Antimicrobial Activity and Micro-Flora Quality Evaluation of Commonly Used Toothpastes

To determine the microbiological quality and antimicrobial activity and effectiveness of commonly used toothpaste, thirty products consisting of eight brands of toothpaste were evaluated using standard methods and Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans as test organisms. All the toothpastes were sterile, and had some levels of antimicrobial activity at neat and 10-1 dilutions. Colgate and Signal had the highest zones of inhibition 20mm and 12mm against Staphylococcus aureus. Colgate and Macleans herbal neat concentration had the highest inhibition of 11mm and 10mm on Candida albicans. Colgate and Macleans had a minimum inhibitory concentration greater than 10-3 for Staphylococcus aureus. The other toothpastes showed minimum inhibitory concentration of 10-1 and 10-2. Close Up herbal and Colgate had minimum inhibitory concentrations of greater than 10-3 for Candida albicans. At 10-2 dilution, total bacteria count of colonies increased as the time of exposure increased for most of the toothpastes. There was however, a general decline in the number of Candida colonies as the time of exposure increased. The toothpastes reduced and inhibited the test organisms mainly as neat and at 5 and 10 minutes. It is advocated that brushing the teeth for 5 to 10 minutes will allow for enough contact time for toothpaste to act on oral microbes and importantly pathogens for maximum result of good oral hygiene. Further studies on the relationship of brushing mannerism and toothpaste use culture are necessary. Regular survey of personal care products at the consumer level is advised to help keep the consumers informed of quality of products and checkmate producers of fake product and thus help stamp out unwholesome product from our market

The residual effectiveness of chlorhexidine gluconate 0.5% on vaccinating nurses hands during school vaccination programmes : a pilot study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Nursing at Massey University (Auckland), New Zealand

In the well-health community setting of school based student mass vaccination programmes (MVPs) the risks of cross-infection are not clear, as hand cleansing is not always practised between each injection administered by public health nurses (PUNs). This study provides evidence of the microbial colony forming units (CFUs) gathered from Auckland District Health Board's PHNs hand flora (finger-tip press on agar plates) during MVPs. The purpose of the study was to describe the antimicrobial residual efficacy over time of chlorhexidine gluconate 0.5%, a component of the alcohol-based hand gel (Sterigel+) used as a hand hygiene product at MVPs by PHNs. A non-experimental survey (pilot) design gathered vaccinators' palmar finger-tip skin flora prior to hand cleansing. Sampling was conducted over an eight week period at 17 schools settings from participating vaccinators at each programme. Hand flora were collected on 77 occasions (N = 154 agar plate samples), from dominant and non-dominant hands and the CFUs reported by LabPlus. No indications were found of a threshold to signify that chlorhexidine gluconate 0.5% was active up until a specific time and CFUs increased over the whole timeframe (5-90 minutes). A weak but significant correlation was found between the total CFUs and timeframe (r = 0.272, p = 0.001). Sixteen flora types were grown and formed into four microbial categories: skin flora (85% of all CFUs), Gram-negative flora (7%), environmental organisms (6%) and oral flora (2%). Potentially pathogenic flora were grown (Staphylococcus aureus occurring on 5% of samples and Gram-negative bacteria 17.5%). However, relatively few samples of highly pathogenic micro-organisms were culture positive and low CFU counts were identified. It was considered that, for healthy individuals, the cross infection risks presented were minimal. The vaccinators reasons to cleanse hands was strongly significant (p = 0.018) with non-convenience CFUs being on average 88% higher than convenience CFUs at any particular time point. Hand dominance was shown not to be significant. The results of this study indicate that Sterigel+ does not provide ongoing antimicrobial protection beyond the quantified effects of an alcohol-based hand gel. Therefore, PHNs need to take this information into account when considering hand hygiene practice decisions related to cross infection risks during MVPs

Differential effects of pesticides on soil microflora in cultivated soil of Indian rice field agro-ecosystems

The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of indiscriminant use of common pesticides especially insecticide on the population of soil micro flora in cultivated soil of Indian rice field agro-ecosystems. Endosulfan and Dichlorvos @ 1ml/l (normal dose) did not show any adverse effect on soil micro flora; but a high dose 2ml/l showed a negative effect. On the other hand Carbofuran @ 9 kg/acre (normal dose) and 12kg/ acre (high dose) showed an adverse effect on the growth of actinomycetes, bacteria and fungi. The important findings of the present study is that the effect on microbes by applying insecticides reflects the ecological imbalance of microbes in cultivated soil and hamper the microbial equilibrium to some extent. The study focused that the uses of the pesticides as a plant protection agent occasionally hamper the growth of soil micro flora in cultivated rice field

Epidemiology of mixed vaginitis and its management

Vaginitis is a common reason for visits to a health care provider, accounting for 6 million visits per year. Symptoms associated with vaginitis can cause substantial distress, resulting in time lost from work and altered self-esteem. It is estimated that over a billion dollars is spent annually on both self-treatment and visits to a medical provider.peer-reviewe

