospital as it increases the morbidity, mortality, cost of treatment and also duration of the hospital stays for the patients. This study aimed to find out the causative bacterial agents of HAI from different clinical samples and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in the Department of Microbiology and Virology, Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College, in collaboration with in-patient departments of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital from January 2019 to December 2019. A total of 123 patients of different ages, sex were enrolled in this study. Samples were collected from postoperative wounds, post catheterized urinary tract infections, diabetic wounds and intravenous cannula from Surgery ward, Medicine ward and Obstetrics & Gynecology ward. Standard laboratory procedures were applied to isolate and identify the bacteria. The identified organisms were then tested for anti biogram. Among 123 patients 46 (37.4%) were affected by hospital acquired infections. Higher prevalence (n=28, 60.87%) of HAI was found in Surgery ward and the lower prevalence (n=9, 19.56%) was found in Medicine ward and Obstetrics & Gynecology ward. The most common type of infection was surgical wound infection (20, 43.48%). Out of all the HAIs irrespective of source and site, highest number were done by Staphylococcus aureus (15, 30.61%) followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (08, 16.33%), Escherichia coli (07, 14.29%), Serratia spp. (05, 6.12%), Aeromonas spp. (05, 6.12%), Acinetobacter spp. (02, 4.08%), Proteus spp. (02, 4.08%), Citrobacter spp. (02, 4.08%), Klebsiella spp. (02, 4.08%), CoNS (02, 4.08%), Enterobacter spp. (01, 2.04%) and Morganella morganii (01, 2.04%). The antimicrobial susceptibility data suggested that Gram positive bacteria are more susceptible to doxycycline, vancomycin and linezolid; while Gram negative bacteria were more susceptible to imipenem, levofloxacin and meropenem.

Magnetic Nanoparticles in Cancer Therapy and Diagnosis

There is urgency for the development of nanomaterials that can meet emerging biomedical needs. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) offer high magnetic moments and surface-area-to-volume ratios that make them attractive for hyperthermia therapy of cancer and targeted drug delivery. Additionally, they can function as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and can improve the sensitivity of biosensors and diagnostic tools. Recent advancements in nanotechnology have resulted in the realization of the next generation of MNPs suitable for these and other biomedical applications. This review discusses methods utilized for the fabrication and engineering of MNPs. Recent progress in the use of MNPs for hyperthermia therapy, controlling drug release, MRI, and biosensing is also critically reviewed. Finally, challenges in the field and potential opportunities for the use of MNPs toward improving their properties are discussed.

Comparative evaluation of biocompatibility of dense nanostructured and microstructured Hydroxyapatite/Titania composites

This work deals with the biocompatibility of dense nano- and micro-structured Hydroxyapatite/Titania composites prepared by two step and conventional sintering, respectively. By application of two step sintering, it was shown that the final grain size of HA-15 wt.% TiO2 is maintained lower than 100 nm while by the application of conventional sintering it reaches higher than 100 nm. Biocompatibility of the dense bulks was evaluated by cell attachment and proliferation experiments. Cell morphology, and viability on each nano- and micro-structured Hydroxyapatite/Titania composites were examined at different time points. The nanostructured HA/Titania dense bulk exhibited higher cell viability than a microstructured one. In addition, the effects of ionic products from nano- and micro-structured bulk dissolution on osteoblasts were studied. The MTT test confirmed that the products from nanostructured HA/Titania dense bulk significantly promoted osteoblast proliferation within a certain concentration range.

Immune response to measles vaccine after mass vaccination in Urmia, Islamic Republic of Iran

We investigated the effectiveness of the mass measles vaccination campaign in Urmia, Islamic Republic of Iran, by examining the measles IgG seroprevalence and antibody response from paired data before and after the campaign. The overall seropositive rate of 624 subjects aged 5-25 years increased 1 year after the mass vaccination (from 53.0% to 72.3%). A rise in antibody titre occurred in all age groups except the 21-25 years group, which had the highest titre before mass vaccination. On logistic regression analysis, only immune status prior to vaccination was significantly associated with the seroresponse. It may be cost-effective to check antibody titres before mass vaccinations, especially in high vaccine coverage regions with circulating wild virus.

Predicting Factors in Iron Supplement Intake among Pregnant Women in Urban Care Setting

BACKGROUND

The world health organization estimates that 58% of pregnant women in developing countries are anemic. In spite of the fact that most ministries of health in developing countries have policies to provide pregnant women with iron supplementation, prevalence of maternal anemia has not declined significantly. The aim of this study was to assess adherence to the current recommendation in the local population and to describe factors associated with taking iron supplementation during pregnancy.

METHODS

A questionnaire assessing the use of prenatal iron supplementation was distributed among women recently having delivered in Urmia, west Azerbaijan Province, northwest Iran. The questionnaire consisted of two sections. The first included demographic information and the second part covered questions regarding duration of iron supplementation, awareness of per partum anemia and management including benefits and side effects of iron supplementation. SPSS version 10 was used for statistical analysis; data were analyzed by Chi-Square and logistic regression.

RESULTS

Eighty seven percent of participants took iron supplements for at least 4 months. Training during pregnancy was associated with longer duration of iron use. In logistic regression analysis nuliparity was the only variable, which remained in the model .Knowledge of participants on anemia, was obviously poor. Health care stuffs were the main source of information.

CONCLUSION

The compliance was rather high but knowledge of subjects was low. Therefore, increasing effort is required to mobilize health workers to distribute information on anemia prevention and using iron supplements properly.

The effects of the visual environment on responses to colour by domestic chicks

It is well known that development of vision is affected by experience, but there are few studies of environmental effects on colour vision. Natural scenes contain predominantly a restricted range of reflectance spectra, so such effects might be important, perhaps biasing visual mechanisms towards common colours. We investigated how the visual environment affects colour preferences of domestic chicks ( Gallus gallus), by training week-old birds to select small food containers distinguished from an achromatic alternative either by an orange or by a greenish-blue colour. Chicks that had been raised in control conditions, with long-wavelength-dominated reflectance spectra, responded more readily to orange than to blue. This was not due to avoidance of blue, as increasing saturation enhanced the chicks' preference for the same hue. The advantage of orange was, however, reduced or abolished for chicks raised in an environment dominated by blue objects. This indicates that responses to coloured food are affected by experience of non-food objects. If colours of ordinary objects in the environment do influence responses to specialised visual signals this might help explain why biological signals directed at birds are often coloured yellow, orange or red; long-wavelength-dominated spectra being more prevalent than short-wavelength-dominated spectra.