Practices of Health Care Personnel Regarding Occupational Exposure.

INTRODUCTION: With advancing health care sciences, the prevalence of Accidental Exposure to Patient's Blood (AEBP) amongst Health Care Personnel (HCP) is bound to increase. The only means of preventing such accidental exposure is safe working practices. It is the responsibility of the teachers to inculcate these practices amongst their students. AIM: To evaluate the knowledge, practice and attitude regarding Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) and Hepatitis-B Virus (HBV) immunization amongst faculty and undergraduate students and to assess the frequency of these occupational exposure with the objective of inculcating safe working practices in the teaching curriculum. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study is a descriptive analytical cross-sectional study done from May 2012 to August 2012 in a newly established ESIC dental college at Rohini, Delhi. A 36-item survey questionnaire was distributed to 50 faculty and 115 dental undergraduate students. The survey included questions on demographic details of the respondents, the prevalence of AEBP, the knowledge regarding PEP and HBV immunization and the status of the respondents. The data was analysed using SPSS 12.0 software using various statistical tests such as frequency analysis, Chi-square test and others. RESULTS: The mean age of the study group was 23.3±6.3 years. The prevalence of such accidental exposure was high being 49.7% in our study group. More than half of these respondents did not report the injury. The knowledge regarding the transmissibility of blood borne pathogens and the post exposure prophylaxis was suboptimal amongst the students and even teachers. Almost 20% of the study group was not immunized for HBV. CONCLUSION: Managing AEBP in HCP is a challenging issue. They are highly prevalent, largely underreported and poorly managed because of the unawareness regarding the hospital's protocols for reporting and PEP as is seen in the present study. Besides the administrative measures, orientation and reinforcement training of all the staff including faculty is desirable to maintain high level of knowledge and effectively handle such occupational exposure.

Fosfomycin: An Alternative Therapy for the Treatment of UTI Amidst Escalating Antimicrobial Resistance.

INTRODUCTION: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most commonly encountered infectious diseases. The current study was undertaken with a dual purpose, to provide an insight into the current scenario of the microorganisms causing UTI, their antimicrobial sensitivity patterns and also try and evaluate the activity of fosfomycin against E. coli, both ESBL producers as well as non-producers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted prospectively in the Department of Microbiology of a tertiary care hospital from January to June 2014. A total of 358 isolates from the urinary samples of the patients with a diagnosis of urinary tract infection were included in the study. Antibiotic sensitivity testing and extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) production testing was done as per CLSI guidelines. RESULTS: These represented 297 (82.9%) gram-negative isolates and 61 (17%) gram-positive isolates. The 297 gram-negative isolates represented 265 (89.2%) members of the Enterobacteriaceae, 185 (69.8%) of which were Escherichia coli, 66 (24.9%) Klebsiella spp. and 14 (5.28%) Proteus spp. Non-fermentative Pseudomonas spp were isolated from 8.9% cases. Amongst the Gram negative isolates tested, 78 (21.8%) formed extended spectrum beta-lactamases. Of the total 358 isolates tested, 338 (94.4%) were found to be susceptible to fosfomycin. CONCLUSION: Fosfomycin showed good activity against both ESBL-producing and ESBL-negative E. coli isolates. The main finding of our study is that fosfomycin exhibits excellent antimicrobial activity even against the isolates with relatively high levels of antimicrobial resistance and hence can be a useful drug in our armamentarium.

HIV 2: A Benign Onlooker or A Subtle Threat?

HIV-2 infection, originally discovered in West Africa, has now been found in many countries throughout the world including India. Despite it being a long acquaintance with the virus, not much is known about it conclusively. The present study was conducted at the ICTC of a tertiary care hospital catering to the needs of Jaipur and adjoining districts, to find the prevalence of HIV 2 among ICTC attendees. A total of 8190 clients accessed ICTC services during the study period, out of which 135 were HIV-seropositive, giving a prevalence of 1.64%. There was only a single positive case for HIV 2, giving a seroprevalence of 0.01% and none was reactive for antibodies of both HIV-1 and HIV-2. We suggest that in low prevalence areas like ours, assays capable of detecting both HIV 1 and HIV 2 must continue to be used to make our understanding of the deadly virus better and also make our combat more effective.