Synthesis and anti-tubercular activity of a series of 2-sulfonamido/trifluoromethyl-6-substituted imidazo-[2, 1-b]-1, 3, 4-thiadiazole derivatives

A series of 2-sulfonamido/trifluoromethyl-6-(40-substituted aryl/heteroaryl)imidazo[2,1-b]-1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives(II) have been synthesized by reaction of 2-amino-5-sulfonamido/trifluoromethyl-1,3,4-thiadiazoles and an appropriate a-haloaryl/heteroaryl ketones. Further 5-bromo (III), 5-thiocyanato (IV), 5-gaunylhydrazone (V) derivatives were synthesized in order to study the effect of these substituents on biological activity. Structures of these compounds were established by IR, 1H NMR,13C NMR, Mass and HRMS. The selected compounds were evaluated for their preliminary in vitro anti-tuberculosis activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain using radiometric BACTEC and broth dilution assay methods. The results show that compounds 5, 7, 8, 10 and 12 exhibited moderate to good anti-tubercular activity with percentage inhibition of 29, 43, 58, 31and 41, respectively, at a MIC of > 6.25lg/mL. Compound 18 showed a MIC of 20lg/mL.

Considerations for implementing an antibiotic policy in hospital practice

An antibiotic policy should aim for the safe, effective and economical use of antimicrobial drugs, and to prevent their indiscriminate use and development of resistant bacterial strains. The term 'antibiotic' is used as a general term for all antimicrobial drugs. Antibiotics prescriptions should be based on clinical evidence of bacterial infection, preferably substantiated by appropriate laboratory culture and sensitivity tests. Viral infections are not an indication for antibiotic prescriptions. Patient factors to be considered for choice and dose of an antibiotic are age, pregnancy, lactation, renal and hepatic impairment. Immunodeficient patients should receive only bactericidal drugs. Severity of infection determines the route of administration. Duration of therapy should not exceed five days, unless specifically prescribed by the physician. An antibiotic should, if started as an empirical therapy not be changed before a minimum of three days trial. Prescriptions of drugs such as aztreonam, imipenem, vancomycin, piperacillin and amphotericin are to be restricted due to cost and toxicity and should be reviewed by the microbiologist (AU)

Transmission of infectious drug resistance from animals to man

The antibiotic resistance patterns of califorms in faecal specimens from pigs and their human contacts were studied. The ability of the resistant coliforms to transfer their resistance in vitro to antibiotic-sensitive recipients was examined. The results showed that pigs which had received antibiotics carried more multiply-resistant, R-factor bearing coliforms than pigs which had not been given antibiotics. Human contacts of the antibiotic-treated pigs had a higher incidence of antibiotic-resistant coliforms with R-factors than contacts of pigs which had not been given antibiotics. It is concluded that antibiotic treatment of farm animals may lead to acquisition of antibiotic resistance by gut coliforms of man.(AU)

Etiology of tubal ectopic pregnancy

Fallopian tubes, removed at operation from 100 tubal ectopic pregnancies, were injected with barium sulphate/gelatine suspension and radiographs taken. Histologic sections were then examined. One hundred control tubes were treated in the same fashion, and the findings in the two groups were then compared. The tubes from 50 autopsies of infants and children were also injected with contrast medium and studied microscopically in a search for congenital lesions. Tubal diverticula were found in 49 percent of gravid tubes as compared with 11 percent of those of the control group. Diverticula were confined to the isthmus and the proximal portion of the ampulla. They were not seen in the tubes of infants and children examined at autopsy, but an etiologic relationship with chronic inflammation was suggested. On the basis of this study, it appears also that the lesions referred to as salpingitis isthmica nodosa are in fact diverticula (AU)

Preliminary survey of sensitivity of local strains of pseudomonas pyocyanea to carbenicillin

Fifty (50) strains of 'Ps. pyocyanae' isolated in Jamaica were tested for sensitivity to carbenicillin. The M.I.C. of carbenicillin for twenty (20) of these strains show that most are inhibited IN VITRO by 25-50 æg/ml. (AU)

Shigellosis and sulphonamides

Shigellosis occurs in Jamaica as a sporadic endemic infection of varied presentation and severity, and thus does not lend itself to controlled trials of therapy. In the laboratory, 22 fo 24 Sh. sonnei strains isolated at the University College Hospital of the West Indies during 1958 were sulphonamide-resistant, wheras all of 16 Sh. flexneri strains were sulphonamide-sensitive. Retrospective examination of the patients' clinical records threw very little light upon the clinical efficacy of sulphonamides against the two types of infection. Suggestions regarding treatment are made in the light of the world-wide increase in shigella strains resistant to sulphonamides and to antibiotics (AU)

The in vitro sensitivity of sonne dysentery culture to sulphonamides

24 strains of Sh. sonne isolated during 1958 in the Department of Pathology, U.C.W.I, were examined for sensitivity to sulphadimidine in broth cultures. 22 strains were resistant to 100 mcg. per ml., which is above the levels usually obtained in blood. 16 of these strains were resistant to 500 mcg. per ml. In contrast, all strains were sensitive to Chloramphenicol (tested by the plate and disc method), and nearly all were sensitive to streptomycin and to tetracycline. Sonne dysentery is so often self-limiting that the clinical records of the patients concerned throw little light upon the value of sulphonamide therapy. There are strong contra-indications to the widespread use of antibiotics instead of sulphonamides in proven or suspected Sonne dysentery. But the laboratory evidence suggests that, in Jamaica and territories with a similar sulphonamide-resistant population of Sh. sonne, if antibacterial therapy is thought to be necessary, antibiotics should be used (AU)

Experience in Jamaica with the oral treatment of diabetes (abstract only)

The importance of diabetes as a hospital problem in Jamaica and the difficulties of outpatient management are discussed. Details of the treatment of 10 patients with an oral hypoglycaemic sulfonamide (B.Z. 55) are presented. Three were discharged from hospital taking a maintenance dose of the drug. Toxic effects were common. B.Z. 55 has little part to play in the treatment of diabetes in Jamaica. (AU)