Descriptive Study of Pertussis in the Post Graduated Hospital Khost Afghanistan

Whooping cough is an acute, severe infectious disease of the respiratory tract during childhood, in which patients will have a persistent cough, specific inspiratory whoop, and vomiting after cough. The microorganism that causes this disease is called Bordetella Pertussis, which is a gram-negative non-mobile rod-shaped cocci bacillus. All ages are susceptible. In the prevaccine era, almost all children became infected. Afghanistan is not an exception. Whooping cough remains a significant cause of childhood mortality and a serious health problem. In the world, about 60 million people get whooping cough every year. More than 1 million children die, especially in the first year of life. Research Question (WHY PERTUSSIS IS IMPORTANT) Infants and Children Pertussis affects all ages, but most severely infants, who experience the highest age-specific incidence and account for almost all pertussis hospitalizations and deaths. Case of whooping cough in the khost post graduated hospital From the 1399/01/01 to 1399/12/30

Draft genome sequence of a Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi strain resistant to fourth-generation cephalosporin and fluoroquinolone antibiotics

ABSTRACT Typhoid is endemic in developing countries. We report here the first draft genome sequence of a Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi clinical isolate from Pakistan exhibiting resistance to cefepime (a fourth-generation cephalosporin) and fluoroquinolone antibiotics, two of the last-generation therapies against this pathogen. The genome is ~4.8 Mb, with two putative plasmids. </jats:p

Draft genome sequence of the blaOXA-436- and blaNDM-1-harboring Shewanella putrefaciens SA70 isolate

ABSTRACT We sequenced a carbapenem-resistant Shewanella putrefaciens isolate cultured from the sink handle of a Pakistan hospital room. Assembly annotation indicates that the isolate has a chromosomal bla OXA-436 carbapenemase and a plasmid-borne bla NDM-1 gene. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a Shewanella species harboring bla NDM . </jats:p

Superficieibacter electus gen. nov., sp. nov., an extended-spectrum β-lactamase possessing member of the enterobacteriaceae family, isolated from Intensive Care Unit surfaces

<p>Two Gram-negative bacilli strains, designated BP-1(T) and BP-2, were recovered from two different Intensive Care Unit surfaces during a longitudinal survey in Pakistan. Both strains were unidentified using the bioMerieux VITEK MS IVD v2.3.3 and Bruker BioTyper MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry platforms. To more precisely determine the taxonomic identity of BP-1(T) and BP-2, we employed a biochemical and phylogenomic approach. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain BP-1(T) had the highest identity to Citrobacter farmeri CDC 2991-81(T) (98.63%) Citrobacter amalonaticus CECT 863(T) (98.56%), Citrobacter sedlakii NBRC 105722(T) (97.74%) and Citrobacter rodentium NBRC 105723(T) (97.74%). The biochemical utilization scheme of BP-1(T) using the Analytic Profile Index for Enterobacteriaceae (API20E) indicated its enzymatic functions are unique within the Enterobacteriaceae but most closely resemble Kluyvera spp., Enterobacter cloacae and Citrobacter koseri/farmeri. Phylogenomic analysis of the shared genes between BP-1(T), BP-2 and type strains from Kluyvera, Citrobacter, Escherichia, Salmonella, Kosakonia, Siccibacter and Shigella indicate that BP-1(T) and BP-2 isolates form a distinct branch from these genera. Average Nucleotide Identity analysis indicates that BP-1(T) and BP-2 are the same species. The biochemical and phylogenomic analysis indicate strains BP-1(T) and BP-2 represent a novel species from a new genus within the Enterobacteriaceae family, for which the name Superficieibacter electus gen. nov., sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is BP-1(T) (= ATCC BAA-2937, = NBRC 113412).</p

Easy Movement Facilities for Users' Comfort in Shopping Malls in Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan

peer reviewedIn society, shopping plays a part in outdoor activity. With the passage of time, different societies develop different modes of shopping by following particular societal values and norms. Modern shopping is a modified activity that is widely adopted by shopping malls. In this new set of shopping activities, users of shopping malls are not interested only in shopping but also in allied facilities like a ramp, main entrance of the mall, wheelchair, information desk/ reception, informal seating, signage system/wayfinding, emergency exit, central circulation, horizontal circulation, wide walkways/corridors, staircase, elevator/lift, escalators and cargo lift. Some basic facilities are unavoidable while designing a shopping mall, but these facilities may differ in different shopping malls. One of the specialities of the specific mall is a user-based facility which is the main attribute of shopping malls. This study emphasises selected attributes of a shopping mall, i.e., easy movement facilities. Emerald Mall in the city of Karachi, Pakistan, was selected as a case study building. A quantitative and qualitative research methodology has been adopted; the collected data was then presented statistically. An analysis of the findings has been carried out according to the standard attributes of the shopping mall. The conclusion of the study includes that some of the areas of Emerald Mall are well established, but there is still a need for improvements in many areas, such as the ramp, main entrance of the mall, wheelchair, information desk/reception, informal seating, signage system/wayfinding, emergency exit, central circulation, horizontal circulation, wide walkways/corridors, staircase, elevator/lift, escalators, and cargo lift. The research establishes its contribution as the provision of framework and modular analysis of selected study for a contextual approach to architectural design development. This study recommends innovation for the future in the design of the selected mall in order to address the discrepancies identified.8. Decent work and economic growt

Intensive care unit sinks are persistently colonized with multidrug resistant bacteria and mobilizable, resistance-conferring plasmids

