False-positive HIV screening test in a healthcare student.

This case report describes a 22-year-old female Ambulance Technician student who displayed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) false positivity following a recent hepatitis B vaccination. Occupational health clinicians who work in a healthcare setting (with healthcare staff and/or students) should be aware of the possibility of false-positive HIV screening test results, and where a false positive is suspected, they should consider what the underlying cause could be and should consider whether further medical investigation is required.

Abdominal ultrasound in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma staging: yes or no?

PURPOSE: Abdominal ultrasound is a diagnostic staging procedure for distant metastases in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, currently performed abdominal staging procedures do not follow consistent standards. Therefore, this retrospective study on 498 patients aimed at investigating on abdominal ultrasound as a staging procedure in HNSCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 498 head and neck cancer patients treated in our Department of Head and Neck Surgery between 2008 and 2015 was performed. Disease-related data were collected over a mean follow-up time of 30.3 months, and results of abdominal ultrasound were analyzed. RESULTS: 426 patients received abdominal ultrasound as a staging procedure. 7% (29) were suspicious for metastases. In 19 cases (66%), the detected abnormalities were masses of the liver. In four patients, abdominal metastases were confirmed at the time of initial diagnosis. 16 patients developed abdominal metastases in the course of the disease (on average 623 days after initial diagnosis). 19 out of 20 patients with abdominal metastases had an N2/N3 cervical lymph node status. In this study, the negative predictive value of abdominal ultrasound for HNSCC staging was 99.03%, while the positive predictive value yielded 5.88% (N2/N3-patients). CONCLUSION: Only in patients with locally advanced lymph-node-status (N2/N3), abdominal ultrasound can be useful as a staging investigation to exclude abdominal metastasis in HNSCC patients. For N0/N1 patients, abdominal ultrasound might be dispensed. Of note, in case of a positive result, further diagnostic procedures are mandatory.

Two-dimensional titanium carbide (Ti3C2Tx) MXenes to inhibit the shuttle effect in sodium sulfur batteries.

Room-temperature sodium sulfur batteries (RT-NSBs) are among the promising candidates for large-scale energy storage applications because of the natural abundance of the electrode materials and impressive energy density. However, one of the main technical challenges of RT-NSBs is the shuttle effect by which active redox intermediates (i.e., sodium polysulfides Na2Sn, n = 1-8) are dissolved in electrolytes, which hamper the battery reversibility. The interfacial interplays between Na2Sn and the electrodes (or electrolytes) at the atomic level thus play an intrinsic role in elucidating the shuttle effect. This work reports the ab initio calculations to unravel the suppression of the shuttle effect using titanium carbide MXenes (Ti3C2Tx, Tx = F, O) as the cathode additives. The findings reveal that the shuttle phenomenon is efficiently resolved because the immense chemical bonding of Na2Sn-Ti3C2Tx interfaces competitively surpasses the binding magnitudes of Na2Sn-electrolyte interaction. The analysis of the electronic density of states and charge density further manifests that there is charge donation from the Na-3s orbital of Na2Sn to the unfilled F(O)-2p orbitals of metallic Ti3C2Tx. The metallicity of the Ti3C2Tx remains preserved during the entire course of the redox process, ensuring the rapid electrochemical kinetics. Furthermore, the presence of Ti3C2Tx additives drastically reduces the dissociation barrier of the final redox product Na2S, yielding the efficient utilization of sulfur during the discharge process. This work has proposed the unexplored functionality of Ti3C2Tx as the anchoring materials for RT-NSBs.

Transition-metal decorated graphdiyne monolayer as an efficient sensor toward phosphide (PH3) and arsine (AsH3).

Graphdiyne (GDY), a two-dimensional (2D) carbon, uniquely possesses mixed sp-sp2 hybridization, uniform nano-sized porous structure, semiconducting character, and excellent electrical conductivity. These features beneficially promote its applications in many fields, especially gas sensing. Based on density functional theory (DFT) and statistical thermodynamics, this study reports the sensing capabilities of pristine and selected transition metal (i.e., Fe, Sc, and Ti)-decorated GDY to detect environmentally hazardous arsine (AsH3) and phosphide (PH3) gases. We discover that Fe-doped GDY is a high-performance sensing material for detecting AsH3 and PH3 because of its selectivity and ultra-high sensitivity at the part-per-million (ppm) level. The presence of these gases induces measurably drastic changes in the electronic properties of Fe-doped GDY. The promising detection capabilities are fundamentally rooted in the appropriate chemical binding energies (i.e., ranging from -0.80 to -1.80 eV), which are basically rooted in the prominent orbital overlap among Fe-3d and As(P)-4p states. This study has raised the need to design efficient nanosensors using GDY-based materials.

