Survey of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in rats and giant African land snails in Phitsanulok province,Thailand

Objective:To survey the Angiostrongylus cantonensis(A.cantonensis) or the rat lungworm in a rat,definitive host,and in a giant African land snail(Achatina fulica),the intermediate host,in Phitsanulok,Thailand.Methods:Rats and giant African land snails were captured from Tha Pho sub-district,Phitsanulok,Thailand.Rats were killed and examined for adult A.cantonensis. The artificial digestion method following Baermann technique were used for isolation third stage larvae of A.cantonensis.Results:Sixty-two rats were captured and they were identified as Rattus argentiventer,Rattus rattus(R.rattus),Bandicota savilei,and Bandicota indica but only one animal(R.rattus) of 62 rats(1.61%) was positive with adult worm of A.cantonensis.The third stage larvae of A.cantonensis were examined on 307 Angiostrongylus fulica snails.It was found that the overall infection rate was 12.38%(38 infected out of 307 Achatina snails).Conclusions: This study demonstrates that A.cantonensis is available in the natural hosts of Phitsanulok.This suggests that the transmissions of this parasite to human may occur in this region.

Urinary Tract Infection among Adults Seeking Medicare at Kiambu Level 5 Hospital, Kenya: Prevalence, Diversity, Antimicrobial Susceptibility Profiles and Possible Risk Factors

Urinary tract infections are among the most prevalent extra-intestinal infections, with high prevalence globally. This cross-sectional study established prevalence of bacterial aetiology causing urinary tract infection (UTI) and their antimicrobial susceptibility profiles. A questionnaire was used to capture socio-demographic data and possible UTI risk factors among the 206 consented adults seeking medicare at Kiambu Level 5 Hospital. The collected midstream urine samples were subjected to dipstick analysis, microscopy and culture for UTI diagnosis. Results: The overall prevalence rate of UTIs was 27.6%, with women’s prevalence rate being significantly higher at 80.7% compared to men 19.2%. Pregnant women had UTI prevalence at 34% which was higher than other sets of participants. Women who did not frequently change their underpants daily had a higher UTI cases at 34.8%. Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae were the most prevalent bacterial pathogens at 38.5%, 21% and 19.3%, respectively. Antimicrobial sensitivity analysis revealed high resistances towards Sulfamethoxazole and Ampicillin at range between 50% - 85%, suggesting that these drugs are no longer effective for UTI empirical treatment. The resistance patterns towards Cefotaxime, Cefepime and Ciprofloxacin were below 40%. However, more resistance patterns at a range between 14% - 40% revealed towards Amoxicillin-clavulanic and Nitrofurantoin imply that these are drugs remain potent but there is the need to revise the current UTI management guidelines. In addition, to elude treatment failure, innovation of prophylactic measures is key to halt UTI contraction and offer support to pharmaceutical industries that have fewer new antibiotics in the pipeline.

Anti TB drug resistance in Tanga,Tanzania:a cross sectional facility base prevalence among pulmonary TB patients

Objective:To determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with drug resistance tuberculosis(TB) at facility-base level in Tanga,Tanzania.Methods:A total of 79 Mycobacterium tuberculosis(MTB) isolates included in the study were collected from among372(312 new and 60 previously treated) TB suspects self referred to four TB clinics during a prospective study conducted from November 2012 to January 2013.Culture and drug susceptibility test of the isolates was performed at the institute of medical microbiology and epidemiology of infectious diseases,University hospital,Leipzig,Germany.Data on the patient's characteristics were obtained from structured questionnaire administered to the patients who gave informed verbal consent.Unadjusted bivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the risk factors for drug resistant-TB.The significance level was determined at P<0.05.Results:The overall proportions of any drug resistance and MDRTB were 12.7%and 6.3%respectively.The prevalence of any drug resistance and MDRTB among new cases were 11.4%and 4.3%respectively,whereas among previously treated cases was 22.2%respectively.Previously treated patients were more likely to develop anti-TB drug resistance.There was no association between anti-TB drug resistances(including MDRTB) with the risk factors analysed.Conclusions:High proportions of anti TB drug resistance among new and previously treated cases observed in this study suggest that,additional efforts still need to be done in identifying individual cases at facility base level for improved TB control programmes and drug resistance survey should continuously be monitored in the country.

菊薯中异贝壳杉烯酸的抗细菌和抗真菌活性(英文)

AIM: To screen for the antibacterial activity of ent-kaurenoic acid (1) from the dichloromethane extract of Smallanthus sonchifolius leaves against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and for its antifungal activity against Candida albicans, Trichophyton rubrum, and Epidermophyton floccosum. METHODS: Compound 1 was isolated by silica gel chromatography and its structure was elucidated by NMR spectroscopy. For assaying the antibacterial and antifungal activities of 1, the disk diffusion method was used, while the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined by the broth dilution method. RESULTS: With the disk diffusion method, 1 was found to be active against all the Gram-positive organisms tested (S. aureus, S. epidermidis, B. subtilis) at the lowest concentration of 1 000 μg·mL-1, while it was active against the fungus T. rubrum at 10 000 μg·mL-1. No inhibitory activity was observed against C. albicans, E. floccosum and all the Gram-negative test strains. The activity indices (AI) of 1 were noted to be highest against S. aureus and lowest against T. rubrum. Statistically significant differences were found between the mean inhibition zones (IZ) of 1 and the standard drugs (ofloxacin and clotrimazole). The results of the broth dilution MIC determination revealed that 1 exhibited moderate activity against S. aureus and S. epidermidis with MIC values of 125 μg·mL-1 and 250 μg·mL-1, respectively; and weak activity against B. subtilis with a MIC of 1 000 μg·mL-1. The growth of T. rubrum in the MIC assay was not inhibited at the highest tested concentration of 1 (10 000 μg·mL-1). CONCLUSION: The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) indicated that the bactericidal activities of 1 occurred at concentrations higher than its growth inhibitory concentrations. Furthermore, the MBC: MIC ratio of 2 : 1 clearly demonstrated the in vitro bactericidal effect of 1 against S. aureus and S. epidermidis.