Evaluation and Susceptibility Pattern of Staphylococci Isolated From Clinical Specimens in POF Hospital, Wah Cantt.

Objective: To determine the frequency and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase negative staphylococci isolated from clinical specimens as a result of culture and sensitivity. Materials & Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out in POF Hospital Microbiology laboratory from January 2019 to September 2020. One hundred and eighty four staphylococci isolated from clinical specimens were processed as per standard methodology. Results: Out of 148, methicillin resistant S.aureus and methicillin resistant coagulase negative staphylococci were 38.04% and13.04% respectively. Infections caused by Methicillin resistant staphylococcal isolates were higher among the age group 31-40 years (71.4%, OR=2.68). Out of thirty expired patients, 53.3% had been infected with methicillin resistant staphylococcal infections. The methicillin resistant staphylococci were most frequent in miscellaneous category of clinical specimens (80.0%, OR=4.63). The susceptibility analysis revealed that methicillin resistant staphylococci are 100% resistant to penicillin, meropenem and amoxycillin-clavulanate (p=0.000).  A significant association of methicillin resistance was also noticed against amikacin (p=0.002), ciprofloxacin (p=0.001), clindamycin (p=0.005) and erythromycin (p=0.000). Moxifloxacin, linezolid and vancomycin are the most effective choice for infections caused by methicillin resistant staphylococci. Conclusions: The methicillin-resistant staphylococci are highly resistant to commonly prescribed oral as well as injectable antibiotics. Establishment and implementation of infection control policies are required to combat the grave situation of increasing antibiotic resistance

Evaluation and Susceptibility Pattern of Staphylococci Isolated From Clinical Specimens in POF Hospital, Wah Cantt.

Objective: To determine the frequency and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase negative staphylococci isolated from clinical specimens as a result of culture and sensitivity. Materials & Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out in POF Hospital Microbiology laboratory from January 2019 to September 2020. One hundred and eighty four staphylococci isolated from clinical specimens were processed as per standard methodology. Results: Out of 148, methicillin resistant S.aureus and methicillin resistant coagulase negative staphylococci were 38.04% and13.04% respectively. Infections caused by Methicillin resistant staphylococcal isolates were higher among the age group 31-40 years (71.4%, OR=2.68). Out of thirty expired patients, 53.3% had been infected with methicillin resistant staphylococcal infections. The methicillin resistant staphylococci were most frequent in miscellaneous category of clinical specimens (80.0%, OR=4.63). The susceptibility analysis revealed that methicillin resistant staphylococci are 100% resistant to penicillin, meropenem and amoxycillin-clavulanate (p=0.000).  A significant association of methicillin resistance was also noticed against amikacin (p=0.002), ciprofloxacin (p=0.001), clindamycin (p=0.005) and erythromycin (p=0.000). Moxifloxacin, linezolid and vancomycin are the most effective choice for infections caused by methicillin resistant staphylococci. Conclusions: The methicillin-resistant staphylococci are highly resistant to commonly prescribed oral as well as injectable antibiotics. Establishment and implementation of infection control policies are required to combat the grave situation of increasing antibiotic resistance

Neonatal sepsis and resistance pattern of isolates in Tertiary level neonatal unit: Time to evaluate the empirical antibiotics selection

Objective: To find out the most common organisms involved in neonatal sepsis origination and observe the pattern of antibiotic sensitivity and resistance of bacterial isolates.Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Paediatrics Izzat Ali Shah Hospital, Wah Cantt. Out of 420 patients admitted with sepsis in NICU, 19.5% of patients with positive blood cultures were included in the study. A consecutive, non-probability sampling technique was used.Results: Out of 82 positive blood cultures gram-positive bacteria were observed in 19 patients (23.2%) and gram-negative bacteria were seen in 63 patients (76.8%). The most common gram-negative pathogens isolated were Acinetobacter (29.3%) and Klebsiella (24.4%). Staphylococcus aureus (12.2%) was the commonest gram-positive organism isolated. Gram-negative organisms showed maximum sensitivity to Tigecycline and Colistin and were resistant to Cefixime, Aztreonam, Amoxicillin, and Ceftriaxone. Gram-positive bacteria were sensitive to Teicoplanin, Linezolid, and Vancomycin while resistance was shown to penicillin and amoxicillin.Conclusion: The current study showed that gram-negative bacteria were the major contributors to sepsis in the respective setup and showed resistance to first-line antibiotics such as Penicillins and Cephalosporins. Strict infection control measures need to be implemented to avoid the emergence of resistant strains of pathogens in NICUs. This will help to reduce the incidence of neonatal sepsis leading to mortality.

