Estimation of Prevalence of Hospital-Acquired Blood Infections among Patients Admitted at a Tertiary Hospital in Oman over a Period of Five Years: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Data from developed/developed countries have shown that hospital-acquired blood infections (HA-BSIs) are one of the most severe nosocomial infections and constitute 20%-60% of hospitalization-related deaths. Despite the high morbidity and mortality rates and the enormous burden of health care costs associated with HA-BSIs, to our knowledge, there are few published reports on HA-BSI prevalence estimates in Arab countries, including Oman. Objectives: This study aims to explore the HA-BSI prevalence estimates over selected sociodemographic characteristics among admitted patients at a tertiary hospital in Oman over five years of follow-up. The regional variations in Oman were also examined in this study. Methods: This hospital-based cross-sectional study reviewed reports of hospital admissions over 5 years of retrospective follow-ups at a tertiary hospital in Oman. HA-BSI prevalence estimates were calculated over age, gender, governorate, and follow-up time. Results: In total, 1,246 HA-BSI cases were enumerated among a total of 139,683 admissions, yielding an overall HA-BSI prevalence estimate of 8.9 cases per 1000 admissions (95% CI: 8.4, 9.4). HA-BSI prevalence was higher among males compared to females (9.3 vs. 8.5). HA-BSI prevalence started as relatively high in the group aged 15 years or less (10.0; 95% CI 9.0, 11.2) and then declined as age increased from 36 to 45 years (7.0; 95% CI 5.9, 8.3) when it started to increase steadily with increasing age in the group aged 76 or more (9.9; 95% CI 8.1, 12.1). The governorate-specific estimate of HA-BSI prevalence was the highest among admitted patients who resided in Dhofar governorate, while the lowest estimate was reported from the Buraimi governorate (5.3). Conclusion: The study provides supportive evidence for a steady increase in HA-BSI prevalence over age categories and years of follow-up. The study calls for the timely formulation and adoption of national HA-BSI screening and management programs centered on surveillance systems based on real-time analytics and machine learning.

HLA-A68 and HLA-B15 alleles correlate with poor immune response among AIDS patients on combined antiretroviral therapy.

Around 15-30% of AIDS patients fail to recover their CD4(+) T cell levels following combined antiretroviral therapy despite successful inhibition of HIV-1 replication. The exact reasons for this immune recovery failure are not completely understood. HLA alleles are among the candidate that may explain this failure. A total of 65 adult AIDS patients, with viral load of <50 copies per ml were investigated. Viral load and CD4 T cells counts were performed following standard techniques. HLA genotyping was performed using PCR-SSP technique. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 19) was used for data processing and analysis. A significantly higher proportion of poor immune responders were carrying HLA-A68 (4.8% compared to 25.0%, P=0.025) and HLA-B15 (2.4% compared to 20.8%, P=0.023). The etiological fraction (Efe%) among carriers of HLA-A68 was 57.89% (95% CI=26.79, 75.79) and was 61.35% (95% CI=35.33, 76.91) among carriers of HLA-B15.

Epidemiology of multi-drug resistant organisms in a teaching hospital in oman: a one-year hospital-based study.

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance is increasingly recognized as a global challenge. A few studies have emerged on epidemiology of multidrug resistant organisms in tertiary care settings in the Arabian Gulf. AIM: To describe the epidemiology of multi-drug resistant organisms (MDRO) at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, a tertiary hospital in Oman. METHODS: A retrospective review of MDRO records has been conducted throughout the period from January 2012 till December 2012. Organisms were identified and tested by an automated identification and susceptibility system, and the antibiotic susceptibility testing was confirmed by the disk diffusion method. RESULTS: Out of the total of 29,245 admissions, there have been 315 patients registered as MDRO patients giving an overall prevalence rate of 10.8 (95% CI 9.3, 12.4) MDRO cases per 1000 admissions. In addition, the prevalence rate of MDRO isolates was 11.2 (95% CI 9.7, 12.9) per 1000 admissions. Overall, increasing trends in prevalence rates of MDRO patients and MDRO isolates were observed throughout the study period. CONCLUSION: Antimicrobial resistance is an emerging challenge in Oman. Continuous monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility and strict adherence to infection prevention guidelines are essential to prevent proliferation of MDRO. Along such quest, stringent antibiotic prescription guidelines are needed in the country.