Avicenna Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infection
Volume:4 Issue: 2, May 2017

Staphylococcus aureus surface protein X (sasX) is a newly described protein that has different roles in virulence, such as biofilm formatin, as a bacterial approach for pathogenesis. SasX gene was initially found in eastern Asian countries, yet, studiese have shown spreading of this gene to other strains. Because there is no report on this gene in Iran, the current study aimed at determining the prevalence, genotype diversity, and evaluation of biofilm formation in sasX positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
This experimental study was conducted on strains isolated from inpatients during 2014 to 2015. Cultivation, identification, and confirmation of MRSA isolates were performed. The evaluation of biofilm production, sasX gene detection, and Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were done. Data collection and comparison were performed by SPSS and gelcompare softwares.
Overall, 140 isolates (77.8%) formed a biofilm and 23 (12.6%) isolates were sasX positive. Amongst 23 sasX strains, 21 (91.3%) isolates created a biofilm. The RAPD-PCR analysis of 23 sasX positive isolates showed 19 RAPD types with 4 common types (CT) and 15 single types (ST).
Frequency of sasX gene was somewhat similar to another study in eastern countries and the ability of biofilm formation in sasX strains compared to all of MRSA isolates were not significant (P value > 0.05) and a correlation was not found between RAPD type and biofilm grade.

The CDC defines a nosocomial infection as a localized or systemic condition caused by an adverse reaction to the presence of an infectious agent(s) or its toxin(s). It is an infection that occurs between 48 to 72 hours after admission of patients in the hospital or as soon after the hospital discharge and on the admission time, patients don''t have this infection.
This study aimed to characterize the prevalence of nosocomial infection in Ghaem hospital, Mashhad, Iran.
This retrospective study was conducted in all wards of the Ghaem hospital, Mashhad during the 1 year period (2013); the data were collected from the wards records and HIS system and analyzed by the SPSS software (version16).
In the present study, of total 35979 hospitalized patients in different wards of the Ghaem hospital was reported 1.1% of nosocomial infection. In the meantime, overall, the most prevalent organism was Acinetobacter baumannii with a prevalence of 37.2% and the minimum was linked to the Bacillus species with a prevalence 0.3%. The highest and lowest prevalence of the nosocomial infection was in the ICU and CCU with 49.9% and 0.3%, respectively. In general, among all wards of the mentioned hospital, the most frequent nosocomial infection was pneumonia (47.4%) and the lowest belonged to CSF (2.3%).
In our study, the ICU ward was accounted for the highest rate of nosocomial infection, due to the critical importance of this ward. Preventive measures and survivelance system for reduction of nosocomial infections is needed.

Trichomoniasis is one of the most non-viral sexually transmitted diseases worldwide that causes some complications such as adverse pregnancy outcomes.
The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of Trichomonas vaginalis infection among pregnant women in Hamadan, west of Iran.
This study was conducted on 1200 pregnant women attending the Hamadan city health centers in 2015. After gathering socio-demographic characteristics and clinical signs and symptoms of the women, first-voided morning urine was collected from the all participants and subjected to sediment wet-mount preparations and Dorset culture medium for detection of T. vaginalis. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and chi-square test.
T. vaginalis was diagnosed in 0.6% (7/1200) of the urine samples using two parasitological methods. Dorset culture medium and direct wet-mount examination of the urine sediments were positive in 7 (0.6%) and 4 (0.3%) samples, respectively. There was no relationship between trichomoniasis and age, education, occupation, place of living, husband''s job, and history of contraceptive methods (P > 0.05).
The results demonstrated the rate of T. vaginalis infection in pregnant women is relatively low in the area but, because of the importance of this issue in pregnant women, it can be substantial during antenatal care.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is responsible for the growing number of hospital- and community-acquired infections.
In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of MRSA, its antimicrobial resistance profile, and molecular typing of strains isolated from different infections in Iran.
A total of 100 S. aureus strains were isolated from various clinical specimens from Al-Zahra Hospital of Isfahan, Iran during January-June, 2015. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed, using the disk diffusion method. For identifying the MRSA phenotype, oxacillin agar screening was performed. Detection of mecA gene among the isolates was performed via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using specific primers, followed by multiplex PCR for SCCmec typing of MRSA isolates.
In the present study, 54 (54%) isolates were identified as MRSA. Overall, 12 (22.23%) and 42 (77.7%) isolates were obtained from community- and hospital-acquired infections, respectively. SCCmec typing among MRSA isolates showed that 19 (35.18%), 13 (24.07%), 6 (11.11%), 5 (9.25%), and 3 (5.55%) isolates contained SCCmec type III, type I, type IV, type II, and type V, respectively; however, 8 (14.81%) isolates were nontypable.
In the current study, SCCmec type III isolates were the most common among 54 MRSA isolates in a teaching hospital in the center of Iran. This finding might be attributed to antibiotic pressure, facilitating clonal selection.

