Mutactimycin AP, a New Mutactimycin Isolated from an Actinobacteria from the Atacama Desert

Funding: This work was supported by national funds from FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., within the projects UIDB/04564/2020 and UIDP/04564/2020.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Prevalence of Bacterial Urinary Tract Infections and Associated Factors among Patients Attending Hospitals in Bushenyi District, Uganda

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the major causes of morbidity and comorbidities in patients with underlying conditions, and it accounts for the majority of the reasons for hospital visit globally. Sound knowledge of factors associated with UTI may allow timely intervention that can easily bring the disease under control. This study was designed to determine the prevalence of UTI by isolating and characterizing the different bacterial etiological agents and to evaluate the factors associated with UTI. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 267, clean catch midstream urine (MSU) samples were collected aseptically and analyzed using standard microbiology methods. Data for the factors associated with UTI were obtained by use of questionnaires and standard laboratory tests for selected underlying conditions. The study revealed 86/267 (32.2%) UTI prevalence among patients attending hospitals in Bushenyi District, Uganda. Escherichia coli was the most prevalent bacterial uropathogen with 36/86 (41.9%) followed by Staphylococcus aureus 27/86 (31.4%), Klebsiella pneumoniae 10/86 (11.6%), Klebsiella oxytoca 6/86 (7.0%), Proteus mirabilis 3/86 (3.5%), Enterococcus faecalis 3/86 (3.5%), and Proteus vulgaris 1/86 (1.2%). This study has demonstrated that age ≤19 years, female gender, married individuals, genitourinary tract abnormalities, diabetes, hospitalization, indwelling catheter 6 days had statistically significant relationships (p<0.05) with UTI. Screening for UTI in hospitalized patients, female gender, married individuals, genitourinary tract abnormalities, indwelling catheter, and diabetics should be adopted

Fluoroquinolone resistant bacterial isolates from the urinary tract among patients attending hospitals in Bushenyi District, Uganda

Introduction:&nbsp;bacterial resistance to fluoroquinolones is on the rise globally, bacteria causing urinary tract infections (UTIs) are no exception to this fact. Judicious use of the current antibiotics by clinicians is therefore deemed necessary to combat development of resistance. This study determined fluoroquinolone resistant profiles, multiple antibiotic resistance indices (MARI), factors associated with fluoroquinolone resistance and their strength among patients attending hospitals in Bushenyi District, Uganda. Methods:&nbsp;this was a cross-sectional study in which a total of 86 bacterial uropathogens isolated previously by standard microbiological methods were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing using Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method. Data for factors suspected to be associated with fluoroquinolone resistant UTI were obtained by use of questionnaires. Results:&nbsp;the most resisted fluoroquinolone was ofloxacin with 29/83 (34.9%), followed by moxifloxacin 27/83 (32.5%), levofloxacin 24/86 (27.9%) and ciprofloxacin 23/86 (26.7%). The bacterial uropathogens that exhibited the highest frequency of fluoroquinolone resistant strains were&nbsp;P. mirabilis&nbsp;with 2/3 (66.7%) and&nbsp;E. faecalis&nbsp;with 2/3 (66.7%), followed by&nbsp;E. coli&nbsp;19/36 (52.8%),&nbsp;S. aureus&nbsp;13/27 (48.1%),&nbsp;K. oxytoca&nbsp;2/6 (33.3%),&nbsp;K. pneumoniae&nbsp;2/10 (20.0%) and&nbsp;P. vulgaris&nbsp;0/1 (0.0%). All the bacterial uropathogens tested showed MARI of ≥ 0.2. Hospitalization, history of fluoroquinolones use in the last 12 months and wrong prescription of antibiotics were found to bear statistically significant relationships (p &lt; 0.05) with fluoroquinolone resistant UTI. Conclusion:&nbsp;antibiotic susceptibility testing of the first generation quinolones such as nalidixic acid in hospitalized patients, patients with history of fluoroquinolones' use in the last 12 months and wrong prescription of antibiotics should be adopted to avoid fluoroquinolone abuse. For empiric treatment of UTIs in Bushenyi District, ciprofloxacin still remains the first line of choice among the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics

Assessment of biosafety and biorisk management practices among medical laboratory students in two institutions in Uganda

Medical laboratory workers handle clinical specimens, which are a threat of exposure to infectious agents. Notably, medical laboratory science students report for internships with only theoretical knowledge of biosafety and biorisk management practices, predisposing them to a higher risk of laboratory hazards. In this study, we assessed the influence of entry-level students' adherence to practices and attitudes towards biosafety and biorisk management during the Internship. An online survey tool was used to explore the practices and attitudes towards laboratory biosafety and risk management. Of the 96 students, 60 (62.5%) anonymous responses were received, and of these, 60.3% were direct entrants, and 32.8% were diploma entrants. Most (91.7%) of the students attended hospital internships, with 60.2% in Biosafety Level (BSL)-2 laboratories and 70.2% rotating in all the core areas of laboratory medicine. The 8.3% who did not attend any internship were under the direct entry category. Exposure to biohazards was not significantly associated with laboratory safety level and student entry category (P> 0.05). Recommended laboratory biosafety practices were not significantly associated with the safety level of the laboratory and student entry category (P> 0.05). Poor attitudes towards certain laboratory biosafety practices were not significantly associated with the biosafety level of the training laboratory (P> 0.05), whereas training (P = 0.021) and clean-up procedures (P = 0.048) were associated with laboratory safety levels, respectively. The direct entrants had no access to BSL-3 laboratories, and this category of students had a negative attitude towards internship attendance. Therefore, there is a need to create a multi-channel full range laboratory biosafety and biorisk management teaching reforms based on practical application, real case studies, and laboratory simulation to be incorporated into the curriculum to benefit the direct entrant