The detection of wound infection by ion mobility chemical analysis

Surgical site infection represents a large burden of care in the National Health Service. Current methods for diagnosis include a subjective clinical assessment and wound swab culture that may take several days to return a result. Both techniques are potentially unreliable and result in delays in using targeted antibiotics. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are produced by micro-organisms such as those present in an infected wound. This study describes the use of a device to differentiate VOCs produced by an infected wound vs. colonised wound. Malodourous wound dressings were collected from patients, these were a mix of post-operative wounds and vascular leg ulcers. Wound microbiology swabs were taken and antibiotics commenced as clinically appropriate. A control group of soiled, but not malodorous wound dressings were collected from patients who had a split skin graft (SSG) donor site. The analyser used was a G.A.S. GC-IMS. The results from the samples had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 88%, with a positive predictive value of 90%. An area under the curve (AUC) of 91% demonstrates an excellent ability to discriminate those with an infected wound from those without. VOC detection using GC-IMS has the potential to serve as a diagnostic tool for the differentiation of infected and non-infected wounds and facilitate the treatment of wound infections that is cost effective, non-invasive, acceptable to patients, portable, and reliable

New records of Thailand mosses collected from Chiang Mai Province

Seven new moss records are reported for Thailand moss flora, namely Anacamptodon latidens, Fissidens beckettii, Fissidens bryoides var. esquirolii, Fissidens bryoides var. schmidii, Fissidens flabellulus, Fissidens guangdongensis, and Weissia platystegia. Anacamptodon is a new generic record for Indochina. Anacamptodon latidens, Fissidens bryoides var. esquirolii, Fissidens bryoides var. schmidii, Fissidens flabellulus, and Fissidens guangdongensis are also new records for the Indochinese moss flora

Self-reinoculation with fecal flora changes microbiota density and composition leading to an altered bile-acid profile in the mouse small intestine

Background: The upper gastrointestinal tract plays a prominent role in human physiology as the primary site for enzymatic digestion and nutrient absorption, immune sampling, and drug uptake. Alterations to the small intestine microbiome have been implicated in various human diseases, such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and inflammatory bowel conditions. Yet, the physiological and functional roles of the small intestine microbiota in humans remain poorly characterized because of the complexities associated with its sampling. Rodent models are used extensively in microbiome research and enable the spatial, temporal, compositional, and functional interrogation of the gastrointestinal microbiota and its effects on the host physiology and disease phenotype. Classical, culture-based studies have documented that fecal microbial self-reinoculation (via coprophagy) affects the composition and abundance of microbes in the murine proximal gastrointestinal tract. This pervasive self-reinoculation behavior could be a particularly relevant study factor when investigating small intestine microbiota. Modern microbiome studies either do not take self-reinoculation into account, or assume that approaches such as single housing mice or housing on wire mesh floors eliminate it. These assumptions have not been rigorously tested with modern tools. Here, we used quantitative 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, quantitative microbial functional gene content inference, and metabolomic analyses of bile acids to evaluate the effects of self-reinoculation on microbial loads, composition, and function in the murine upper gastrointestinal tract. Results: In coprophagic mice, continuous self-exposure to the fecal flora had substantial quantitative and qualitative effects on the upper gastrointestinal microbiome. These differences in microbial abundance and community composition were associated with an altered profile of the small intestine bile acid pool, and, importantly, could not be inferred from analyzing large intestine or stool samples. Overall, the patterns observed in the small intestine of non-coprophagic mice (reduced total microbial load, low abundance of anaerobic microbiota, and bile acids predominantly in the conjugated form) resemble those typically seen in the human small intestine. Conclusions: Future studies need to take self-reinoculation into account when using mouse models to evaluate gastrointestinal microbial colonization and function in relation to xenobiotic transformation and pharmacokinetics or in the context of physiological states and diseases linked to small intestine microbiome and to small intestine dysbiosis

Replicability of data collected for empirical estimation of relative pollen productivity

The effects of repeated survey and fieldwork timing on data derived from a recently proposed standard field methodology for empirical estimation of relative pollen productivity (RPP) have been tested. Seasonal variations in vegetation and associated pollen assemblages were studied in three contrasting cultural habitat types; semi-natural ancient woodlands, lowland heaths, and unimproved, traditionally managed hay meadows. Results show that in woodlands and heathlands the standard method generates vegetation data with a reasonable degree of similarity throughout the field season, though in some instances additional recording of woodland canopy cover should be undertaken, and differences were greater for woodland understorey taxa than for arboreal taxa. Large differences in vegetation cover were observed over the field season in the grassland community, and matching the phenological timing of surveys within and between studies is clearly important if RPP estimates from these sites are to be comparable. Pollen assemblages from closely co-located moss polsters collected on different visits are shown to be variable in all communities, to a greater degree than can be explained by the sampling error associated with pollen counting, and further study of moss polsters as pollen traps is recommended