Non-neoformans cryptococcemia in a patient with hodgkin’s lymphoma

Cryptococcemia attributed to non-neoformans cryptococci has not received much attention due to the relative scarcity of reported cases. The primary aim of this case report is to highlight several notable characteristics of Cryptococcus laurentii. A 35-year-old woman presented with a right supraclavicular mass and a history of low-grade fever. A yeast was isolated from her blood. It formed cream-colored colonies which turned yellowish after 72 h of incubation and had a microscopic morphology of elongated budding yeast cells. Its identity was confirmed to be C. laurentii through carbohydrate assimilation testing (ID 32 C). The patient responded clinically to fluconazole and cleared the cryptococcemia. She was subsequently diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma through histopathological examination of the supraclavicular mas

NON-NEOFORMANS CRYPTOCOCCEMIA IN A PATIENT WITH HODGKIN'S LYMPHOMA

Cryptococcemia attributed to non-neoformans cryptococci has not received much attention due to the relative scarcity of reported cases. The primary aim of this case report is to highlight several notable characteristics of Cryptococcus laurentii. A 35-year-old woman presented with a right supraclavicular mass and a history of low-grade fever. A yeast was isolated from her blood. It formed cream-colored colonies which turned yellowish after 72 h of incubation and had a microscopic morphology of elongated budding yeast cells. Its identity was confirmed to be C. laurentii through carbohydrate assimilation testing (ID 32 C). The patient responded clinically to fluconazole and cleared the cryptococcemia. She was subsequently diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma through histopathological examination of the supraclavicular mass

Food Technology Ascertaining Supply Chain Integrity

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Treatments and Predictors of Mortality for Carbapenem-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacilli Infections in Malaysia: A Retrospective Cohort Study

This study evaluated the treatments, mortality rate and patient-related factors associated with mortality. This is a retrospective study involving hospitalised patients with infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacilli (CR-GNB) in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia from January 2018 to June 2020. A clinical pharmacist reviewed patients’ electronic records and collected the data according to a pre-designed form. Data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential tests. The study included 145 patients with CR-GNB infections including 77, 40 and 28 Acinetobacter baumannii, enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively. The mean age was 57.9 ± 15.8 years. Pneumonia (40.7%) and bacteremia (25.5%) were the most common infections. Meropenem (24.7%) and piperacillin-tazobactam (20.4%) were the most commonly used empiric antibiotics while colistin (63.3%) and amikacin (8.3%) were the most common definitive antibiotics. The mean duration before active antibiotics was 4.6 ± 3.3 days. Overall, the in-hospital mortality rate was 41.4%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that intensive care unit (ICU) admission (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 5.201; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.603–16.872; p = 0.006), sepsis/septic shock (AOR: 3.430; 95% CI: 1.021–11.522; p = 0.049) and elevated serum creatinine (AOR: 2.752; 95% CI: 1.005–7.536; p = 0.049) were independently associated with mortality. The mortality rate among patients with CR-GNB infection is high. A high rate of inappropriate antibiotic use was observed, including combination antibiotic therapy and delays in starting active antibiotics. Mortality was significantly associated with ICU admission, sepsis/septic shock and elevated serum creatinine

Growth performance, feed utilization and body composition of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758) fed with different levels of black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (Linnaeus, 1758) maggot meal diet

In this study, fish meal (FM) was replaced by the black soldier fly maggot meal (BSFM) with replacement levels at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. The feeding trial was conducted for 56 days and the effect of each replacement level on the growth performance, feed utilization, body composition and survival of the experimental fish was assessed. All the experimental diets were well accepted by the fish. No mortality was observed during the experimental period. Diet 3 resulted in the highest weight gain and SGR values of 8.74±0.18 and 2.43±0.04% respectively. FCR and PER values obtained for Diet 3 were also better compared to that with other diets. Although there were no significant differences in crude protein content among fishes fed different diets (Diet 1 to Diet 5), fish fed Diet 3 showed significant (p<0.05) increase in crude protein content at the end of the experiment. Based on these results, it may be concluded that BSFM can be used to replace FM with up to 50% replacement without causing adverse effects on growth and feed utilization parameters

The roles of acidity, peroxide and non-peroxide compounds in antibacterial properties of Malaysian Kelulut, Tualang and Acacia honey