Transmission of infectious agents, such as parasites, is associated with consumption of raw vegetables. Thus, the health of vegetables reflects the health status of a region.
Due to considerable parasitic contamination in Hamadan province and lack of information about health of vegetables in this region, this study was conducted in Malayer city, west of Iran.
This investigation was a cross-sectional study carried out on 383 samples of different vegetables including leek, parsley, coriander, radish, spring onion, tarragon, basil, mint, cress, and savory. The samples were randomly collected from 38 farms around Malayer city and subjected to parasitic contamination analysis using sedimentation and floatation methods.
The results showed that 14.6% of the vegetable samples were contaminated with various pathogenic (5.2%) and non-pathogenic (9.4%) parasites including protozoan cyst (3.7%), worm eggs (3.9%), and free-living larvae (7%). Giardia intestinalis (1.3%) and Entamoeba coli (2.3%) were the only protozoa that were detected in the samples. Frequencies of worm egg contamination were 1.6% for Taenia/Echinococcus spp., 0.5% for Dicrocoelium dendriticum, 0.8% for Toxocara spp., 0.5% for Hymenolepis nana, 0.3% for Trichostrongylus spp., and 0.3% for Fasciola spp. Leek was the most contaminated vegetable (31.7%), although there was no contamination in tarragon (P The results demonstrate the potential role of raw vegetables consumption in the transmission of parasitic infections in the area. Therefore, it is recommended for some necessary hygienic measures to be applied to increase the public health of the community.

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a cosmopolitan zoonotic infection which is considered as a significant public health and economic concern. Livestock is the main intermediate host for Echinococcus granulosus.
This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence and fertility rate of hydatid cyst among livestock in Hamadan area, western Iran.
A total of 10626 livestock carcasses were examined through visual inspection in order to detect hydatid cyst in Hamadan industrial slaughterhouse, during 2015 - 2016. The viability and fertility of hydatid cyst were determined microscopically by flame cell activity and eosin dye uptake.
The carcasses, including 8684 sheep, 1110 goats and 832 cattle were inspected in order to detect hydatid cyst. An overall CE was detected in 3% of the inspected carcasses with a prevalence rate of 5.3% in cattle, 3% in sheep and 1% in goats (P This study shows that the prevalence rate of CE is considerable in the area and sheep appear to be the most important intermediate hosts for E. granulosus tapeworm.

Rabies is an almost invariably fatal disease that is associated with animal bites. Hence, gathering data about cases of animal bites can help in clarifying the relative status of the disease.
This study was conducted to provide an epidemiological overview on animal bites and rabies occurred in Hamedan province, Iran, during 2011 - 2013.
This cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in Hamedan province, Iran. The information was retrieved from the vice-chancellery for health (Hamedan University of Medical Sciences) and veterinary directorate general of Hamedan province. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software. The Chi-square test was used to determine statistically significant differences with P values less than 0.05.
There was just one report of rabies death during the mentioned period. The total number of reported animal bites was 14327 with the incidence of 2.69 cases/1000 individuals, which included 3287 (22.9%) women and 11040 (77.1%) men. Of these cases, 9868 (68.9%) resided in rural areas, while 4459 (31.3%) were urban residents. Most animal bites, 3516 (24.54%) cases, occurred in the 20 - 29 year-old age group. The lower limbs injuries were significantly higher than other sites with 7462 (52.08%) records. In addition, the majority of people were bitten by dogs (11040 cases, 77%).
This study indicated that the incidence of animal bites was increased during 2011 - 2013 in Hamedan province. Therefore, it seems necessary to take appropriate educational programs along with both pre-exposure immunization and postexposure prophylaxis to control this infection in the region.

The outbreaks of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii related to nosocomial infections the organism which the leading cause of mortality in hospitalized patients. Therefore, exploration for alternative antibacterial agents, essential oils have become of major interest.
This study aimed to determine the effect of Satureja khuzestanica Jamzad essential oil on multidrug-resistant nosocomial isolates of A. baumannii.
Twenty one non-repetitive multidtug-resistant isolates of A. baumannii were collected in 2014 from Imam Hossein and Shahid Motahari Burn hospitals in Tehran. Antibacterial susceptibility to 12 antibiotics was measured by disc diffusion. Essential oil extraction of S. khuzestanica aerial parts was carried out with Hydro-distillation, and susceptibility to the oil was initially determined using discs containing 1.64 mg essential oil in 10% dimethyl sulfoxide. Minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations of the essential oil were determined by broth microdilution.
The disc diffusion results showed that all isolates were resistant to nine of the 12 antibiotics test which is determined as multidrug-resistant. The disc diffusion results for S. khuzistanica essential oil were revealed inhibition zones of 29 - 42 mm. MIC values were 0.31 mg/mL for all test isolates and MBCs were from 0.31 to 0.62 mg/mL which shows the bactericidal activity of the essential oil.
The carvacrol-rich essential oil of S. khuzistanica showed strong antibacterial activity against all multidtug-resistant as clinical isolates of A. baumannii.