Enhancing bovine tuberculosis screening at Dhaka city in Bangladesh: Integrating gamma interferon blood test as ancillary testing with tuberculin skin test.

Tuberculin skin test (TST) is the standard method for screening of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). However, gamma interferon blood test has been introduced in the bTB control program as an ancillary testing with TST in many countries of the world. The objective of this study was to recommend this screening test as an ancillary testing with TST for field application in Bangladesh. In this study 577 cattle of different age, sex and breeds from twenty nine (29) cattle herds were examined to determine skin response against bTB through single intradermal comparative tuberculin test (SICTT) that comprised of positive (n = 81), inconclusive (n = 44) and negative (n = 452) animals. Of which 74 animals that included positive (n = 63), inconclusive (n = 8) and negative (n = 3) animals were taken under this study. Blood samples were collected in heparinized tube and stimulated overnight with bovine and avian purified protein derivatives (PPDs) for the secretion of gamma interferon, and measured via sandwich ELISA. Cohen's kappa statistics was performed for the evaluation of agreement between the two tests. The agreement obtained between two tests was fair (Kappa agreement, K = 24.0%, 95% CI = 16.9-30.5%, P = 0.037). Of positive (n = 63), inconclusive (n = 8) and negative (n = 3) status of animals at SICTT, 82.54% (n = 52), 62.50% (n = 5), and 33.33% (n = 1) were found to be bTB positive respectively through this ancillary test. This test notably corroborates to TST result. A considerable number of inconclusive TB status animals were found to be positive through this gamma interferon assay. Therefore, this test could be used as an ancillary test with TST to maximize the proportion of bTB estimation in the infected cattle herd for early detection of zoonotic tuberculosis in Bangladesh before transmission at the animal-human interface.

High prevalence of vancomycin non-susceptible and multi-drug resistant enterococci in farmed animals and fresh retail meats in Bangladesh.

The emergence of antimicrobial resistant Enterococcus spp., a main cause of untreatable nosocomial infection, in food animals and dissemination to humans is a public health risk. The study was performed to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance, and virulence characteristics of Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium in food animals and meats in Bangladesh. Enterococcus spp., were confirmed using sodA gene specific PCR, and antimicrobial resistance and virulence properties were characterized by PCR. Enterococcus spp. were recovered from 57% of the collected samples (n = 201/352). Farm samples yielded significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) prevalence (62%) than that of retail meat samples (41%). E. faecalis (52%) is most frequently isolated species. Greater proportions of isolates exhibited resistance to tetracycline (74%), erythromycin (65%) and ciprofloxacin (34%). Fifty-one isolates are vancomycin non-susceptible enterococci (VNSE), of which forty-seven are MDR and twenty are linezolid resistant, a last line drug for VNSE. Virulence factors such as gelatinase (gelE), aggregation factor (asa1) and sex pheromone (cpd) are detected along with vancomycin resistance gene (vanA, vanB and vanC2/C3) in VNSE isolates. The high prevalence of MDR enterococci in food animals and retail meats may cause consumers infections with concomitant reduction of available therapeutic options.

Longitudinal study on pneumococcal carriage during the first year of life in Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: The strong herd immunity effect and the serotype replacement associated with the use of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine have highlighted the importance of asymptomatic pneumococcal carriage. To describe the development of pneumoccoccal carriage in a developing country setting we carried out a longitudinal pneumococcal carriage study in Bangladesh. METHODS: Ninety-nine children, born in Savar, Bangladesh between May 2000 and April 2001, were enrolled in the study with their families. Nasopharyngeal samples were collected at prescheduled 2-4 week intervals from the index children and from their family members. The nasopharyngeal swabs were cultured for pneumococcal growth and pneumococci were identified and serotyped by standard methods. RESULTS: We collected 1459 samples (92% of those planned) from the 99 index children and 2865 samples from other family members. The data showed high point prevalences of pneumococcal carriage among newborns (40-50% from 8 weeks of age on), a rapid pneumococcal acquisition with age (50% of the children had been colonized by pneumococci at least once by the age of 8 weeks) and a wide range of different serogroups/types (SGT). SGT 6 and 19 accounted for 35% of the pneumococci isolated from children <1-year-old, followed by SGT 15, 23, and 10 for a total of 56%. The SGT distribution in children up to 9-year-old was similar to that among the <1 year olds, with SGT 6 and 19 predominating. Older children and adults differed from the younger children by not having clearly predominating SGTs. CONCLUSIONS: The features found in our study are typical of pneumococcal carriage in developing countries. We believe that results from longitudinal modeling of carriage based on these extensive data can have wide geographic application.

Field evaluation of the chessboard modification for serotyping of Streptococcus pneumoniae in a small laboratory in Bangladesh.

The chessboard modification of the quellung method for serotyping Streptococcus pneumoniae (Pneumococcus) was introduced in the Gonoshasthaya Vaccine Research Laboratory, a small laboratory in Bangladesh. We applied initial bench-side training and subsequent continuous surveillance and quality assurance as approaches for good laboratory practice. Results obtained a this laboratory on 1,101 consecutive isolates had satisfactory sensitivity (85.1-100%) and specificity (97.9-99.9%) for serotyping the 10 most common serogroups/types of pneumococci when compared with the results obtained in the Finnish reference laboratory for pneumococcal serotyping at the National Public Health Institute. We conclude that serotyping of pneumococci by the chessboard method can be introduced into a small laboratory by providing basic bacteriologic skills, adequate initial training, and continuous external support.

Epidemiological evidence for serotype-independent acquired immunity to pneumococcal carriage.

BACKGROUND: Asymptomatic nasopharyngeal carriage is the main reservoir for transmission of Streptococcus pneumoniae. The rate of both carriage and pneumococcal disease decreases with age. To what extent these changes are the result of developing natural immunity is currently a subject of debate. OBJECTIVE: To study the hypothesis that previous carriage induces serotype-independent protective immunity to new colonization. METHODS: We compared the rates of pneumococcal acquisition for children with different previous carriage histories. We identified 435 episodes of carriage during the first year of life in follow-up data for 99 Bangladeshi children. Cox regression analysis was adjusted for serotype-specific exposure within the family and other confounding factors. RESULTS: Previous pneumococcal carriage was associated with serotype-independent protection from subsequent acquisition (hazard ratio, 0.60 [95% confidence interval, 0.39-0.90]), whereas recent serotype-specific exposure within the family was associated with an 8-fold increase in the rate of acquisition for that serotype. CONCLUSION: Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that serotype-independent protective immunity is stimulated in young children by previous pneumococcal carriage and reduces the rate of new colonization. This immunity has the potential to modulate the development of carriage, irrespective of the colonizing serotype, and to do so starting early in infancy.