Microbial Landscape and Antibiotic Susceptibility Dynamics of Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in Kazakhstan 2018–2020

Skin and soft tissue inflammatory diseases of bacterial origin occupy a significant part of hospitalizations to emergency departments. One of the most common causes of sepsis is soft tissue infection, which accounts for about a quarter of all nosocomial infections. The aim of this study was to determine the differences in microbial landscape and antibiotic susceptibility of soft tissue infection pathogens among adults and children during the period 2018–2020. We studied 110 samples of pus admitted to the Scientific Research laboratory of the Karaganda Medical University from 2018 to 2020. Each sample was studied using the standard and express methods. The antibiotic susceptibility was determined by using the diffuse disk method in accordance with the CLSI 2018 recommendations. As such, 50% of S. epidermidis strains in children and 30% in adults were methicillin resistant. Differences in the resistance of S. aureus strains in children and adults were insignificant. Thus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was not detected in children, but in adults, on the other hand, their percentage was 12.5%. The third cause of infection in adults was E. coli (13.72%), among which 75% were multidrug resistant. A. baumanii was found in 4.9% of adult patients’ samples, of which 60% were multidrug resistant. The effectiveness of the most prescribed antibiotics decreased due to the isolated strain resistance

Bacterial Colonization Incidence before and after Indwelling Double-J Ureteral Stents

The upper urinary tract stenting allows to restore the ureteral patency in various situations. However, one of the main disadvantages of stenting is bacterial contamination, which can be a source of persistent infections that hardly respond to antibiotic therapy. The aim of this study was to investigate the local spectrum of bacterial pathogens and their susceptibility to antibiotics in order to optimize antibacterial therapy after upper urinary tract stenting. A prospective observational study was conducted in which 140 urine samples were examined (70 before stenting and 70 after stenting). Bacterial growth was detected in 37 patients (52.8%) before stenting and in 43 patients (61.4%) after stenting. E. coli (13 (28.8%)) and Streptococcus spp. (8 (17.6%)) strains were more commonly detected before stenting; P. aeruginosa (15 (31.2%)) and E. coli (8 (16.6%)) were usually revealed after stenting. The proportion of P. aeruginosa strains after stenting grew from 4.4% up to 31.2%. E. coli strains were resistant to ampicillin (92.3% before and 100% after stenting). Three strains of E. coli (23.1%) and six strains of P. aeruginosa (40%) were multidrug-resistant. Determination of the bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics and identification of antibiotic-resistant forms of bacteria is a factor in reducing the risk of complications and optimizing antibiotic therapy during the upper urinary tract stenting

Quality of Life of Patients with Hypertension and Treatment Compliance

Background The research was held within the framework of the program “Correction of the components of the metabolic syndrome by the method of biofeedback”. Method The study involved 90 patients, specifically 33 men and 57 women with Stages 1–3 hypertension as well as 25 healthy persons who live in various districts of Karaganda and are monitored on outpatient basis. We used analysis of variance, namely Fisher’s exact test, to gauge statistically significant differences in quality of life between the groups of treatment. Results The results of survey using questionnaire SF-36 showed that while hypertension leads to the statistically significant reduction of all components of quality of life, three of the components - PF; RP and BP - are statistically significantly reduced in case of patient's low or no compliance with treatment. Conclusion The research suggests that antihypertensive therapy as a whole is noted for a low level of compliance. This, in turn, leads to insufficient control of arterial hypertension and results in a decrease in quality of life