Bacteriology of Different Wound Infections and their Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns in Owerri

This study was carried out to determine the bacterial aetiologic agents of different wound infections in parts of Imo State their distribution in relation to type of wound and their in vitro antibiotic susceptibility patterns. Samples were collected and processed following standard microbiological techniques as part of the routine clinical management of the patients. The antibiotic sensitivity testing was done on pure culture isolates employing disc-diffusion method for some commonly used antibiotics. A total of 150 patients made of 89 (59.3%) males and 61(40.7%) females were sampled. A total of 175 bacterial isolates were recovered and the predominant bacteria isolated from the infected wounds were staphylococcus aureus (25.1%) pseudomonas aeroginosa (22.3%), Escherichia coli (13.1%) staphylococcus epidermidis (11.4%) Enterobacter species (6.9%), Klebsiella aerogenes(5.1%), proteus vulgaris (5.1%), proteus mirabilis (3.4%), streptococuss specie (1.7%), staphylococcus saprophyticus (1.1%) and Bacillus specie(1.1%). Most of the bacterial isolates were resistant to the microbials used with some species exhibiting 100% resistance to as many as 8 to 10 different antibiotics. This probably indicates that wounds in patients in Owerri were colonized by different bacteria including opportunistic bacteria with staphylococci being predominant. The multiple antibiotic resistant profile of the isolates recommends better clinical evaluation of antimicrobial therapy which would lead to more rational use of drugs

Antibiotic Sensitivity Pattern of Urinary Tract Pathogens in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria

The prevalence and sensitivity pattern of urinary pathogens from 1240 patients in Port-harcourt, Nigeria was investigated. The predominant pathogens cultured was E. coli which accounted for 76.6% of the infections. Klebsiella spp was responsible for 8.1% of cases while the rest were accounted for by Proteus spp(4.8%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (3.2%), Pseudomonas Pseudomonas spp(2.4%), Enterobacter spp. (2.4%), Staphylococcus aureus (1.6%) and Citrobacter species(0.8%). The majority of the isolates were resistant to tetracycline (75.8%), ampicillin (71.0%) and cotrimoxazole (65.3%) but exhibited good sensitivity to nitrofurantoin (88.7%), gentamicin (85.5%) and nalidixic acid (76.6%). It is recommended that a periodic reassessment of the sensitivity pattern of urinary pathogens be carried out to serve as a guide for antibiotic therapy of UTIs in a particular environment since these organisms exhibited resistance to first-line drugs used for UTI infections

A Survey of Antibiotic Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Strains from Clinical Sources in Owerri

A survey of antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains from clinical specimens was carried out. A total of 100 different clinical specimens were investigated with a yield of 48 Staphylococcus aureus isolates. A high resistance of 95.8% to penicillin, 89.6% to ampicillin, 87.5% to tetracycline, and 75.0% to chloramphenicol by Staphylococcus aureus strains were recorded. A high susceptibility of 91.7% to gentamicin and 85.4% to cloxacillin were also record. The high percentage resistance to the antibiotics studied could be attributed to their prevailing usage and abuse in the area under study. The implication of the high percentage recorded for the antibiotics is that Staphylococcus aureus infections could be effectively treated with gentamicin and cloxacillin and not with penicillin, ampicillin, tetracycline, and chloramphenicol in the area under study. @JASE

Postnatal probiotic supplementation can prevent and optimize treatment of childhood asthma and atopic disorders: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Background: Although several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published over the past 5 years show that prenatal or postnatal probiotics may prevent or optimize the treatment of childhood asthma and atopic disorders, findings from the systematic reviews and meta-analyses of these studies appear inconsistent. More recent RCTs have focused on postnatal probiotics, and linked specific probiotic strains to better disease outcomes. Objective: This systematic review aimed to determine if postnatal probiotics are as effective as prenatal probiotics in preventing or treating childhood asthma and atopic disorders. Methods: We searched the PubMed, Medline, Google Scholar, and EMBASE databases for RCTs published within the past 5 years (from 2017 to 2022). We included only full-text RCTs on human subjects published in or translated into the English language. We retrieved relevant data items with a preconceived data-extraction form and assessed the methodological quality of the selected RCTs using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing the risk of bias in randomized trials. We qualitatively synthesized the retrieved data to determine any significant differences in study endpoints of the probiotic and placebo groups. Results: A total of 1,320 participants (688 and 632 in the probiotic and placebo groups) from six RCTs were investigated. One RCT showed that early Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) led to a reduction in the cumulative incidence rate of asthma. Another study demonstrated that mixed strains of Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus fermentum could support clinical improvement in children with asthma while one trial reported a significant reduction in the frequency of asthma exacerbations using a mixture of Ligilactobacillus salivarius and Bifidobacterium breve. Three trials showed that a combination of LGG and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp lactis, Lactobacillus rhamnosus alone, and a probiotic mixture of Lactobacillus LOCK strains improved clinical outcomes in children with atopic dermatitis and cow-milk protein allergy. Conclusions: Postnatal strain-specific probiotics (in single or mixed forms) are beneficial in preventing and treating atopic dermatitis and other allergies. Similarly, specific strains are more effective in preventing asthma or improving asthma outcomes. We recommend more interventional studies to establish the most useful probiotic strain in these allergic diseases

Epidemiological Assessment of Vesical Schistosomiasis in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria

