Pediatric campylobacteriosis in northern Taiwan from 2003 to 2005

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There has been a marked increase in the incidence of, and concern regarding, human <it>Campylobacter jejuni </it>and <it>C. coli </it>infections worldwide during the last decade. As the highest infectious disease control apparatus in Taiwan, we aimed to describe the character of <it>Campylobacter </it>isolates from infected children, as well as basic information about the patients, from December 2003 to February 2005.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 894 fecal specimens were collected by several clinics and hospitals from children who had diarrhea, followed by plating onto selective media. Drug susceptibility test of the isolates from these specimens were conducted by disc diffusion method and their serotypes were also studied using commercial antisera made in Japan.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The isolation rate of <it>Campylobacter </it>during these 15 months was 6.8% and was higher in winter (11.1%) than in other seasons. <it>C. jejuni </it>was the most prevalent (95.1%) species in northern Taiwan, comparable to other developed countries. Among the 61 <it>Campylobacter </it>isolates, most were resistant to tetracycline (93.4%), nalidixic acid (91.8%), ciprofloxacin (90.2%), and ampicillin (85.5%). Erythromycin-resistant isolates represented 3.3% of all isolates, suggesting that this drug may be the first choice for treatment. The serotypes of the 61 isolates were demonstrated and only 41.4% were typable.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this study, the Taiwan CDC provided an epidemiological analysis of <it>Campylobacter </it>infection, including the isolation rate, age, seasonal distribution, antimicrobial drug susceptibility patterns, and serotypes of the isolates from pediatric patients in northern Taiwan from 2003 to 2005.</p

Genotyping and antibiotic resistance of thermophilic Campylobacter isolated from chicken and pig meat in Vietnam

Background Campylobacter species are recognized as the most common cause of foodborne bacterial gastroenteritis in humans. In this study nine Campylobacter strains isolated from chicken meat and pork in Hanoi, Vietnam, were characterized using molecular methods and tested for antibiotic resistance. Results The nine isolates (eight C. jejuni and one C. coli) were identified by multiplex PCR, and tested for the presence or absence of 29 gene loci associated with virulence, lipooligosaccharide (LOS) biosynthesis and further functions. flaA typing, multilocus sequence typing and microarray assay investigation showed a high degree of genetic diversity among these isolates. In all isolates motility genes (flaA, flaB, flhA, fliM), colonization associated genes (cadF, docB), toxin production genes (cdtA, cdtB, secD, secF), and the LOS biosynthesis gene pglB were detected. Eight gene loci (fliY, virB11, Cje1278, Cj1434c, Cj1138, Cj1438c, Cj1440c, Cj1136) could not be detected by PCR. A differing presence of the gene loci ciaB (22.2 %), Cje1280 (77.8 %), docC (66.7 %), and cgtB (55.6 %) was found. iamA, cdtC, and the type 6 secretion system were present in all C. jejuni isolates but not in C. coli. flaA typing resulted in five different genotypes within C. jejuni, MLST classified the isolates into seven sequence types (ST-5155, ST-6736, ST-2837, ST-4395, ST-5799, ST-4099 and ST-860). The microarray assay analysis showed a high genetic diversity within Vietnamese Campylobacter isolates which resulted in eight different types for C. jejuni. Antibiotic susceptibility profiles showed that all isolates were sensitive to gentamicin and most isolates (88.8 %) were sensitive to chloramphenicol, erythromycin and streptomycin. Resistance rates to nalidixic acid, tetracycline and ciprofloxacin were 88.9, 77.8 and 66.7 %, respectively. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first report that shows high genetic diversity and remarkable antibiotic resistance of Campylobacter strains isolated from meat in Vietnam which can be considered of high public health significance. These preliminary data show that large scale screenings are justified to assess the relevance of Campylobacter infections on human health in Vietnam

The Quality of Medical Teaching and Learning in Rural Settings - the Learners Perspective

During 1992-93, the authors produced a video-based teacher development resource kit for rural and isolated general practitioners and hospital medical personnel who are involved in medical teaching. As part of the development process, we surveyed 240 medical undergraduate students of the University of Queensland about their experiences and perceptions of teaching and learning in rural settings in Queensland. For approximately 90% of undergraduate learners, the experience with a rural medical practitioner was extremely positive. The major positive features identified by students were: being treated as a colleague; being allowed/encouraged to work independently; receiving feedback on their work; and being given ample 'hands-on' minor procedural experience and/or teaching. The 10% of students who reported unfavourably on their rural terms identified lack of opportunities to carry out solo consultations/work independently, lack of structure in teaching/learning experiences, and lack of hands-on experience as the major disappointments. The results demonstrate clearly how and why the majority of rural medical teachers in Queensland are effective facilitators of undergraduate learning

Improved student learning in ophthalmology with computer-aided instruction

© Royal College of OphthalmologistsPURPOSE: Recent changes in the medical school curriculum and in teaching styles have stimulated the development of novel learning resources. We investigated the impact of computer-aided learning in the field of ophthalmology at a large Australian undergraduate medical school. METHODS: Clinical case studies describing common ophthalmic conditions were incorporated into a computing program which uses a problem-solving format. The program was made available to 85 medical students for a 2 week period. A control group of 20 medical students did not have access to this material. Acquisition of new knowledge was assessed as the improvement in score on a knowledge-based multiple-choice examination which students took both before and following the learning interval. RESULTS: Students in the control group showed no improvement over the test period, whilst the students who had access to the computer significantly increased their knowledge base, both for material provided on the program (p = 0.0001) and in related areas (p = 0.0015). CONCLUSIONS: Suitably constructed material on the computer is a useful aid in teaching ophthalmology to medical undergraduates. The material and the medium may also act as a stimulus for further learning.P. Devitt, J.R. Smith and E. Palmerhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1170297

How important are student-selected versus instructor-selected literature resources for students’ learning and motivation in problem-based learning?

In problem-based learning (PBL) students are responsible for their own learning process, which becomes evident in, for example, selecting literature resources for individual study. Debate exists about whether it is best to have students select their own literature resources or to present them with a list of mandatory instructor-selected literature resources. The current study investigated the effect of studying instructorselected literature resources versus student-selected literature resources (N = 60) from a predetermined set of literature on several study outcome variables. The results demonstrated that students in the student-selected literature condition scored higher on autonomous motivation, perceived competence, and lower on perceptions of mental effort during studying. The instructor-selected condition led to better test performance on factual test items whereas no difference was found for the conceptual questions. Overall, the results indicate that letting students select their own literature resources can be beneficial in terms of autonomous motivation, perceived competence, and perceptions of mental effort during learning and does not affect conceptual knowledge