Adolescent reproductive health and awareness of HIV among rural high school students, North Western Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is faced with an increasing problem from HIV infection, and the vulnerability of adolescents is a key concern. There is little information on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of this age group with respect to HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and preventive measures. We conducted a cross-sectional study among 260 students from two rural high schools in North Western Ethiopia. We found that although the general awareness of HIV was high, correct knowledge of the virus and its modes of transmission was shown in only 44% of adolescent boys and 41% of adolescent girls. Knowledge of HIV and condoms was lower among students whose parents were farmers, significant so among girls (p=0.02). Use of condoms among sexually active single male students (49%) was insufficient but was higher than among adolescents in many other African settings. Knowledge of STDs was generally low: 82% of adolescent males and 37% of adolescent females had some awareness of STDs. Almost 20% of sexually active males in the study had previously experienced an STD, almost all of whom had visited a commercial sex worker. Targeted interventions are warranted among adolescents and sex workers in Ethiopia complemented by STD treatment services

Effect of Mono and Di-rhamnolipids on Biofilms Pre-formed by Bacillus subtilis BBK006.

Different microbial inhibition strategies based on the planktonic bacterial physiology have been known to have limited efficacy on the growth of biofilms communities. This problem can be exacerbated by the emergence of increasingly resistant clinical strains. Biosurfactants have merited renewed interest in both clinical and hygienic sectors due to their potential to disperse microbial biofilms. In this work, we explore the aspects of Bacillus subtilis BBK006 biofilms and examine the contribution of biologically derived surface-active agents (rhamnolipids) to the disruption or inhibition of microbial biofilms produced by Bacillus subtilis BBK006. The ability of mono-rhamnolipids (Rha-C10-C10) produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027 and the di-rhamnolipids (Rha-Rha-C14-C14) produced by Burkholderia thailandensis E264, and phosphate-buffered saline to disrupt biofilm of Bacillus subtilis BBK006 was evaluated. The biofilm produced by Bacillus subtilis BBK006 was more sensitive to the di-rhamnolipids (0.4 g/L) produced by Burkholderia thailandensis than the mono-rhamnolipids (0.4 g/L) produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027. Rhamnolipids are biologically produced compounds safe for human use. This makes them ideal candidates for use in new generations of bacterial dispersal agents and useful for use as adjuvants for existing microbial suppression or eradication strategies

Sophorolipid biosurfactants: Possible uses as antibacterial and antibiofilm agent.

Biosurfactants are amphipathic, surface-active molecules of microbial origin which accumulate at interfaces reducing interfacial tension and leading to the formation of aggregated micellular structures in solution. Some biosurfactants have been reported to have antimicrobial properties, the ability to prevent adhesion and to disrupt biofilm formation. We investigated antimicrobial properties and biofilm disruption using sophorolipids at different concentrations. Growth of Gram negative Cupriavidus necator ATCC 17699 and Gram positive Bacillus subtilis BBK006 were inhibited by sophorolipids at concentrations of 5% v/v with a bactericidal effect. Sophorolipids (5% v/v) were also able to disrupt biofilms formed by single and mixed cultures of B. subtilis BBK006 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 9144 under static and flow conditions, as was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The results indicated that sophorolipids may be promising compounds for use in biomedical application as adjuvants to other antimicrobial against some pathogens through inhibition of growth and/or biofilm disruption