A survey was carried out between January and July 2002 to determine the prevalence of vesical schistosomiasis in Bende Local government area of Abia State. A total of 2406 persons in eleven communities aged between 6 and 60 years were examined. Prevalence rates in the eleven communities ranged between 25.5% and 52.3% with an overall prevalence of 41.5%. More males (42.6%) than females (39.4%) were infected in all the age groups, and high rate of haematuria (78.2%) was observed among the infected subjects. Infection prevalence was significantly higher (65.3%) among those in the age group of 11 - 20 years (P < 0.05) than those above 60 years. More than 70% of those infected excreted above 50 eggs/10ml urine. Malacological studies conducted along water bodies in the study area indicated that infection was localised. Bulinus globosus is implicated as the potential disease intermediate host. @JASE

A Better Disinfectant for Low-Resourced Hospitals? A Multi-Period Cluster Randomised Trial Comparing Hypochlorous Acid with Sodium Hypochlorite in Nigerian Hospitals: The EWASH Trial

Environmental hygiene in hospitals is a major challenge worldwide. Low-resourced hospitals in African countries continue to rely on sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) as major disinfectant. However, NaOCl has several limitations such as the need for daily dilution, irritation, and corrosion. Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is an innovative surface disinfectant produced by saline electrolysis with a much higher safety profile. We assessed non-inferiority of HOCl against standard NaOCl for surface disinfection in two hospitals in Abuja, Nigeria using a double-blind multi-period randomised cross-over study. Microbiological cleanliness [Aerobic Colony Counts (ACC)] was measured using dipslides. We aggregated data at the cluster-period level and fitted a linear regression. Microbiological cleanliness was high for both disinfectant (84.8% HOCl; 87.3% NaOCl). No evidence of a significant difference between the two products was found (RD = 2%, 90%CI: −5.1%–+0.4%; p-value = 0.163). We cannot rule out the possibility of HOCl being inferior by up to 5.1 percentage points and hence we did not strictly meet the non-inferiority margin we set ourselves. However, even a maximum difference of 5.1% in favour of sodium hypochlorite would not suggest there is a clinically relevant difference between the two products. We demonstrated that HOCl and NaOCl have a similar efficacy in achieving microbiological cleanliness, with HOCl acting at a lower concentration. With a better safety profile, and potential applicability across many healthcare uses, HOCl provides an attractive and potentially cost-efficient alternative to sodium hypochlorite in low resource settings

Natural Polymers in Micro- and Nanoencapsulation for Therapeutic and Diagnostic Applications: Part I: Lipids and Fabrication Techniques

Encapsulation, specifically microencapsulation is an old technology with increasing applications in pharmaceutical, agrochemical, environmental, food, and cosmetic spaces. In the past two decades, the advancements in the field of nanotechnology opened the door for applying the encapsulation technology at the nanoscale level. Nanoencapsulation is highly utilized in designing effective drug delivery systems (DDSs) due to the fact that delivery of the encapsulated therapeutic/diagnostic agents to various sites in the human body depends on the size of the nanoparticles. Compared to microencapsulation, nanoencapsulation has superior performance which can improve bioavailability, increase drug solubility, delay or control drug release and enhance active/passive targeting of bioactive agents to the sites of action. Encapsulation, either micro- or nanoencapsulation is employed for the conventional pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, biologics, or bioactive drugs from natural sources as well as for diagnostics such as biomarkers. The outcome of any encapsulation process depends on the technique employed and the encapsulating material. This chapter discusses in details (1) various physical, mechanical, thermal, chemical, and physicochemical encapsulation techniques, (2) types and classifications of natural polymers (polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids) as safer, biocompatible and biodegradable encapsulating materials, and (3) the recent advances in using lipids for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Polysaccharides and proteins are covered in the second part of this chapter

Natural Polymers in Micro- and Nanoencapsulation for Therapeutic and Diagnostic Applications: Part II - Polysaccharides and Proteins

Encapsulation remains a fundamental and consistent approach of fabrication of drug and diagnostic delivery systems in the health space and natural polymers such as polysaccharides and proteins continue to play significant roles. Micro- or nanoencapsulation is employed for the conventional pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, or biologics, bioactives from natural sources and diagnostics such as biomarkers. The outcome of any encapsulation depends on the technique employed and the encapsulating material. The encapsulating materials employed influence the physical and chemical attributes of the fabricated micro- and nanocapsules. The encapsulating materials could be natural or synthetic, however, natural polymers are preferred because they are human and environmentally friendly. Polysaccharides and proteins are abundant in nature, biogenic, biocompatible, biodegradable and possess biological functions making them materials of choice for encapsulation of drugs and diagnostics. This chapter reviews the recent and advanced applications of polysaccharides and proteins as nanocarrier materials for micro- and nanoencapsulation of therapeutics and diagnostics

Characterisation of colistin resistance in Gram-negative microbiota of pregnant women and neonates in Nigeria

A mobile colistin resistance gene mcr was first reported in 2016 in China and has since been found with increasing prevalence across South-East Asia. Here we survey the presence of mcr genes in 4907 rectal swabs from mothers and neonates from three hospital sites across Nigeria; a country with limited availability or history of colistin use clinically. Forty mother and seven neonatal swabs carried mcr genes in a range of bacterial species: 46 Enterobacter spp. and single isolates of; Shigella, E. coli and Klebsiella quasipneumoniae. Ninety percent of the genes were mcr-10 (n = 45) we also found mcr-1 (n = 3) and mcr-9 (n = 1). While the prevalence during this collection (2015-2016) was low, the widespread diversity of mcr-gene type and range of bacterial species in this sentinel population sampling is concerning. It suggests that agricultural colistin use was likely encouraging sustainment of mcr-positive isolates in the community and implementation of medical colistin use will rapidly select and expand resistant isolates