Molecular identification and biofilm formation of aerobic and anaerobic coinfection bacterial isolated from cystic fibrosis patients in southwest Iran from 2014 to 2022.

BACKGROUND: Coinfections and resistant bacterial infections are more likely to occur in cystic fibrosis patients because their immune systems are weak. The purpose of this study was to identify by molecular means as well as the formation of biofilm of aerobic and anaerobic coinfection bacteria isolated from cystic fibrosis patients in southwest Iran from 2014 to 2022. METHODS: In this investigation, 130 clinical specimens were collected from 130 CF patients by universal primer. Biofilm formation was investigated using the microtiter plate method. Antibiotic resistance was measured using Vitec 2 device. In addition, identification of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus using genes mecA was performed. MAIN FINDINGS: In aerobic bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was detected in (32%) of samples. In anaerobic bacteria (16%) Prevotella spp. was the most frequently isolated anaerobe bacteria found in of the CF patients. In this study, 75% of the bacteria could form biofilms, while 23% were unable to biofilm formation. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, P. aeruginosa was found to be the most frequently isolated bacterium from patients with CF, and many of these bacteria could form biofilms. Additionally, the high prevalence of antibiotic resistance indicates the urgent need for increased attention to antibiotic preparation and patient screening concerning bacterial coinfections and the virulence and adhesion factors of these bacteria. Furthermore, the present study demonstrates that the coinfection of bacteria with high antibiotic resistance and a high capacity for biofilm formation can pose a life-threatening risk to CF patients, mainly due to their weakened immune systems.

Visceral leishmaniasis-human immunodeficiency virus coinfection in a 52-year-old male in southwest Iran: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Leishmaniasis is a rare infectious disease observed in subtropical and tropical areas. This disease that demonstrates different clinical characteristics is caused by intracellular Leishmania protozoan. One of the important countries facing the incidence of this infectious disease is Iran. Recently, human immunodeficiency virus-Leishmania coinfection has been indicated in Iran. CASE PRESENTATION: In the present case report, we show an atypical case of severe visceral leishmaniasis in a 52-year-old Iranian-Arab male with positive human immunodeficiency virus status. Leishmaniasis was detected by node biopsy and subsequently histopathology evaluations and confirmed by molecular methods. CONCLUSIONS: The current study was the first report of an atypical case of a patient with Leishmania-human immunodeficiency virus coinfection in southwestern Iran, which was not responsive to the treatment. Therefore, the health authorities should be aware of these reports, which require permanent clinical follow-up of the patients as well as effective treatments.

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Patients with Severe Pneumonia in Khuzestan Province, Iran.

The emergence of a highly pathogenic virus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) accounts for severe pneumonia throughout the world. More than 7 million world population have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, and the number of deaths is increasing every day. This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 in hospitalized patients with an acute respiratory infection (ARI). During an outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2, the nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs were collected from 909 hospitalized patients with severe pneumonia, including 517 (56.9%) males and 392 (43.1%) females. All the collected samples were from different cities of Khuzestan province from 19 February to- 27 March 2020. The RNA was extracted from samples and subjected to real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2. Simultaneously, the computerized tomography (CT) scan was tested for the presence of ground-glass opacity in the lung among the patients. Of the total number of 909 specimens, 328 (36.08%) cases, including 185 (20.35%) females and 143 (15.73%) males, were positive for the SARS-CoV-2 while, 581 (63.9%) cases, including 374 (41.14%) males and 207 (22.77%) were negative for the SARS-CoV-2 by real-time PCR (p=0.001).Four hundred sixteen (45.76%) cases were positive for ground-glass opacity in the lung by CT scan, while 328/909 (36.08%) trials proved positive for SARS-CoV-2 by the real-time PCR (p=0.003).  In this study, 36.08% of patients were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Although the results of positive cases by CT scan showed higher than real-time PCR, screening the SARS-COV-2 with a real-time PCR method is the first line of choice.

Determining frequency and pattern of infections associated with diabetes based educational hospitals in Ahvaz city; Iran.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease known as one of the most common illness in the world. It is believed that diabetic patients are at high risk of varied infections than non-diabetics. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and pattern of infections in diabetic patients admitted to the internal wards of educational hospitals of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 700 diabetic patients from January 2014 to December 2015 in internal wards (general, endocrine, gastroenterology, lung, nephrology, cardiology, neurology and infectious diseases) of educational hospitals affiliated to Ahvaz JundishapurUniversity of Medical Sciences. Data includeddemographic information, type of diabetes treatment, duration of diabetes mellitus, final diagnosis, and blood sugar on admission that were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: Out of 700 patients, 374 (53.4%) women and 326 (46.6%) men were entered into this study. The number of non-infectious and infectious patients were 506 (72.3%) and 194 (27.7%). The mean of age,duration of diabetes, and glucose were 62.34 ±â€¯14.38 years, 11.11 ±â€¯7.18 years, and 271.98 ±â€¯90 (mg/dl) in patients with infectious diseases respectively. The most common infectious illnesses were diabetic foot infections (32.5%), pneumonia (18%), soft tissue abscess(13.9%), and urinary tract infections (11.3%). CONCLUSION: Infectious diseases are one of the most common factorsto hospitalize diabetic patients (27.7%), most of whom had diabetic foot infections, pneumonia, and soft tissue abscess.

Infection after open heart surgery in Golestan teaching hospital of Ahvaz, Iran.

The present study surveyed demographic and infection data which were obtained after open heart surgery (OHS) through patient's admission in Golestan teaching hospital, Ahvaz metropolitan city of Iran, taking into account the confirmed location of the infection, microorganism and antibiotic susceptibility. The occurrence of infection among patients during 48 to 72 h after surgery and hospital admission is the definition of Nosocomial infections (NIs) (Salmanzadeh et al., 2015) [1]. All of them after OHS were chosen for this study. In this paper, type of catheter, fever, type of microorganism, antibiotic susceptibility, location of the infection and outcome (live or death) were studied (Juhl et al., 2017; Salsano et al., 2017) [2], [3]. After the completion of the observations and recording patients' medical records, the coded data were fed into EXCELL. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 16.

Significant Decline of Malaria Incidence in Southwest of Iran (2001-2014).

Iran is considered as one of the malaria endemic countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) and is at risk due to neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistan in the east, and Iraq to the west. Therefore the aim of the present investigation is the evaluation of the trend of malaria distribution during the past decade (2001-2014) in Khuzestan province, southwestern Iran. In this retrospective cross-sectional investigation, blood samples were taken from all malaria suspicious cases who were referred to health centers across Khuzestan province. For each positive subject a questionnaire containing demographic information was filled out. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 18. From a total of 541 malaria confirmed cases, 498 (92.05%) were male and 43 (7.95%) were female. The highest number of infections was seen in 2001 with 161 (29.75%) cases and the lowest was in 2014 with 0 (0%). Also, Plasmodium vivax was identified as dominant species in 478 (88.35%) individuals and P. falciparum comprised 63 (11.65%). The highest infection rate was observed in non-Iranian populations with number 459 (84.85%) and imported cases 508 (93.90%). Also, the majority of subjects were over 15 years of age, 458 (84.65%). Due to proximity to endemic countries which has made the malaria campaign difficult, more effort is needed to control the infection in order to achieve malaria elimination.