Antimicrobial resistance of bacterial isolates from urinary tract infections at Felge Hiwot Referral Hospital, Ethiopia

Urinary tract infections are common health problems and vary according to geography and regions. A retrospective analysis was conducted to determine the antimicrobial resistance of bacterial isolates from urine at Felege HiwotReferral Hospital from September 2003 to June 2008. From 529 urine specimens, bacterial isolates were found in 160 [(30.2%) (95% CI: 26.3-34.1%)]. Of these, 116 (72.5%) of the isolates were gram negatives. Single and multiple drug resistance to the commonly used antibiotics were high among bacterial isolates in the area. Thus, rational use of drugsshould be practiced

Mycobacterium tuberculosis causing tuberculous lymphadenitis in Maputo, Mozambique

BACKGROUND: The zoonosis bovine tuberculosis (TB) is known to be responsible for a considerable proportion of extrapulmonary TB. In Mozambique, bovine TB is a recognised problem in cattle, but little has been done to evaluate how Mycobacterium bovis has contributed to human TB. We here explore the public health risk for bovine TB in Maputo, by characterizing the isolates from tuberculous lymphadenitis (TBLN) cases, a common manifestation of bovine TB in humans, in the Pathology Service of Maputo Central Hospital, in Mozambique, during one year. RESULTS: Among 110 patients suspected of having TBLN, 49 had a positive culture result. Of those, 48 (98 %) were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and one for nontuberculous mycobacteria. Of the 45 isolates analysed by spoligotyping and Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Unit - Variable Number Tandem Repeat (MIRU-VNTR), all were M. tuberculosis. No M. bovis was found. Cervical TBLN, corresponding to 39 (86.7 %) cases, was the main cause of TBLN and 66.7 % of those where from HIV positive patients. We found that TBLN in Maputo was caused by a variety of M. tuberculosis strains. The most prevalent lineage was the EAI (n?=?19; 43.2 %). Particular common spoligotypes were SIT 48 (EAI1_SOM sublineage), SIT 42 (LAM 9), SIT 1 (Beijing) and SIT53 (T1), similar to findings among pulmonary cases. CONCLUSIONS: M. tuberculosis was the main etiological agent of TBLN in Maputo. M. tuberculosis genotypes were similar to the ones causing pulmonary TB, suggesting that in Maputo, cases of TBLN arise from the same source as pulmonary TB, rather than from an external zoonotic source. Further research is needed on other forms of extrapulmonary TB and in rural areas where there is high prevalence of bovine TB in cattle, to evaluate the risk of transmission of M. bovis from cattle to humans.Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency / Department for Research Cooperation (Sida/SAREC) through Eduardo Mondlane University and Karolinska Institutet Research and Training (KIRT) collaboratio

Antimicrobial resistance of fecal isolates of salmonella and shigella spp at bahir dar regional health research laboratory, northwest Ethiopia

Salmonellosis and Shigellosis coupled with increased levels of multidrug resistances are public health problems, especially in developing countries. This study was aimed at determining the prevalence of fecal Salmonella and Shigella spp and its antimicrobial resistance patterns. A retrospective study was conducted on 1321 stool cultures that were processed at Bahir Dar Regional Health Research Laboratory from September 2003 to June 2008. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed using the disc diffusion method. The isolation rate of Salmonella and Shigella spp were 84 (6.4%) and 45 (3.4%), respectively. Salmonella spp exhibited very high levels of antimicrobial resistance (80-90%) to ampicillin, cephalotin, chloramphenicol, co-trimoxazole, erythromycin, streptomycin and tetracycline (44%). A high proportion of Shigella isolates were resistant to ampicillin (93.3%), chloramphenicol (42.2%) co-trimoxazole (62.2%) and tetracycline (95.5%). Shigella and Salmonella spp exhibited the lowest resistance rate to gentamicin and norfloxacillin. The overall multiple antimicrobial resistance was 98.2%. These data indicate that a high proportion of fecal Shigella and Salmonella spp are resistant to the most commonly prescribed antimicrobials with the least resistance to gentamicin and norfloxacillin. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests therefore need to be performed prior to prescribing antimicrobials. Furthermore, a regular antimicrobial surveillance and adherence to the antimicrobial policy may help to contain the spread of antimicrobial  esistant enteric bacterial pathogens.Keywords: multidrug resistance, Salmonella spp, Shigella spp, stool culture, northwest Ethiopi