Antimicrobial Efficacy and Synergy of Metal Ions against Enterococcus faecium, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii in Planktonic and Biofilm Phenotypes

The effects of metal ion solutions (silver, copper, platinum, gold and palladium) were determined individually and in combination against Enterococcus faecium, Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Platinum, gold and palladium showed the greatest antimicrobial efficacy in zone of inhibition (ZoI) assays. When tested in combinations using ZoI assays, gold/platinum, gold/palladium and platinum/palladium were indicative of synergy. Microbial inhibitory concentration demonstrated platinum and gold against Enterococcus faecium, platinum against Klebsiella pneumoniae and platinum and silver against Acinetobacter baumannii were optimal. Minimal bactericidal concentrations determined the greatest bactericidal activity was again platinum gold and palladium against all three bacteria. Fractional Inhibitory Concentration (FIC) studies demonstrated that the silver/platinum combination against Enterococcus faecium, and silver/copper combination against Acinetobacter baumannii demonstrated antimicrobial synergy. Following crystal violet biofilm assays for single metal ion solutions, antimicrobial efficacies were demonstrated for all the metals against all the bacteria Synergistic assays against biofilms demonstrated gold/palladium, gold/platinumand platinum/palladium resulted in the greatest antimicrobial efficacy. Overall, platinum, palladium and gold metal ion solutions in individual use or combination demonstrated the greatest antimicrobial efficacies against planktonic or biofilm bacteria. This work demonstrates the potential for using a range of metal ions, as biocidal formulations against both planktonic or biofilm bacteria

Kırıkkale il merkezi’nde bulunan sağlık kuruluşları girişlerindeki engelli rampalarının standartlara uygunluğunun değerlendirmesi

Aim: Disability is not just a health issue, It is a complex phenomenon that affects deeply the lives of people with disabilities in terms of health, social and psychological. Over 1 billion people globally experience disability at any level. According to data from TÜİK (2002) Turkey’s 12,29% of the population is disabled. Physical barriers to accessing health services is a significant problem. In this study, Handicapped ramps in health care facilities in kırıkkale province, were examined for legal compliance with regulations and standards. Materials and Methods: The study is of descriptive nature. All handicapped ramps in the entrances of all the health institutions were enrolled the study. 37 ramps have been investigated in 26 Health Organization. Evaluations were made on the basis of the Institute of Turkish standards (TS12576 and TS9111 standards). The ramps were evaluated for the following properties: presence and type of the ramps, the suitability of the surface, slope angle, length and height of the ramp, the handrail, the width, the platform presence/absence and suitability of the input and the output of the ramp platform, guide signs, and the warning signs, the stimulant surface. The slopes of the ramps were calculated as the percentage using the ramp’s heights and lengths. Results: In this study, there was no any ramps that conforming to standarts in terms of their all properties and measurements. Three of health institutions did not have any handicapped ramps, although they were necessary. There were no any input and output guide signs and warning signs for the visually impaired person and stimulant surface in any of the ramps. %94 of the ramps did not have drainnage channel. © GATA

Salivary infectious agents and periodontal disease status

WOS: 000287702700012PubMed ID: 21261620Background and Objectives: The potential of salivary microorganisms to diagnose periodontal disease and to guide periodontal treatment is a research topic of current interest. This study aimed to determine whether the salivary counts of periodontopathic microbes correlated with the periodontal pocket counts of the same infectious agents, and whether the salivary counts of the test infectious agents could distinguish among individuals with periodontal health and various types of periodontal disease. Material and Methods: The study included 150 systemically healthy adults, of whom 37 were periodontally healthy, 31 had gingivitis, 46 had chronic periodontitis and 36 had aggressive periodontitis. Each study subject contributed microbial samples from the two deepest periodontal pockets of the dentition and from whole saliva. Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Campylobacter rectus, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Tannerella forsythia and Epstein-Barr virus were identified using the TaqMan real-time PCR methodology. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U-test and the receiver operating characteristic statistics. Results: C. rectus, F. nucleatum, P. gingivalis, P. intermedia and T. forsythia occurred with significantly higher copy-counts in salivary samples from patients with gingivitis, chronic periodontitis and aggressive periodontitis than from periodontally healthy individuals. A. actinomycetemcomitans only showed higher salivary copy-counts in subjects with aggressive periodontitis compared with subjects with healthy periodontium, and the salivary copy-counts of Epstein-Barr virus did not reveal any significant difference among the four subject groups studied. The diagnostic sensitivity for periodontitis was 89.19 for P. gingivalis and for T. forsythia and 86.49 for P. intermedia, with specificities ranging from 83.78 to 94.59. The optimal copy-counts per mL saliva for identifying periodontitis were 40,000 for P. gingivalis, 700,000 for T. forsythia and 910,000 for P. intermedia. Conclusion: Salivary copy-counts of P. gingivalis, T. forsythia and P. intermedia appear to have the potential to identify the presence of periodontitis, whereas the salivary level of the other test infectious agents may possess little or no diagnostic utility. Longitudinal studies are warranted to determine the ability of salivary copy-counts of major periodontopathic bacteria to predict future periodontal breakdown