In this study, three putative factors that commonly contribute to antibacterial properties in honey were determined, namely acidity (pH level), peroxide compounds and non-peroxide compounds. Methodology and results: Honey samples were prepared based on the known factors of acidity, peroxide compounds, and non-peroxide compounds to identify factors that contribute to the antibacterial properties of the honey based on agar diffusion assay. Liquid chromatography quadropole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was employed to detect and quantify the presence of acidic, peroxide, and non-peroxide compounds in the honey samples. Acidity and non-peroxide compounds were identified as the significant factors contributing to the antibacterial properties of Kelulut, Tualang and Acacia honey. No peroxide compound was detected in this study across all honey samples. In Kelulut, the presence of the additional compounds (reptoside, platycogenic acid and kauranoic acid) may explain its higher antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus as compared to Tualang and Acacia honey based on the inhibition zones on the agar plates. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: The presence of multiple antibacterial factors in honey is notably important as it gives an advantage of using honey compared to antibiotics in preventing the growth of a wide range of bacterial species with multiple modes of action

Low occurrence of bacteria on the lift buttons of a public hospital executing weekly Covid 19 decontamination

Introduction: The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) has led to serious changes in the way of handling common touch objects. Since these objects had the potential to become fomite, the Malaysian Ministry of Health had implemented sanitation and decontamination as a must routine especially for public spaces such as hospitals to prevent any chances of getting nosocomial infection. However, there was little to no publication on the effect of these implementations on common touchable surfaces in Malaysia. Objectives: This research was conducted to quantify the bacteria isolated from the interior and exterior lift buttons of a public hospital in Kuantan, Pahang that performed weekly Covid 19 cleaning and decontamination Methodology Sampling using cotton swabs was conducted thrice with two weeks intervals from March to April 2021 on the lift buttons in the main building of the hospital by purposive sampling technique (n=50). The samples were processed in the laboratory as per standard microbiological procedures Results: The average percentage of bacterial occurrence was 34.8%. Bacteria on the interior lift buttons were more abundant than on the exterior lift buttons with 440 and 120 CFU/mL, respectively. The distribution of bacteria on the lift buttons was skewed towards Gram-positive bacteria (84.1%) when compared to Gram-negative bacteria (15.9%) wherein cocci-shaped bacteria dominated with 79.6% occurrence. Conclusion: The low quantity of bacteria on the lift buttons showed that the weekly routine decontamination was effective. The decontamination method is ideal to be applied in public places to minimise the occurrence of contaminants

A review of using porous ashalt pavement as an alternative to conventional pavement in stormwater treatment.

Porous asphalt has been used for than 50 years, but it was originally developed in 1970 at Franklin institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and by 1974 the first formalized procedure was created by the federal highway administration to design mixtures. Many researches on porous asphalt mixture have been conducted for the past two decades. However, there remains some concern about the potential adverse impacts of infiltrated surface water on the underlying groundwater. This paper is a review of the use of porous asphalt pavement. In this study, a critical review on history and benefits is presented followed by review of general studies of using porous asphalt pavement, and some recent scientific studies that examine potential contamination of soil and groundwater due to infiltration systems. The researches indicate that porous asphalt pavement is more efficient than conventional pavements in terms of retaining pollutants, improving the quality of water and runoff while maintaining infiltration

Evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on hospital-acquired infections in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia

Background: Infection prevention measures are the gold standard for preventing the spread of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). COVID-19 pandemic caused major disruptions in infection prevention measures, and this has implications on the rate of HAIs. This study assessed the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the rate and the types of HAIs at Sultan Ahmed Shah Hospital. Method: This is a retrospective cohort study that compared the rate of HAIs from April to October 2019 (pre COVID period) and April to October 2020 (during COVID period). Data was collected through the review of patients’ electronic medical records. Results: There were a total of 578 patients included in the selected wards during the pre- and during the pandemic. Thirty-nine episodes (12.1%) of HAIs were report in the pre COVID period and 29 (11.3%) during COVID-19. In both periods, hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) was the most frequent HAI among the patients. There was a rise in catheter-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) (0.8%) and ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) (1.1%) during the COVID-19 period. The most common bacteria were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (28.2%) and Enterococcus faecalis (17.9%) in the Pre COVID-19 period, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (27.6%) and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (6.9%) during COVID-19. Conclusion: Our research concluded that the rates of HAIs during the COVID-19 pandemic were not significantly impacted by the improved in-hospital infection prevention efforts to control the pandemic. There is need for further efforts to promote adherence to preventive practices

Skytider™

Skytider™ is a tool designed to facilitate the installation of buntings as compared to the existing method, which requires a ladder for climbing and the use of sizable manpower. Skytider™ applies an eco-friendly approach by replacing wires with cable ties. The use of wires during the usual way of bunting installation results in discarded wires that may rust the pole lights after the buntings are uninstalled from the pole. Skytider™ allows for installation without the need for individuals to climb and twist wires. Most importantly, it helps avoid the risk of an accident