Rapid detection of colistin-resistant Enterobacterales using the resazurin reduction-based assay

Retrospective Evaluation of Nosocomial Bacterial Infections and Their Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns Among Hospitalized Patients in Mogadishu, Somalia

Background

Nosocomial infection constitutes a significant public health challenge globally, with resource-limited countries bearing the greatest burden. Sadly, the emergence of drug-resistant strains of these pathogens have worsened the already precarious situation.

Methods

This study aimed to determine the incidence of nosocomial infections, the causative agents, and their antimicrobial susceptibilities among patients admitted to a tertiary hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia. The study included patients who had positive cultures 48 hours after admission. Abstracted data include the patient's demographic, infection outcome, the agents involved, and the site of infection.

Results

A total of 330 patients were found to have acquired nosocomial infection, comprising 100 (30%) patients from the ICU department. The median age for the patients in this study was 36 years. Patients who died of all-cause mortality were older than those discharged. Most of the bacteria were collected from sepsis/bloodstream infections (34%) dominated by Staphylococcus aureus (42.1%), Acinetobacter baumannii (14.0%), Escherichia coli (14.0%), and Klebsiella spp. (7.0%). Urinary tract infections were mainly associated with Escherichia coli (37.5%), Staphylococcus aureus (18.8%), and Klebsiella spp. 50% of all microorganisms were multidrug-resistant.

Conclusion

The findings of this study suggested that hospital infection control and prevention strategies need to be strengthened to improve the quality of care among hospitalized patients.

Armed conflict and the proliferation of antimicrobial resistance: The situation in war-ravaged Afghanistan

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) constitutes a serious impediment to the attainment of the World Health Organization's Sustainable Development Goals, which seek to ensure and promote healthy living among humans and animals. Studies have identified the vulnerability of conflict-affected populations to exposure to antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. Resource-limited countries like Afghanistan have suffered for long periods from armed conflicts, and this situation is exacerbated by the already poor or dilapidated healthcare delivery services. The country has suffered human and economic losses due to antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections driven by the prolonged war, as well as a limited number of antimicrobials and frequent under dosage. Most reports point to the overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics as the main reason for building up resistant strains. There is a need for more efforts toward identifying the major contributors and enlightening the public on the importance of AMR. This review aimed to provide a critical appraisal regarding the current situation of AMR in Afghanistan.

Virulence Gene Profile, Antimicrobial Resistance and Multilocus Sequence Typing of Salmonella enterica Subsp. enterica Serovar Enteritidis from Chickens and Chicken Products

This study was undertaken to determine the virulence, antimicrobial resistance and molecular subtypes of Salmonella in the Central Region of Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 45 Salmonella Enteritidis were detected from live chicken (cloacal swab), and chicken products (fresh and ready-to-eat meat) samples upon cultural isolation and serotyping. Similarly, an antimicrobial susceptibility test based on the Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method as well as antimicrobial resistance AMR genes, virulence determinants and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) typing were conducted after the Whole Genome Sequencing and analysis of the isolates. The results indicate that sequence types ST1925 (63.7%), and ST11 (26.5%) were the predominant out of the seven sequence types identified (ST292, ST329, ST365, ST423 and ST2132). The phenotypic antimicrobial profile corresponds to the genotypic characterization in that the majority of the isolates that exhibited tetracycline, gentamycin and aminoglycoside resistance; they also possessed the tetC and blaTEM β-Lactam resistance genes. However, isolates from cloacal swabs showed the highest number of resistance genes compared to the chicken products (fresh and ready-to-eat meat) samples. Furthermore, most of the virulence genes were found to cluster in the Salmonella pathogenicity island (SPI). In this study, all the isolates were found to possess SPI-1, which codes for the type III secretion system, which functions as actin-binding proteins (SptP and SopE). The virulence plasmid (VP) genes (spvB, spvC) were present in all genotypes except ST365. The findings of this study, particularly with regard to the molecular subtypes and AMR profiles of the Salmonella Enteritidis serotype shows multidrug-resistance features as well as genetic characteristics indicative of high pathogenicity.