Phytoconstituents and Pharmacological Activities of Indian Camphorweed (Pluchea indica): A Multi-Potential Medicinal Plant of Nutritional and Ethnomedicinal Importance.

Pluchea indica (L.) Less. (Asteraceae) commonly known as Indian camphorweed, pluchea, or marsh fleabane has gained great importance in various traditional medicines for its nutritional and medicinal benefits. It is utilized to cure several illnesses such as lumbago, kidney stones, leucorrhea, inflammation, gangrenous and atonic ulcer, hemorrhoids, dysentery, eye diseases, itchy skin, acid stomach, dysuria, abdominal pain, scabies, fever, sore muscles, dysentery, diabetes, rheumatism, etc. The plant or its leaves in the form of tea are commonly used for treating diabetes and rheumatism. The plant is a rich source of calcium, vitamin C, dietary fiber, and ß-carotene. Various biomolecules have been isolated from P. indica, including thiophenes, terpenes, quinic acids, sterols, lignans, phenolics, and flavonoids. The current review reports detailed information about the phytoconstituents and pharmacological relevance of P. indica and the link to its traditional uses. The reported studies validated the efficacy and safety of P. indica, as well as supported its traditional uses for treating various ailments and promoting health and well-being. Thus, this could encourage the development of this plant into a healthy food supplement or medicine for the prevention and treatment of various diseases. However, further studies on the drug interactions, mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, and metabolism, as well as clinical trials, should be carried out.

[Perioperative medical prophylaxis of venous thromboembolic events in head and neck surgery : A retrospective study and recommendations]. / Medikamentöse Thromboseprophylaxe bei Kopf-Hals-Operationen : Eine retrospektive Analyse und Handlungsempfehlung.

BACKGROUND: In the authors' department, a newly implemented clinical algorithm for application of perioperative thrombosis prophylaxis in head and neck surgery recommends restrictive handling of anticoagulants. This retrospective study aims to evaluate the algorithm by comparing incidences of venous thromboembolic events (VTE) and surgical revisions due to postoperative hemorrhage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Perioperative incidences of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism as well as surgical revisions due to postoperative hemorrhage after head and neck surgery were determined based on all patients operated in the department over a period of 36 months. The incidences before (group I) and after (group II) implementation of the restrictive algorithm were compared. RESULTS: A total of 9276 patients were included. The incidences of VTE (0.12%) and surgical revisions due to postoperative hemorrhage (1.4%) were low. Incidences of VTE were non-significantly higher in group II (0.16%) than in group I (0.08%; p > 0.45, chi-square-test). Case analysis revealed that this difference was not due to implementation of the restrictive algorithm. The incidence of surgical revision due to postoperative hemorrhage was identical in the two groups (1.4%). CONCLUSION: After restricting the indication for thrombosis prophylaxis, the incidence of VTE or surgical revision due to postoperative hemorrhage did not change significantly. The provided clinical algorithm represents a low-risk and low-cost strategy of perioperative risk stratification.

Commonly used agent for acute pain management of sickle cell anemia in Saudi Emergency Department: A narrative review.

INTRODUCTION: Sickle-cell disease (SCD) is one of the most common hematologic inherited disorders in Saudi Arabia. Vaso-occlusive pain crisis in SCD is a major cause for emergency visits and patients' pain may be undertreated. This study presents a narrative literature review of current agents used to manage acute pain crisis in SCD patients presenting to the emergency department in hospitals of Saudi Arabia. METHOD: We conducted a narrative review on relevant published articles about sickle cell disease pain crisis management in Saudi Arabia and included seven relevant studies based on our inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Using our search strategy, we included 7 studies Out of 4052. Studies included were conducted in different locations in the country. Four studies were in the Eastern region while only one in Western and One in Central regions. Those studies included around 2441 patients, in total. Morphine was used in 5 studies out of the 7 included. Pethidine was used in 4. One study used Isoxsuprine and another study used tinzaparin. CONCLUSION: We found that continuous administration of IV morphine accompanied by oral analgesics including NSAIDs and acetaminophen is the most commonly used practice for treating SCD patients presenting with a vaso-occlusive pain crisis. Possible effectiveness of tinzaparin, isoxsuprine, and pethidine as therapeutic options may be considered. However, there was no recommendation for a certain agent to be prescribed. We recommend conducting further clinical randomized-controlled trials.

