Avicenna Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infection
Volume:7 Issue: 4, Dec 2020

Serious infections are associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria and this can lead to many deaths in the world. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) against MRSA isolates from clinical samples.

Ag nanoparticles were synthesized by ultrasound-assisted reverse micelles method. The as-prepared Ag nanoparticles were characterized by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The antibacterial effect of AgNPs was investigated using agar well diffusion assay and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined.

The XRD studies showed that pure Ag nanoparticles have been produced after calcination. Synthesized AgNPs showed favorable effects on the bacteria used. MIC and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values were determined to be 0.015 and 0.07 mg/mL, respectively. All MRSA isolates were susceptible to AgNPs. In contrast, they showed high resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics.

AgNPs had high inhibitory activity against MRSA; therefore, they can be proposed as an alternative or adjuvant to antibiotics for the treatment of MRSA infections. Further investigations are required to assess the safety and efficacy of AgNPs in the body

Burn remains a globally significant life-threatening problem, especially in developing countries, and infection is considered as a major complication among burn patients. The rate of antibiotic-resistant bacteria isolated from burn patients has demonstrated a significant increase. In this regard, this study aimed to determine the antibiotic resistance pattern in Staphylococcus aureus isolated from patients’ burn wound infections.

All available wound cultures of burn patients admitted to the burn unit of Emam-Reza hospital/ Mashhad, northeast Iran from March 2012 to March 2017 were included in this retrospective study. Then, the resistance of isolated S. aureus strains against 25 different antibiotic disks was studied based on the aim of the study.

Overall, 1973 patients were admitted, out of whom 4758 swab samples were taken from them. Out of 3188 micro-organisms isolated from burn wound cultures, 185 (5.8%) cases were S. aureus. Based on the results, the highest susceptibility rates were related to vancomycin (98.8%), cefazolin (72%), ciprofloxacin (75%), and gentamicin (74.6%).

In general, vancomycin, cefazolin, and ciprofloxacin appeared to be the most effective agents among all tested antibiotics for S. aureus. The extensive use of antibiotics in treating infections has resulted in the emergence of resistant strains. Routine microbiological surveillance and careful in vitro testing before antibiotic use may help in the prevention of the ever-increasing antibiotic-resistant pathogens in burn infections

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the antibacterial activity of Lactobacillus strains isolated from buffalo milk and yogurt in Aliabad-e Katul city, Golestan province, north-east of Iran.

Raw milk and yogurt samples were collected and cultured on MRS medium by incubating anaerobically at 37°C for 48 hours. The suspected colonies were identified on the basis of Gram staining, biochemical tests, and carbohydrates fermentation. The antibacterial activity of the cell-free supernatant (CFS) extracted from Lactobacillus strains was determined using the agar well diffusion method against standard strains of Escherichia coli ATCC 11303, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 13883, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 15442 as well as gram-negative uropathogens previously isolated from patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs). Three isolates of E. coli (E1, E2, and E3), two isolates of P. aeruginosa (P1 and P2), and two isolates of K. pneumoniae (K1 and K2) were used in this study.

A total of 19 Lactobacillus strains were identified as L. plantarum, L. casei, L. acidophilus, and L. helveticus. Based on the results of antibacterial activity test, the isolates had the highest and lowest inhibitory effects on the E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates, respectively. Among the isolates, only L. casei isolates showed inhibitory activity against K. pneumoniae isolates.

In this study, Lactobacilli from buffalo milk and yogurt demonstrated a good inhibitory activity against E. coli as a common cause of urinary tract infection. Therefore, further studies are recommended to elucidate their potential for being used as an alternative to antibiotic therapy.

Toxocariasis is one of the most commonly reported zoonotic helminth infections in the world which is caused by the parasitic roundworms of dogs or cats. This survey aimed to provide data on the contamination of the soil of public parks by Toxocara spp. eggs in Hamedan city, capital of Hamedan Province in the west of Iran.

During April and May 2019, a total of 120 soil samples were collected from 20 public parks (4 to 10 soil samples from each park) from all geographical areas of the city. For detection of eggs, soil samples were dried overnight at room temperature and passed through a 150 μm mesh sieve. After performing Sheather’s flotation technique using 2 g of powdery soil, light microscopic examinations were carried out.

