Evaluation of post-vaccination immunity to canine distemper and parvoviruses in Benin City, Nigeria

A study was conducted to determine the immune status of dogs vaccinated against Canine Parvovirus (CPV) and Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) by a clinic-based immunoblot enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a commercially available 120 sample immunocomb® test kit for canine parvo and distemper IgG in Benin City, Nigeria. Out of 120 dogs sampled, 63 (52.5%) were females while 57 (47.5%) were males. 84 (70%) dogs were exotic breeds while 36 (30%) were mongrels. Majority of the dogs (35, 29.17%) were less than one year old and the age range of all dogs sampled was between 9 weeks and 10 years. Analysis of data showed that there was no significant difference (P < 0.05) between sex, breed, age and level of immunity. A non-parametric chi-square contingency analysis of antigens (CPV and CDV) and level of immunity revealed that there was a high significant association (p < 0.001) between CPV and CDV antigens and level of immunity of the vaccinated dogs sampled

Patterns of antibiotics susceptibility of isolates and plasmid analysis of Staphylococcus from surgical site infections in Nigeria

There has been a significant increase in resistance of common bacterial isolates from surgical site infections in our community resulting in prolonged hospital stay, disability and deaths of patients. In this vein,we surveyed the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of aerobic bacterial isolates from postoperative wound infections and determined whether resistance in Staphylococcus aureus was genetically mediated. A total of 161 isolates were obtained from 153 swab samples of infected wounds using cultural, morphological, and biochemical characteristics. The predominant bacterial isolates were: S. aureus (53.4%), Escherichia coli (23.0%), Staphylococcus epidermidis (11.2%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.0%), and species of Klebsiella and Proteus 3.7% each. On the whole: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella and Proteus showed similar antibiotic susceptibility patterns viz: 66.7-100% for ciprofloxacin, 66.7-100% gentamicin and 50-80% augmentin; and less than 50% for amoxacillin, erythromycin, tetracycline, cotrimoxazole, cloxacillin and chloramphenicol. S. aureus showed percentage susceptibility of 50-100% and Staphylococcus epidermidis (50-100%) for cloxacillin and augmentin, and less than 60% for amoxacillin, erythromycin, tetracycline, cotrimoxazole, gentamicin and chloramphenicol. Multi drug resistance (MDR) of S. aureus strains to at least three classes of the antibiotics used was about 70.5%. Four out of the 11 MDR S. aureus strains were found to harbor plasmidswith varying molecular weights that ranged from 3.114 to 6.509 kb. One of the multi-drug resistant isolates still exhibited resistance even after curing. This showed that other genetic elements may also be involved in theacquisition of these forms of resistance other than plasmid elements.Key Words: Postoperative –Wounds-Aerobic bacteria-Staphylococcus aureus

Comparison of the Etest and the routine multi-disc agar diffusion susceptibility of Staphylococcus species

Aims: The present study, tend to evaluate the validity and accuracy of Etest as a method for performing in-vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Staphylococcus with comparison to the routine multi disc agar diffusion. This is because the Etest susceptibility method is not yet known as a rapid, simple reliable technique in developing countries as it combine the functions of both dilution and diffusion technique. Materials and methods: Ninety-seven Staphylococcus aureus and eightythree Staphylococcus epidermidis isolates were obtained from wound samples and identified according to standard morphological and biochemical methods. The antibiotics susceptibility patterns were determined both by agar disc diffusion and Etest methods in accordance to NCCLS (1997) criteria and manufacturer (AB Biodisk Sweden) respectively. Results: On the Etest strips, Staph aureus was 83.5% sensitive to ciprofloxacin, 52.6% to gentamicin, 48.5% to ampicillin and 8.2% to chloramphenicol while on the multi-disc agar diffusion plates 80.4% of Staph aureus were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, 49.5% to gentamicin, 39.2% to ampicillin and 12.4% to chloramphenicol.. On the Etest strips, 80.7% of Staph epidermidis were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, 34.9% to gentamicin, 25.3% to ampicillin and 15.7% to chloramphenicol while on the multi- disc agar diffusion plates 89.2% of Staph epidermidis were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, 34.9% to gentamicin, 25.3% to ampicillin and 32.5% to chloramphenicol. Conclusion: The sensitivity patterns between the two methods were essentially similar, however, the Etest method clearly demonstrated intermediate sensitivities which to an extent were absent in routine multi-disc agar diffusion method. Most of the isolates Etest MICs clustered around the sensitive and resistance break points. Etest also demonstrated the MIC and diffusion results on the same strips. Keywords: antibiotic resistance, antimicrobial, gram-positive, chemotherapy.Sudan Journal of Medical Sciences Vol. 3 (2) 2008: pp.121-12

Widespread plasmid resistance genes among Proteus species in diabetic wounds of patients in the Ahmadu Bello university teaching hospital (ABUTH) Zaria

Plasmids have been known to play a major role in the dissemination of antibiotics resistance genes in a microbial population. In this background, 148 Proteus species comprising of 97 Proteus mirabilis and51 Proteus vulgaris were isolated from diabetic wounds. Seventy-six strains had varied multi-drug resistance (MDR) pattern encoded on transferable plasmid gene with a very high frequency (2 x10-4 to 4x 10-2 per donor cell) by conjugation. 34% of the strains lost the antibiotic resistance plasmids marker after sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) mediated curing. The rest of the plasmid markers were non transferable. The results indicated that plasmids carry varied dissemination of antibiotics resistancemarkers to distant recipient cells, indicating clonal transfer among bacterial strains