Global transmission and evolutionary dynamics of the Chikungunya virus.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a re-emerging pathogen of global importance. We attempted to gain an insight into the organisation, distribution and mutational load of the virus strains reported from different parts of the world. We describe transmission dynamics and genetic characterisation of CHIKV across the globe during the last 65 years from 1952 to 2017. The evolutionary pattern of CHIKV was analysed using the E1 protein gene through phylogenetic, Bayesian and Network methods with a dataset of 265 sequences from various countries. The time to most recent common ancestor of the virus was estimated to be 491 years ago with an evolutionary rate of 2.78 × 10-4 substitutions/site/year. Genetic characterisation of CHIKV strains was carried out in terms of variable sites, selection pressure and epitope mapping. The neutral selection pressure on the E1 gene of the virus suggested a stochastic process of evolution. We identified six potential epitope peptides in the E1 protein showing substantial interaction with human MHC-I and MHC-II alleles. The present study augments global epidemiological and population dynamics of CHIKV warranting undertaking of appropriate control measures. The identification of epitopic peptides can be useful in the development of epitope-based vaccine strategies against this re-emerging viral pathogen.

Efficient suppression of the shuttle effect in Na-S batteries with an As2S3 anchoring monolayer.

Sodium-sulfur batteries (NaSBs) have emerged as a promising energy storage technology for large-scale stationary applications such as smart electrical grids due to their exceptionally high energy density and cost-effectiveness. However, one of the challenging problems impeding their practical applications is the sulfur shuttle effect by which the active redox intermediates are gradually dissolved in electrolytes. In this work, we have employed first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations to unravel the suppression of the shuttle effect in NaSBs with a two-dimensional (2D) As2S3 monolayer as the anchoring material. We show that semiconducting As2S3 is a suitable anchoring layer to inhibit the dissolution of the polysulfide intermediates in common electrolytes because of its stronger chemical binding with sodium polysulfides than with the electrolytes. The immense adsorption is attributed to the electron donation from the unfilled S-3p states of the polysulfides to As2S3. These mechanisms increase the carrier population and consequently improve the electrical conductivity of As2S3. Hence, the use of As2S3 can both reduce the shuttle effect and enhance the cathode electron conductivity to enable improved cycling stability and coulombic efficiency of the battery.

Can subcentimetre ultrasound detected angiomyolipomas be safely disregarded?

AIM: To optimise follow-up by dismissing lesions on baseline ultrasound (US) if renal lesions conform to US criteria of an angiomyolipoma (AML). METHOD AND MATERIALS: The present study was a 10-year retrospective review of patients who were found to have incidental hyperechoic renal lesions on US to ascertain the outcome from subsequent imaging, clinical encounters, and cancer registrations. Exclusions included renal calculi, tuberous sclerosis, Von-Hippel-Lindau, or a known cancer. RESULTS: After excluding 39 patients, 1,493 patients were identified. One hundred and sixty had more than one lesion with 87 patients having bilateral lesions. Regardless of indication, 889 patients had subsequent imaging within 5 years (59.5%). The average size of all AMLs was 13.2 mm. In the group with lesions that were <10 mm (807), 438 had imaging follow-up with an average follow-up time of 1.5 years. Mean lesion size in this group was 7 mm, with an average increase of <0.5 mm on follow-up. No lesions were found to be malignant on subsequent imaging nor did any of these patients have a subsequent renal cancer diagnosis registered at local multidisciplinary team meetings. CONCLUSION: No incidental subcentimetre hyperechoic renal lesion with imaging characteristics of an AML demonstrated significant growth or developed into a malignancy on follow-up.