Microscopic evaluation of specimens revealed that 14 samples out of 120 (11.67%) collected from 10 public parks out of 20 in Hamedan (50.0%) were contaminated with Toxocara spp. eggs. Various developmental stages of Toxocara spp. eggs including (1) non-developed, (2) 2-cell to tadpole stage, and (3) larvated eggs were observed. Furthermore, in two public parks, Trichuris spp. eggs were found in the soils.

This study provides the first information about the contamination of public areas in Hamedan 0rovince and suggests that public awareness about this fact is needed. Education of citizens especially parents with children, who have commonly mouthing behavior, is recommended. Further molecular-based studies for the identification of parasite species in the province are suggested. All of the published literature about contamination of the soils of public areas in Iran with Toxocara eggs until July 2020 were also reviewed.

Enterobiasis is a common parasitic disease at all age groups, especially children. It results in perianal itching, insomnia, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and rarely appendicitis and fallopian tube inflammation in the affected patients. The prevalence of enterobiasis varies in different parts of Iran. However, the status of the enterobiasis prevalence among Sabzevar children remains unknown. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of enterobiasis among the kindergarten children of Sabzevar, Razavi Khorasan province, the northeast of Iran.

In this cross-sectional analytical-descriptive study, sampling was carried out on children aged below 7 years using the Scotch-tape technique in the kindergartens of Sabzevar in 2019. The samples were then examined by a light microscope. Finally, the data were recorded in a questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS software and Fisher exact test.

Based on the results, 6 (3.49%) out of 172 collected samples were found to be infected with enterobiasis. There was no significant association between gender and infection. Eventually, no significant relationship was found between the geographical living area and enterobiasis.

These findings indicated that the overall prevalence of enterobiasis among Sabzevar kindergarten children was lower than that of many parts of Iran. However, educational programs for parents and kindergarten staff regarding enterobiasis infection and the transmission routes should be conducted to reduce the infection rate

The incidence of keratomycosis has increased dramatically in recent years. Early diagnosis and treatment of keratomycosis are important in preventing further complications. Direct microscopic techniques are time-saving for diagnosing keratomycosis when compared to culture methods. This study was carried out to determine the sensitivities of potassium hydroxide (KOH) wet mount, Gram stain and Calcofluor white (CFW) stain plus KOH wet mount by taking culture as the gold standard.

Corneal scrapings were collected from 150 clinically suspected patients with keratomycosis. Demographic profile was collected and analyzed.

Of these patients, 67.33% were male, 24% were in the age group of 51-60 years, 70% were rural residents, 44% were agricultural workers, and 60% presented with a history of corneal trauma. Laboratory investigations have revealed that 29.33% (44 cases) were culture positive. In other words, Fusarium spp. was isolated in 17 cases, Aspergillus spp. in 14 cases, phaeoid fungi in 3 cases and unidentified fungi in 10 cases. The positivity of CFW stain plus KOH wet mount, KOH wet mount, and Gram stain was 30%, 23.3%, and 20%, respectively. Sensitivities of CFW stain plus KOH wet mount, KOH wet mount, and Gram stain were 79.55%, 54.55%, and 47.62%, respectively.

Post-investigative analysis has revealed that CFW stain plus KOH wet mount was better than KOH wet mount alone in demonstrating fungal pathogens. Therefore, early diagnosis of keratomycosis by meticulous examination of corneal scrapings by direct microscopy specifically using CFW stain plus KOH wet mount and institution of antifungal therapy may limit ocular morbidity and disastrous sequelae among these patients.

This study aimed to search for randomized clinical trials evaluating the clinical effectiveness of ertapenem compared to piperacillin/tazob actam in adult patients with mild to moderate intra-abdominal infections.

Design: 

A literature review was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Cochrane databases in order to find articles published up to April 2019. Then, the pairwise method was used to compare the difference between the mean score of the clinical effectiveness of these two interventions before and after the intervention by the means of a non-direct method (the comparison of drugs with each other).

The analysis of 4 studies involving 767 patients in the ertapenem group and 728 patients in the piperacillin/ tazobactam group showed that ertapenem can be 3% more effective than piperacillin/tazobactam (Weighted mean differences = 3.02, confidence interval (0.79-6.84) although the difference was insignificant (I-squared = 0.0%, P=0.98)

In general, the findings demonstrated that there is no significant difference in the clinical effectiveness of ertapenem in comparison with piperacillin/tazobactam in adult patients with mild to moderate intra-abdominal infections.