ARTICLES

Nosocomial infection is a recognized public health problem world-wide with a prevalence rate of 3.0-20.7% and an incidence rate of 5-10%. It has become increasingly obvious that infections acquired in the hospital lead to increased morbidity and mortality which has added noticeably to economic burden. However, after about three decades of nosocomial infection surveillance and control world-wide, it still remains an important problem for hospitals today. Studies have shown that most hospitals in developing countries especially Africa, have no effective infection control programme due to lack of awareness of the problem, lack of personnel, poor water supply, erratic electricity supply, ineffective antibiotic policies with emergence of multiply antibiotic resistant microbes, poor laboratory backup, poor funding and non-adherence to safe practices by health workers. It is recommended that the cost of hospital infection control programme should be included in the health budget of the country and fund allocated for the infection control committee for routine control purposes and to bear the cost of outbreaks. There is need for adequate staffing and continuous education of staff on the principles of infection control, especially hand washing which is the single most important effective measure to reduce the risks of cross infection.

Download full journal in PDF below

Nosocomial infections and the challenges of control in developing countries

Avian influenza H5N1 represents one of the most researched viruses in laboratories world-wide in recent times with regards to its epidemiology, ecology, biology and geography. The virus has caused 409 human cases and 256 human fatalities to date. Some laboratory activities and other lab related
works predispose certain workers to exposure to this virus. In this work, we assessed the effect of exposure of HPAI infective allantoic fluid to ultraviolet rays for between 15 and 180 minutes. No significant difference was found between the unexposed and exposed viruses. The ability of the virus to haemagglutinate chicken red blood cells, the haemagglutination titre and its pathogenicity in embryonating eggs did not change despite this prolong exposure to UV-light. We call for caution in the handling of HPAI viruses in laboratory inside the microbiological safety cabinet despite sterilization using UV-light.

Download full journal in PDF below

Non-Attenuation Of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 By Laboratory Exposure To Ultraviolet Rays

The importance of biocides resistant bacterial strains in medicine, industry and the environment has gained significant attention. Microbial contamination of dental unit waterlines is thought to be the result of biofilm formation within the small-bore tubing used for these conduits. Our objectives were to characterize biocides resistant isolates from dental unit water line biofilm (DUWL) using the standard laboratory approaches. Growth curves of isolates established in biocides free and supplemented medium demonstrated less growth in the presence of biocides. O10 | P a g e ptimum pH was 7 whereas; optimum temperature was 37°C. Isolates showed resistance against multiple of heavy metals while fewer antibiotics. Genetic studies were accomplished by performing conjugation and transformation experiments. In two isolates (AWT 21 and PTNPF) transconjugants were observed, while no transformant was recorded in any case. Overall, the findings of this study can be used to profile the metabolic effects of new biocides or biocide combinations upon biocides
resistant biofilm isolates from clinical environment.

Download full journal in PDF below

Characterization Of Biocides Resistant Isolates From Dental Unit Water Line Biofilms By Culture Dependent Approach

A study of 65 children (29males and 36females) and aged between four weeks and 15years with significant bacteriuria was undertaking over a six month period to determine the effects of instruction received about the methods of urine collection and storage on the prevalence of urinary tract infection. The commonest clinical presentation was fever (64.6%). Only 22(35.4%) of the patients had specific symptoms suggestive of urinary tract infections. The instructions about urine collection were given to 48(73.8%) care givers. This instruction was given by the attending doctors (84%). Despite the explanation, 15(23.1%) of the patients collected the urine samples wrongly and 44(67.7%) stored the samples for longer than one hour. Significant bacteriuria was more prevalent in 74.2% of patients who submitted their urine samples more than one hour after collection. Communication skill is important and should be emphasized in the trainings of health workers in procedure on the patients.