Behaviour of occupational health services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Disasters, crises and pandemics are emergencies which impact on businesses severely. The COVID-19 pandemic reached its peak in mid-April 2020 in the UK. During this period, NHS Occupational Health Services (OHS) were stretched to their limit along with other health services. OHS may have had to change their pattern of operation, operating times, services offered, etc. to cope with the pandemic. Data about business model modifications, services offered by the OHS businesses during the pandemic could help in better utilization of OHS resources in the future. AIMS: To understand the behaviour of OHS in different parts of the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: An online survey link was sent to both accredited and unaccredited UK Occupational Health Physicians (OHPs). RESULTS: Sixty-two OHPs responded to the survey. In the current pandemic, 51% of the OHS (95% CI 0.38-0.62) offered weekend or out-of-hours (OOH) services, 21% had to employ extra staff (95% CI 0.13-0.33) and 54% had to change their working hours (95% CI 0.41-0.65). Ninety per cent of the OHS (95% CI 0.78-0.94) continued to offer routine services; however, there was a decline in offering vaccination services. Fifty-six per cent of the OHS (95% CI 0.42-0.67) offered a dedicated telephone line and 46% of the OHS (95% CI 0.32-0.56) started a dedicated COVID-19 queries inbox. CONCLUSIONS: There was a change in the behaviour of the OHS to cope with the pandemic. Having a dedicated helpline to manage the crisis situation seemed a logical step whilst offering routine services.

Small bowel adenocarcinoma in Crohn's disease: a rare but devastating complication.

BACKGROUND: Small bowel adenocarcinoma (SBA) remains a rare entity but occurs at increased frequency in the setting of chronic Crohn's disease (CD). Our aim was to study the presentation, diagnosis and prognosis of SBA in patients undergoing surgery for CD at a single institution. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of all patients with CD complicated by adenocarcinoma of the small bowel from 2000 to 2017. Descriptive statistics and Kaplan-Meier overall survival estimates were calculated. RESULTS: In total, 22 patients (14 males) with CD (median duration of Crohn's diagnosis 32 years) were diagnosed with SBA and underwent surgical resection (8 isolated small bowel resections, 12 ileocolic resections, and 2 total proctocolectomies). The median patient age at the time of diagnosis was 54 years (range 22-82 years). A total of 17 patients (77%) underwent cross-sectional CT imaging within 3 months of surgery, a cancer diagnosis was suggested in only one patient. In one other patient, SBA was diagnosed preoperatively on endoscopic biopsy of the terminal ileum. The remaining patients were operated on for obstruction (n = 17), abscess or fistulizing disease (n = 2), and sigmoid cancer (n = 1). For these 20 (90%) patients not suspected to have SBA on preoperative assessment, 5 (25%) were diagnosed intraoperatively on frozen section and 15 (75%) were unexpectedly diagnosed postoperatively on final pathology. T staging was characterized by more advanced tumors (T4: 59%, T3: 27%, T2: 9%, and T1: 5%). Nine patients (41%) had nodal involvement and five patients (23%) had hepatic and/or peritoneal carcinomatosis. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival estimates for our cohort were 84%, 30%, and 10%, respectively. Median survival was 30.5 months with median follow-up of 23 months (range 6-84 months). CONCLUSIONS: SBA in the setting of CD is most commonly found incidentally after surgical resection for benign indications. As such, any suspicious finding at the time of surgery in a patient with chronic CD should warrant careful investigation with frozen section and/or resection. Prognosis for CD complicated by SBA remains poor even in the modern era.

[The role of surgery and salvage surgery in the era of HPV-associated oropharyngeal carcinomas]. / Rolle der Chirurgie und Salvage-Chirurgie in der Ära HPV-assoziierter Oropharynxkarzinome.

The incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal carcinomas is increasing worldwide. Due to a markedly different response to treatment compared to HPV-negative oropharyngeal carcinomas, determining the ideal therapeutic approach can be challenging. Particularly in never-smokers, HPV-positive oropharyngeal carcinomas respond well to primary radiation therapy; at the same time recent studies indicate comparable survival after primary surgery. For stage I tumors according to TNM­8, retrospective analyses show very good oncologic outcomes after surgery alone, and no added benefit of adjuvant radio- or chemotherapy. Results of prospective treatment deintensification trials are expected in the coming years. Minimally invasive transoral surgical approaches for selected oropharyngeal cancers can improve preservation of postoperative function and quality of life. For both HPV-positive and HPV-negative oropharyngeal carcinomas, salvage surgery is the treatment of choice for resectable recurrent locoregional disease and resectable distant metastases.