Alternative splicing and transcriptome profiling of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis using genome-wide exon arrays

BACKGROUND: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease causing demyelination and nerve loss in the central nervous system. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an animal model of MS that is widely used to investigate complex pathogenic mechanisms. Transcriptional control through isoform selection and mRNA levels determines pathway activation and ultimately susceptibility to disease. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have studied the role of alternative splicing and differential expression in lymph node cells from EAE-susceptible Dark Agouti (DA) and EAE-resistant Piebald Virol Glaxo.AV1 (PVG) inbred rat strains using Affymetrix Gene Chip Rat Exon 1.0 ST Arrays. Comparing the two strains, we identified 11 differentially spliced and 206 differentially expressed genes at day 7 post-immunization, as well as 9 differentially spliced and 144 differentially expressed genes upon autoantigen re-stimulation. Functional clustering and pathway analysis implicate genes for glycosylation, lymphocyte activation, potassium channel activity and cellular differentiation in EAE susceptibility. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results demonstrate that alternative splicing occurs during complex disease and may govern EAE susceptibility. Additionally, transcriptome analysis not only identified previously defined EAE pathways regulating the immune system, but also novel mechanisms. Furthermore, several identified genes overlap known quantitative trait loci, providing novel causative candidate targets governing EAE

Bacteriological studies of infected kerosine burn wounds in Benin City, Nigeria

A survey of the aerobic bacteria of freshly admitted and prolonged hospitalized kerosene burn wounds were carried out. Out of the 123 infected burn wounds from freshly admitted patients, the predominant isolates were Staphylococcus aureus (40.7%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (27.8%), Streptococcus pyogenes (3.3%), Klebsiella sp. (2.4%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (8.9%), Staphylococcus epidermidis (8.9%), Escherichia coli (5.7%) and Proteus sp. (2.4%). From 36 prolong hospitalized patients yielded S. aureus (25%), P. aeruginosa (19.4%), and Strept. pyogenes (11.1%), Klebsiella sp. (2.8%), E. coli (13.9%), Proteus sp. (11.1%), Strept. pneumoniae (5.6%), and S. epidermidis (11.1%). The organisms were further tested for their antibiotic sensitivity pattern. The quinolones (ciproxacin, pefloxacin and ofloxacin), cefuroxime and gentamicin were the most effective on isolates from freshly admitted patients and to a lesser extent on isolates from prolong hospitalized patients.. Generally P. aeruginosa and Proteus sp. were the most resistant organisms to the various antibiotic tested. KEY WORDS: Aerobic Bacteria-Kerosene Burn- Sensitivity. Journal of Biomedical Investigation 2004;2(1): 4-

Emerging quinolones resistant transfer genes among gram-negative bacteria, isolated from faeces of HIV/AIDS patients attending some Clinics and Hospitals in the City of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria

A survey of 1431 gram-negative bacilli from June 2001 to September 2005 were obtained from the faeces of 920 HIV/AIDS patients attending some Clinics and Hospitals in Benin City, Nigeria, were screened for quinolones resistance gene. The HIV/AIDS patients CD4 cells range was ≤14/mm3 ≥800/mm3 of blood. Out of the 1431 isolates, 343 (23.9%) were resistance to quinolones with a MIC ≥4μg/ml for norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin and pefloxacin while a MIC of ≥32 µg/ml for nalidixic acid. The screened isolates include Pseudomonas aeruginosa 64(18.7%), E coli 92(26.8%), Klebsiella pneumoniae 53(15.4%), Salmonella typhi 39(11.4%), Shigella dysenteriae 36(10.5%), Proteus mirabilis 34(9.9%) and Serratia marcescens 25(7.3%). The average resistance of the isolates to the various quinolones ranged from 42.7% to 66.7%. Klebsiella were the most resistant isolates with a mean resistance of 66.7% while Proteus were the less resistant isolates with a mean resistance of 42.7%. Most isolates were resistant to Nalidixic acid followed by norfloxacin while the less resistant were to the pefloxacin. The frequency of qnr genes transfer to EJRifr as recipient ranged from 2 x 10-2 to 6 x 10-6 with an average of 2 plasmids per cell. The molecular weight of the plasmids ranged from <2.9kbp to <5.5 kbp. This indicated that plasmids allowed the movement of genetic materials including qnr resistant genes between bacteria species and genera in Benin City, Nigeria

Prevalence of Pseudomonas in burn wounds at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria

No Abstract Available J. Expt. & Clin. Anat Vol.3(1) 2004:12-1

Bacterial adherence: the role of serum and wound fluid

Bacteria are known to initiate wound infections and have been found associated with wound infections. The purpose of this study was to investigate the bacterial adherence potential (BAP) wounds. Thebacteria used were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus isolated from infected wounds and assayed for their adherence ability using wound fluid andserum. The BAP were achieved by exposing the pathogens to freshly excised wounds. The adhered bacteria were then eluded and quantified using log (CFU/cm2) on Mueller Hinton Agar per cm2 of tissue.The results indicated that wound fluid and serum has a remarkable bacterial adherence potential (BAP) when exposed to freshly injured wounds as when compared to distilled water and no agent