Download full journal in PDF below

Effect Of Instructions About The Method Of Urine Collection And Storage On The Isolation Rate Of Urinary Bacteria In Children

Background: Nosocomial infection caused by methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) presents with management difficulties in infected patients due to their resistance to a number of other frontline antibiotics and constitutes
significant epidemiological problems. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of methicillin resistant S. aureus and antibiotic sensitivity pattern in clinical isolates in Kano. There is dearth of  information on
this subject in Kano.
Method: One hundred and eighty five (185) S. aureus isolates from various clinical specimens obtained over a 12-month period in the Microbiology Department of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) were subjected to methicillin susceptibility testing, while including susceptibility testing to other antibiotics by the disc diffusion methods.
Result: Out of 185 S. aureus isolates tested, 53(28.6%) were found to be methicillin resistant. While 38(62%) isolates were obtained from in-patients, 15(28%) were from out-patients. Surgical wound infection had the highest prevalence of 32(60%) isolates. Antibiotics sensitivity results of methicillin susceptible staphylococcus aureus MSSA) and MRSA with the third generation cephalosporins and the quinilones were encouraging. All
MRSA isolates were sensitive to vancomycin.
Conclusion: A prevalence of 28.6% MRSA in this environment calls for urgent intervention strategies due to its possible rapid spread and therapeutic problem.

Download full journal in PDF below

Methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and their antibiotic sensitivity pattern in Kano, Nigeria

Proliferation of different brands of antibiotics including ampiclox (a notable penicillinase inactivator) was considered a relevant factor in the antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus aureus. Consequently the antibiogram and susceptibility of 20 clinical strains and a control strain (NCTC 6571) of Staphylococcus aureus to 10 different brands of ampiclox were determined by disk diffusion and tube broth dilution methods. The control strain was
found sensitive to ampicilin, augmentinR and cloxacillin in the antibiogram, and to all the l0 brands of ampiclox, with the MIC’s of either 0.125 or 0.25μg/mI among the clinical strains. This result, compared with the MIC’s obtained in the range of 0.125μg/ml to > 60μg/mI, varying among the brands of ampiclox against the 20 clinical strains, indicates contrasting inhibitory activity among the different brands but reflective of the worrisome level of resistance to antibiotics by Staph. aureus. However, this resistance to most of the brands of ampic1ox could not be associated with brand variation having found the control strain sensitive to all the brands of ampiclox.

Download full journal in PDF below

Brands Of Ampiclox Against Clinical Strains Of Staphylococcus aureus

Cough formulations were observed to contain some chemical substances that have been associated with antimicrobial property, namely: menthol, honey, citric acid and volatile oils. A prolonged use of such formulations by patients was therefore considered a health risk on the normal bacterial flora. Nine cough formulations denoted by letter codes along with simple syrup B.P., absolute alcohol and sterile distilled water as controls, were investigated for relative antimicrobial activity on some normal flora bacteria by the agar-cup diffusion method. The respective individual single brands of cough formulation with the exception of one brand exhibited inhibitory activity against 5 – 1 2 bacterial isolates including Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp, Streptococcus faecalis, Strep. pneumoniae, Strep. viridians, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Simple Syrup B.P. and sterile distilled water did not exhibit any antibacterial activity while the absolute alcohol exerted activity only on Staph aureus. The antimicrobial activity recorded for the cough formulations could cause a depletion of the normal bacterial flora following a prolonged use of the formulations tested, hence, the attendant health risk of depressed natural immune system of the body, normally associated with such bacteria.

Download full journal in PDF below

Prolonged Use Of Cough Formulations And The Health Risk From Their Antimicrobial Activity On Some Normal Bacterial Flora

Reports of large scale mortality of day-old-chicks were received at the National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Nigeria in 2007 to 2008. We investigated the cause of death using several virological and bacteriological techniques, isolated the pathogenic agents and carried out sensitivity tests. Our investigation revealed that Escherichia coli and Salmonella organisms were isolated in the outbreaks. A pattern of antibiotic resistance that seems to be increasing was also found. Considering the role of chickens and its products in the human food chain in Nigeria; and the close interaction between poultry and man, these resistant organisms may pose dangers to humans through the food chain or zoonotic infection and precipitate a similar pattern of resistance in man. We advocated for informed use of antibiotics in the food animals, especially poultry.

Download full journal in PDF below

Antibiotic Resistant Salmonella And Escherichia Coli Isolated From Day-Old Chicks Vom Nigeria