Comparative in vitro activity of selected antibacterial agents against Escherichia coli isolated from hospitalized patients suffering UTI.

Escherichia coli is the most studied among those bacteria causing urinary tract infections. This study was aimed to find out antibacterial activity and minimum inhibitory concentration of selected antibacterial agents against E. coli isolates of hospitalized UTI patients. The specimens were inoculated on Eosin Methylene Blue medium. E. coli isolates were identified via colonial morphology, biochemical testing and API-20 kit. The susceptibility pattern of antibacterial agents was determined applying disc diffusion method (Kirby-Bauer) and dilution tube method. Among all, 38.82% (n=158/407) specimens were positive for E. coli, while the rest showed either no growth or exhibited colonies other than E. coli. while observing the susceptibility pattern, Imipenem was found the most effective (73.42%) antibacterial agent, followed by nitrofurantoin (52.53%), cefpirome (44.94%) and tazobactam/ piperacillin (44.94%), whereas the E. coli isolates were highly resistant to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (71.52%), followed by Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (67.72%), nalidixic acid (66.46%) and Tobramycin (62.03%), when tested by disc diffusion method. The isolates were susceptible to cefpirome (39.87%) and tobramycin (39.87%) and resistant to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (75.32%), followed by levofloxacin (61.39%), when tested by tube dilution method. The study concluded high degree of resistance against Sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, in contrast, cephalosporin and Imipenem exhibited good potency which can be recommended for UTI.

The evaluation of antibiotic susceptibility pattern and associated risk factors of UTI in tertiary care hospital of Peshawar.

UTIs are majorly caused by species of bacteria in patients of almost all ages. The study was aimed to determine the prevalence rate of uropathogens, its antibiotic susceptibility pattern and associated risk factors. Urine samples were collected from n=470 participants using sterilized containers and were inoculated on culture media. The isolates were identified via gram-staining and biochemical characterization. A total of 43.20% samples were positive. Female contributed the highest prevalence rate, 78.82% as compared to male, 21.18%. The highest prevalence 40.90% was observed in the age-group 31-45, followed by 16-30 with 36.90%. Escherichia coli (47.80%) was the most prevalent, followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (18.2%), Enterococcus faecalis (12.80%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (10.30%) and Proteus mirabilis (7.40%). Staphylococcus aureus showed high sensitivity (100%) to amikacin, meropenem, imipenem, fosfomycin, vancomycin, clindamycin and linezolid while in case of E. faecalis, vancomycin and linezolid were highly potent. Amikacin and meropenem showed the highest (100%) potency followed by imipenem While Fosfomycin was highly potent to E. coli, K. pneumoniae, P. mirabilis and P. aeruginosa with potency rate 89.97%, 92.31%, 100% and 100% respectively. In the current study, the positivity rate was highly observed in female. E. coli and K. pneumoniae were found the most ubiquitous for UTI.

Comparative Effect of Fertilization Practices on Soil Microbial Diversity and Activity: An Overview.

Continuously increasing human population demands increased food production, which needs greater fertilizer's input in agricultural lands to enhance crop yield. In this respect, different fertilization practices gained acceptance among farmers. We reviewed effect of three main fertilization practices (Conventional-, Organic-, and Bio-fertilization) on soil microbial diversity, activity, and community composition. Studies reported that over application of inorganic fertilizers decline soil pH, change soil osmolarity, cause soil degradation, disturb taxonomic diversity and metabolism of soil microbes and cause accumulation of extra nutrients into the soil such as phosphorous (P) accumulation. On the contrary, organic fertilizers increase organic carbon (OC) input in the soil, which strongly encourage growth of heterotrophic microbes. Organic fertilizer vermicompost application provides readily available nutrients to both plants as well as microbes and encourage overall microbial number in the soil. Most recently, role of beneficial bacteria in long-term sustainable agriculture attracted attention of scientists towards their use as biofertilizer in the soil. Studies documented favorable effect of biofertilization on microbial Shannon, Chao and ACE diversity indices in the soil. It is concluded from intensive review of literature that all the three fertilization practices have their own way to benefit the soil with nutrients, but biofertilization provides long-term sustainability to crop lands. When it is used in integration with organic fertilizers, it makes the soil best for microbial growth and activity and increase microbial diversity, providing nutrients to soil for a longer time, thus improving crop productivity.

An overview of self-medication: A major cause of antibiotic resistance and a threat to global public health.

Self-medication is the use of medicines by people on the basis of their own experience without consulting a doctor. People use medicines for pain management or to cure a disease and sometime this may be unnecessary. There are a lot of public and professional health concerns about misuse of medicines and globally physicians agree upon this rising issue that leads to antibiotic resistance. In developing countries, medicines without prescription are easily available which results in many adverse outcomes, especially bacterial resistance. Insufficient healthcare services and socioeconomic factors result in increased proportion of self-medication compared to drugs prescribed by physicians. The current narrative review was planned to focus on indicating prevalence rate of self-medication in different developed and under-developed countries, major risk factors and control of self-medication due to which antibiotic resistance rate can be minimised. The issue needs urgent attention of representative authorities for taking serious actions. Furthermore, arranging awareness seminars and implementing new policies/regulations to prevent the sale of any drug/antibiotic without prescription could play a vital role in bringing this alarming issue under control.

Frequency and comparison among antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains in selected hospitals of Peshawar, Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To assess and compare the frequency of antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus aureus strains. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted at the privately-owned Welfare Medical Laboratory, Peshawar, Pakistan, and comprised record related to the period between 07th February 2017 and 23rd March 2018 of patients referred for pus-testing from Khyber Teaching Hospital, Lady Reading Hospital and the Hayatabad Medical Complex. Pus samples were obtained from various parts of body with cotton swabs. The samples were cultured and the isolated staphylococcus aureus strains were analysed against selected antibiotics. The frequency of the isolated strains was tested and compared using Prism 7 software. RESULTS: Of the 6780 samples, staphylococcus aureus was found in 4315(63.64%). Wild-type staphylococcus aureus strains were 2133(31.46%), followed by 825(12.16%) methicillin resistant, 792(11.68%) vancomycin intermediate, and 565(8.33%) vancomycin-resistant staphylococcus aureus strains. The isolated strains were significant (p<0.0001) for operated wounds, and non-significant (p=0.8915) for diabetic foot cases. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of antibiotic-resistant staphylococcu saureus strains was high.