[Transoral resection of supraglottic laryngeal tumors with the Flex Robotic System]. / Transorale Resektion von supraglottischen Larynxkarzinomen mit dem Flex Robotic System.

The Flex Robotic System (Medrobotics, Raynham, MA, USA) allows flexible transoral endoscopic resection of head and neck tumors. The current article presents functional and first oncologic experiences with flexible transoral robot-assisted surgery for resection of supraglottic laryngeal tumors. From July 2014 to February 2020, supraglottic cancers in 32 patients (T1 = 11, T2 = 20, T3 = 1) were resected using the Flex Robotic System in the authors' clinic. Within a prospective clinical study, the feasibility, complications, and oncologic results were assessed. Tumors could be exposed, visualized, and successfully resected in all patients. In difficult-to-reach anatomic regions such as the aryepiglottic fold or petiole, the system provided a very good surgical overview. No serious adverse events occurred. Overall survival and local tumor control after 2 years were 88 and 94%, respectively. In conclusion, supraglottic tumors in difficult-to-reach areas have been successfully resected using the Flex Robotic System, with excellent local tumor control.

[The microbiome in head and neck tumors-initial findings and outlook]. / Das Mikrobiom bei Kopf-Hals-Tumoren ­ erste Erkenntnisse und Ausblick.

Technical progress in molecular biology has allowed for a more detailed analysis of the composition of the human microbiome in recent years. Inter- and intraindividual differences in microbiome composition have been demonstrated, which in part correlate with the occurrence of certain diseases. For some of the so-called oncomicrobes, a direct relationship between their effect on the host organism and carcinogenesis has been demonstrated, predominantly for gastrointestinal cancers. Initial results for head and neck cancer show inter- and intraindividual differences in the local microbiota of the tumor environment, with certain bacterial strains over- or underrepresented. Our results confirm these findings, e.g., by showing a relative abundance of fusobacteria in tumor tissue while streptococci were relatively reduced. Currently available results show a high degree of inter- and intraindividual variation, thus requiring larger patient cohorts for functional analyses.

Optoelectronic and solar cell applications of Janus monolayers and their van der Waals heterostructures.

Janus monolayers and their van der Waals heterostuctures are investigated by hybrid density functional theory calculations. MoSSe, WSSe, MoSeTe and WSeTe are found to be direct band gap semiconductors. External electric fields are used to transform indirect MoSTe and WSTe to direct band gap semiconductors. MoSSe-WSSe, MoSeTe-WSeTe and MoSTe-WSTe vdW heterostructures are also indirect band gap semiconductors with type-II band alignment. Similar to the corresponding monolayers, in some of the above mentioned vdW heterostructures an external electric field and tensile strain can transform indirect to direct band gaps, while sustaining type-II band alignment. Janus monolayers have lower values of the work function (φ) than their vdW heterostructure counterparts. Furthermore, absorption spectra, absorption efficiency, and valence(conduction) band edge potentials are calculated to understand the optical and photocatalytic behavior of these systems. Red and blue shifts are observed in the position of excitonic peaks due to the induced strain in Janus monolayers. Strong device absorption efficiencies (80-90%) are observed for the WSeTe, MoSTe and WSTe monolayers in the visible, infra-red and ultraviolet regions. Energetically favourable band edge positions in Janus monolayers make them suitable for water splitting at zero pH. We find that the MoSSe-WSSe heterostructure and the MoSTe monolayer are promising candidates for water splitting with conduction and valence band edges positioned just outside of the redox interval.

Medical and Nursing Staff Education Reduces Use of Prophylactic Ondansetron With Opioids in the Emergency Department.