Application of copper and aluminium electrode in electro coagulation process for municipal wastewater treatment: A case study at Karachi

The reuse of treated domestic wastewater is an imperative source of water for numerous purposes. The treatment of municipal wastewater can be process by utilizing the technique for electrocoagulation. Electrocoagulation (EC) is an eco-friendly technique that combines the functions and advantages of conventional coagulation, flotation, and electrochemistry in water and wastewater treatment. The aim of present study was to assess the potential of electrocoagulation process in removing COD, BOD, TSS, turbidity, sulphate, nitrate, chloride and TDS from municipal wastewater. This experimental study was carried out at a batch system by using copper and aluminium electrodes aiming to treat the municipal wastewater at (0, 7, 14, and 21 volts, 50mamp for 60minutes) from Sample Baloch Colony (SBC), Sample Rind Goth (SRG), Sample Cattle Colony (SCC), Sample Pakistan Machine Tool Factory (SPMTF) and Sample Mehran Highway (SMH). The results revealed that the maximum removal efficiency of COD 96% for SPMTF, BOD 38.5% for SPMTF, TSS 98.14% for SMH, Turbidity 95.7% for SPMTF, Sulphate 95.9% for SRG, Nitrate 95.23% for SMH, Chloride 97.92% for SMH and TDS 96.9% for SRG at 21 volt. The present study suggested that the treated wastewater could be safely reuse for lawns, parks, tree plantation and recreation purpose

Whole-Exome Sequencing Reveals Migraine-Associated Novel Functional Variants in Arab Ancestry Females: A Pilot Study

Migraine, as the seventh most disabling neurological disease with 26.9% prevalence in Saudi females, lacks studies on identifying associated genes and pathways with migraines in the Arab population. This case control study aims to identify the migraine-associated novel genes and risk variants. More than 1900 Arab ancestry young female college students were screened: 103 fulfilled the ICHD-3 criteria for migraine and 20 cases confirmed in the neurology clinic were included for the study with age-matched healthy controls. DNA from blood samples were subjected to paired-end whole-exome sequencing. After quality control, 3365343 missense, frameshift, missense splice region variants and insertion–deletion (indels) polymorphisms were tested for association with migraine. Significant variants were validated using Sanger sequencing. A total of 17 (p-value 9.091 × 10−05) functional variants in 12 genes (RETNLB, SCAI, ADH4, ESPL1, CPT2, FLG, PPP4R1, SERPINB5, ZNF66, ETAA1, EXO1 and CPA6) were associated with higher migraine risk, including a stop-gained frameshift (-13-14*SX) variant in the gene RETNLB (rs5851607; p-value 3.446 × 10−06). Gene analysis revealed that half of the significant novel migraine risk genes were expressed in the temporal lobe (p-value 0.0058) of the cerebral cortex. This is the first study exploring the migraine risk of 17 functional variants in 12 genes among Saudi female migraineurs of Arab ancestry using whole-exome sequencing. Half of the significant genes were expressed in the temporal lobe, which expands migraine pathophysiology and early identification using biomarkers for research possibilities on personalised genetics

Prevalence of menstrual irregularities after coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination: A cross-sectional study in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Reports indicate that there are menstrual cycle disturbances following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination. The present study explored the prevalence of menstrual irregularities after COVID-19 vaccination and the association of menstrual irregularities with vaccine type, doses, immediate adverse effects, history of COVID-19 infection, and its severity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For this cross-sectional study, 406 women of reproductive age completed an online survey about the postvaccine changes in their menstruation (cycle duration, bleeding days, and bleeding amount), COVID-19 vaccine history (doses, type of vaccine, and immediate adverse effects), history of COVID-19 infection, and its severity. Data was analyzed using SPSS; descriptive statistics were computed and Chi-square test, and binary logistic regression analysis were performed. RESULTS: Of the total 406 women, 45% reported postvaccine changes in their menstrual cycle. The most common menstrual change was increased dysmenorrhea (68%), followed by an increase in the length of the cycle (52%). There was a significant association between postvaccine menstrual changes and the age, marital status, and family history of menstrual irregularities. No association was observed between postvaccine menstrual changes and COVID-19 vaccine-and COVID-19 infection-related variables. As per the best-fit model of our predictors, the odds of having postvaccine menstrual changes were 0.41 times less in “single” women (confidence interval [CI] = 0.26–0.27; P < 0.001) and 1.714 times greater in women who had a “family history of menstrual irregularities” (CI = 1.092–2.690; P = 0.02), respectively. CONCLUSION: A substantial number of women complained of postvaccine menstrual changes regardless of their age, type of COVID-19 vaccine, doses, immediate adverse effects, and COVID-19 infection history/severity. Being “single” decreased the probability, whereas having a family history of menstrual irregularities increased the probability significantly of having postvaccine menstrual changes