Contamination of hospital sinks with microbial pathogens presents a serious potential threat to patients, but our understanding of sink colonization dynamics is largely based on infection outbreaks. Here, we investigate the colonization patterns of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in intensive care unit sinks and water from two hospitals in the USA and Pakistan collected over 27 months of prospective sampling. Using culture-based methods, we recovered 822 bacterial isolates representing 104 unique species and genomospecies. Genomic analyses revealed long-term colonization b

EFFECTS OF HOLMICH PROTOCOL AND MYOFASCIAL RELEASE TECHNIQUE ON GROIN PAIN IN TENNIS PLAYERS

Introduction: Tennis with a normal 17.9 million players is one of the most renowned games with a colossal addition in young tennis players as of late. The prevalence of groin injury increases rapidly in tennis players due to demand of rapid change in direction. Material & Methods: Once ethical approval was taken from Institutional review Board (REC/Letter-00722), a Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT) was conducted on 22 players through nonprobability purposive sampling in Pakistan Tennis Federation, Islamabad. Players were randomly divided into two groups by sealed and envelop method. Group A received Holmich protocol while group B received myofascial release technique. Other than demographics, functional tests like hip range of motion, visual analogue scale, t-test, Edgren sidestep test and triple hop test were conducted to assess the techniques given to groups. Data was analysed using SPSS 21. Trial is registered in US clinical trial registry (NCT04642300). Results: The results of the study show that there was no significant difference between Myofascial release technique and holmich protocol in athletes with groin pain (P value˃0.05). Mean age of the tennis players was 23.14±4.5 in years. Pre and post comparison of both interventions shows significant effect in Range of motion, Pain, Agility and hop test. (P value˂0.01). Conclusion: From the results it can be seen that there was no significance between the two techniques. So in conclusion both techniques can be used to treat groin pain and get successful results

Remediation of wastewater by biosynthesized manganese oxide nanoparticles and its effects on development of wheat seedlings

IntroductionNanoparticles play a vital role in environmental remediation on a global scale. In recent years, there has been an increasing demand to utilize nanoparticles in wastewater treatment due to their remarkable physiochemical properties.MethodsIn the current study, manganese oxide nanoparticles (MnO-NPs) were synthesized from the Bacillus flexus strain and characterized by UV/Vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.ResultsThe objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of biosynthesized MnO-NPs to treat wastewater. Results showed the photocatalytic degradation and adsorption potential of MnO-NPs for chemical oxygen demand, sulfate, and phosphate were 79%, 64%, and 64.5%, respectively, depicting the potential of MnO-NPs to effectively reduce pollutants in wastewater. The treated wastewater was further utilized for the cultivation of wheat seedlings through a pot experiment. It was observed that the application of treated wastewater showed a significant increase in growth, physiological, and antioxidant attributes. However, the application of treated wastewater led to a significant decrease in oxidative stress by 40%.DiscussionIt can be concluded that the application of MnO-NPs is a promising choice to treat wastewater as it has the potential to enhance the growth, physiological, and antioxidant activities of wheat seedlings

Formulation, stabilisation and encapsulation of bacteriophage for phage therapy

Against a backdrop of global antibiotic resistance and increasing awareness of the importance of the human microbiota, there has been resurgent interest in the potential use of bacteriophages for therapeutic purposes, known as phage therapy. A number of phage therapy phase I and II clinical trials have concluded, and shown phages don’t present significant adverse safety concerns. These clinical trials used simple phage suspensions without any formulation and phage stability was of secondary concern. Phages have a limited stability in solution, and undergo a significant drop in phage titre during processing and storage which is unacceptable if phages are to become regulated pharmaceuticals, where stable dosage and well defined pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics are de rigueur. Animal studies have shown that the efficacy of phage therapy outcomes depend on the phage concentration (i.e. the dose) delivered at the site of infection, and their ability to target and kill bacteria, arresting bacterial growth and clearing the infection. In addition, in vitro and animal studies have shown the importance of using phage cocktails rather than single phage preparations to achieve better therapy outcomes. The in vivo reduction of phage concentration due to interactions with host antibodies or other clearance mechanisms may necessitate repeated dosing of phages, or sustained release approaches. Modelling of phage-bacterium population dynamics reinforces these points. Surprisingly little attention has been devoted to the effect of formulation on phage therapy outcomes, given the need for phage cocktails, where each phage within a cocktail may require significantly different formulation to retain a high enough infective dose. This review firstly looks at the clinical needs and challenges (informed through a review of key animal studies evaluating phage therapy) associated with treatment of acute and chronic infections and the drivers for phage encapsulation. An important driver for formulation and encapsulation is shelf life and storage of phage to ensure reproducible dosages. Other drivers include formulation of phage for encapsulation in micro- and nanoparticles for effective delivery, encapsulation in stimuli responsive systems for triggered controlled or sustained release at the targeted site of infection. Encapsulation of phage (e.g. in liposomes) may also be used to increase the circulation time of phage for treating systemic infections, for prophylactic treatment or to treat intracellular infections. We then proceed to document approaches used in the published literature on the formulation and stabilisation of phage for storage and encapsulation of bacteriophage in micro- and nanostructured materials using freeze drying (lyophilization), spray drying, in emulsions e.g. ointments, polymeric microparticles, nanoparticles and liposomes. As phage therapy moves forward towards Phase III clinical trials, the review concludes by looking at promising new approaches for micro- and nanoencapsulation of phages and how these may address gaps in the field