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to evaluate the effect of a pharmacist-led educational intervention on administration of ondansetron in patients receiving IV opioid analgesia in the emergency department. METHODS: This study is a retrospective chart review undertaken in a single-community emergency department. During October and November 2015, emergency medicine pharmacists completed an educational initiative targeting medical and nursing staff designed to reduce prophylactic administration of ondansetron. The multifaceted educational initiative comprised of a link to an animated video, posters at strategic locations in the department, e-mail reminders, brief presentations during shift change, and 1-on-1 discussion (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvx8zKJBCCI). All patients who received IV morphine or hydromorphone during September and December 2015 were identified using pharmacy dispensing records, and 150 patients from each period were randomly selected for retrospective chart review. The primary outcome was the change in the proportion of prophylactic administration of ondansetron with IV opioids for acute pain in the emergency department. RESULTS: The proportion of patients administered prophylactic ondansetron decreased from 41% in the preintervention period to 26% in the postintervention period (difference 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.8 to 25.9, P = 0.005). Therapeutic use for documented nausea or vomiting upon presentation decreased marginally from 44% to 35% (difference 95% CI -2.3 to 19.7, P = 0.1). An overall decrease in the incidence of administration of ondansetron from 85% to 61% was observed (difference 95% CI 14.4 to 33.6, P < 0.001). No patient required rescue antiemetic administration. CONCLUSIONS: Medical and nursing staff education yielded a significant reduction in the administration of prophylactic ondansetron for patients receiving IV opioids in the emergency department.

Graphitic carbon nitride nano sheets functionalized with selected transition metal dopants: an efficient way to store CO2.

Proficient capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) is considered to be a backbone for environment protection through countering the climate change caused by mounting carbon content. Here we present a comprehensive mechanism to design novel functional nanostructures capable of capturing a large amount of CO2 efficiently. By means of van der Waals corrected density functional theory calculations, we have studied the structural, electronic and CO2 storage properties of carbon nitride (g-C6N8) nano sheets functionalized with a range of transition metal (TM) dopants ranging from Sc to Zn. The considered TMs bind strongly to the nano sheets with binding energies exceeding their respective cohesive energies, thus abolishing the possibility of metal cluster formation. Uniformly dispersed TMs change the electronic properties of semiconducting g-C6N8 through the transfer of valence charges from the former to the latter. This leaves all the TM dopants with significant positive charges, which are beneficial for CO2 adsorption. We have found that each TM's dopants anchor a maximum of four CO2 molecules with suitable adsorption energies (-0.15 to -1.0 eV) for ambient condition applications. Thus g-C6N8 nano sheets functionalized with selected TMs could serve as an ideal sorbent for CO2 capture.

Light metal decorated graphdiyne nanosheets for reversible hydrogen storage.

The sensitive nature of molecular hydrogen (H2) interaction with the surfaces of pristine and functionalized nanostructures, especially two-dimensional materials, has been a subject of debate for a while now. An accurate approximation of the H2 adsorption mechanism has vital significance for fields such as H2 storage applications. Owing to the importance of this issue, we have performed a comprehensive density functional theory (DFT) study by means of several different approximations to investigate the structural, electronic, charge transfer and energy storage properties of pristine and functionalized graphdiyne (GDY) nanosheets. The dopants considered here include the light metals Li, Na, K, Ca, Sc and Ti, which have a uniform distribution over GDY even at high doping concentration due to their strong binding and charge transfer mechanism. Upon 11% of metal functionalization, GDY changes into a metallic state from being a small band-gap semiconductor. Such situations turn the dopants to a partial positive state, which is favorable for adsorption of H2 molecules. The adsorption mechanism of H2 on GDY has been studied and compared by different methods like generalized gradient approximation, van der Waals density functional and DFT-D3 functionals. It has been established that each functionalized system anchors multiple H2 molecules with adsorption energies that fall into a suitable range regardless of the functional used for approximations. A significantly high H2 storage capacity would guarantee that light metal-doped GDY nanosheets could serve as efficient and reversible H2 storage materials.

In situ development and application of natural coatings on non-absorbable sutures to reduce incision site infections.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was the development of a suture line that has antibacterial properties and reduces the chance of wound infection thus facilitating the healing process. METHOD: Hydrolysed chitosan, turmeric powder and clove oil were used in different proportions to formulate antimicrobial coating for the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyamide (Nylon 6) threads. The threads were coated using a lab-scale yarn sizing machine. Tensile, and knot strength of the coated sutures were measured. As was the antimicrobial action of Staphylococcus aureus strain ATCC29213. RESULTS: The results show that coatings have slightly improved the tensile and knot strength properties of these sutures. The coated sutures also have satisfactory microbial inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus. CONCLUSION: The coating slightly improved the tensile strength of the sutures. However, the knot is the weakest part of the suture strand. All the formulations of the coating have shown satisfactory antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. We conclude that application of natural coatings on non-absorbable sutures can be useful to reduce the incisions and wound site infections.