Frequency of blaIMP, blaNDM, blaKPC, and blaVIM carbapenemase-encoding genes among gram-negative bacteria isolates from hospitalized patients in Baghdad City, Iraq

Carbapenemase-encoding genes have been spreading among gram-negative bacteria, which is considered the most important threats to human health. Metallo p-lactamases including IMP, VIM, and NDM are the most predominant types, which confer resistance to Carbapenem group. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of blaNDM, blaKPC, blaVIM, and blaIMP genes across gram-negative bacteria isolated from different clinical specimens in Medical City Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. Fifty-two isolates were identified phenotypically using conventional biochemical tests. Vitek 2 identification system was used for confirmation of the identification. The antimicrobial sensitivity for the isolates was performed using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. The carbapenemase-encoding genes (blaIMP, blaVIM, blaNDM, and blaKPC) were screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)- based technique. The results showed that, from a total of 52 isolates isolated from hospital in Baghdad city, 13 (25) were Acinetobacter baumannii and 39 (75) were Enterobacteriaceae (10 of Serratia spp, 17 of E. coli, and 12 of Enterobacter cloacae). According to antibiotic susceptibility results, 96 of isolates were resistance to ceftriaxone, 92.3 to ciprofloxacin, and 90.4 to cefotaxime by phenotypic testing. Within the isolates, blaVIM gene was the most prevalent gene, which was detected in 48.1 of the isolates, followed by blaIMP gene in 19.2, blaNDM gene in 9.6, and blaKPC gene in 5.7. This study reveals that the dissemination rate of carbapenemase-encoding genes was not as reported to be high among isolates. The results showed higher frequency to the blaVIM gene than other encoding genes for carbapenemase-encoding genes. These results suggest a periodic screening and follow-up program to detect antibiotic resistant genes, and also the need to develop appropriate management for antimicrobial resistance. © 2021. All Rights Reserved

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2: a new paradigm of COVID-19 management

Abstract: Full attention must be given to the follow-up of patients recovered from Coronavirus disease 2019, which developed in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Among the most serious issues since the emergence of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 has been whether those who had it can experience a second episode of infection and what that implies for immunity. The earlier studies on COVID-19 disease focused primarily on the epidemiological, clinical, and radiological characteristics of patients with CO-VID-19. However, conclusions of these studies still require to be warranted by more careful design, larger sample size and statistically well structured studies. COVID-19 is an under-studied infection, and several aspects of viral transmission and clinical progress remain at present unclear. There is a concern about the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 on various surfaces and in the respiratory system of patients who have survi-ved. One of the most concerning issues since the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 is persistence in patients and whether patients can be re-infected. After hospital discharge, recovered patients were reported to have positive SARS-CoV-2 test in China, Japan, and South Korea. In addition to the persistence of the virus, SARS-CoV-2 re-infection may occur in survivors. In this paper, we focused on the evidence of persistence and re-infection of SARS-CoV-2

Assessment of Zinc Nanoparticle Effect and Expression of Zinc Uptake Gene in Drug Resistance Acinetobacter baumannii Strain FMHLN5

Background: Drug resistance bacteria pose an increasing threat to public health. Antimicrobial agents often lack efficacy toward recently developed drug resistance bacteria. Nanoparticles are one of the most effective treatment agents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of zinc uptake regulator gene with zinc nanoparticle stress in drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strain FMHLN5. Methods: The antimicrobial susceptibility technique was evaluated through disk diffusion methods. ZnO nanopar-ticles (ZnO-NPs) were synthesized using an acetate precursor-based sol-gel route. In vitro, the FMHLN5 strain susceptibility to ZnO-NPs has been tested by the agar wells diffusion method, using varying sizes (20 to 520 nm) of ZnO NPs. The purities and sizes of Nano-ZnO was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The expression of the zinc-uptake gene was investigated through the qRT-PCR technique. Results: The results revealed that the ZnO NPs against clinical FMHLN5 strain were useful at different sizes. The expression of the zinc-uptake gene was observed. Conclusions: The effect of ZnO NPs was strong, as reflected by inhibition zones at different sizes. Thus, ZnO NPs potentially induced bactericidal effect for fighting FMHLN5 strain. © 2021 Verlag Klinisches Labor GmbH. All rights reserved