Parental Knowledge of Malnutrition as a Cause of Infant and Child Mortality Rate in Torbu Community, Sierra Leone

Malnutrition is a significant public health problem over the world, with severe impact in developing countries, including Asia and Africa. This paper present to assess malnutrition as a cause of infant and child mortality rate in Torbu community in Bo city, Sierra Leone. We used a community-based cross-sectional survey. A total of 80 mothers with children of under five years were selected using convenience sampling from the different divisions of Bo city. The findings showed that 48 (60%) of the respondents have never been sensitized nor have any knowledge about Malnutrition, of which 16 (50%) were informed via radio while 50 (63%) were not aware of any nutrition facility around the community. Besides, 56 (70%) of the respondents did not practice exclusive breastfeeding, 64 (80%) fed their children on only carbohydrates mainly in the form of rice, and 26 (32.5%) had one meal per day. 64 (80%) reported their children to have been admitted due to malnutrition (with mainly protein-energy malnutrition), while over a half 46 (57%) reported having lost a child to malnutrition. Thus, we recommended more nutrition education to address the poor Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices as well as targeted health interventions to mitigate the devastating effects of child malnutrition in the district

Antibiotic Susceptibility, Biofilm Production, and Detection of mecA Gene among Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Different Clinical Specimens

The increasing incidence of methicillin-resistant and biofilm-forming S. aureus isolates in hospital settings is a gruesome concern today. The main objectives of this study were to determine the burden of S. aureus in clinical samples, assess their antibiotic susceptibility pattern and detect biofilm formation and mecA gene in them. A total of 1968 different clinical specimens were processed to isolate S. aureus following standard microbiological procedures. Antibiotic susceptibility test of the isolates was performed by Kirby–Bauer disc-diffusion method following CLSI guidelines. Biofilm was detected through tissue culture plate method. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates were screened using cefoxitin (30 µg) discs and mecA gene was amplified by conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Of 177 bacterial growth, the prevalence of S. aureus was 15.3% (n = 27). MRSA were 55.6% (15/27) and 44% (12/27) exhibited multidrug resistance (MDR). There was no significant association between methicillin resistance and MDR (p > 0.05). Both MRSA and MSSA were least sensitive to penicillin (100%, 75%) followed by erythromycin (86.6%, 66.6%). Most of the MRSA (93.4%) were susceptible to tetracycline. All S. aureus isolates were biofilm producers—19 (70%) were weak and only one (4%) was a strong biofilm producer. The strong biofilm-producing MSSA was resistant to most of the antibiotics except cefoxitin and clindamycin. None of the MSSA possessed mecA gene while 8 (53.3%) MRSA had it. More than half of S. aureus isolated were MRSA. High incidence of multidrug resistance along with capacity to form biofilm among clinical isolates of S.aureus is a matter of apprehension and prompt adoption of biosafety measures is suggested to curb their dissemination in the hospital environments

Antibiotic Susceptibility, Biofilm Production, and Detection of <i>mec</i>A Gene among <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> Isolates from Different Clinical Specimens

The increasing incidence of methicillin-resistant and biofilm-forming S. aureus isolates in hospital settings is a gruesome concern today. The main objectives of this study were to determine the burden of S. aureus in clinical samples, assess their antibiotic susceptibility pattern and detect biofilm formation and mecA gene in them. A total of 1968 different clinical specimens were processed to isolate S. aureus following standard microbiological procedures. Antibiotic susceptibility test of the isolates was performed by Kirby–Bauer disc-diffusion method following CLSI guidelines. Biofilm was detected through tissue culture plate method. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates were screened using cefoxitin (30 µg) discs and mecA gene was amplified by conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Of 177 bacterial growth, the prevalence of S. aureus was 15.3% (n = 27). MRSA were 55.6% (15/27) and 44% (12/27) exhibited multidrug resistance (MDR). There was no significant association between methicillin resistance and MDR (p > 0.05). Both MRSA and MSSA were least sensitive to penicillin (100%, 75%) followed by erythromycin (86.6%, 66.6%). Most of the MRSA (93.4%) were susceptible to tetracycline. All S. aureus isolates were biofilm producers—19 (70%) were weak and only one (4%) was a strong biofilm producer. The strong biofilm-producing MSSA was resistant to most of the antibiotics except cefoxitin and clindamycin. None of the MSSA possessed mecA gene while 8 (53.3%) MRSA had it. More than half of S. aureus isolated were MRSA. High incidence of multidrug resistance along with capacity to form biofilm among clinical isolates of S.aureus is a matter of apprehension and prompt adoption of biosafety measures is suggested to curb their dissemination in the hospital environments