Isolation and characterization of vancomycin and erythromycin resistant Staphylococcus aureus from Cairo, Egypt

Aims@#Staphylococcus aureus is an important opportunistic human pathogen. The emergence of macrolide and vancomycin resistant S. aureus is of great concern for treatment of S. aureus infections. The current study aimed to investigate the pattern of antibiotic resistance in S. aureus clinical isolates recovered from El Boos Students’ hospital in Cairo, Egypt.@*Methodology and results@#Sixty unduplicated S. aureus isolates were recovered from El Boos Students’ hospital in Cairo, Egypt for 11 months period. The antibiotic susceptibility test revealed that all isolates were resistant to eleven antibiotics, but only 49 S. aureus isolates were resistant to cefoxitin. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of both erythromycin and vancomycin were determined by broth microdilution method. Two methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates showing tolerance to both erythromycin and vancomycin at high concentration were selected for further characterization. One isolate was recovered from eye infection and had MIC at 256 µg/mL of both erythromycin and vancomycin. While another isolate was recovered from throat infection and had MIC of erythromycin and vancomycin up till 512 µg/mL. The presence of resistance genes (ermA, ermB, ermC, mef, msrA, vanA and vanB) were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Both MRSA isolates carried all tested resistance genes.@*Conclusion, significance and impact of study@#This study highlights the concern of presence of multidrug-resistant S. aureus which showed resistance to high concentrations of erythromycin, vancomycin and carried ermA, ermB, ermC, mef, msrA, vanA and vanB genes, therefore imposes risk of failure to treat such infections.

effect of assertive training techniques on improving coping skills of nurses in psychiatric set up

Psychiatric mental health nurses are confronted with the daily responsibility of assessing, intervening and evaluating client responses to stress and client interactions. They need to identify the meaning of their own stress and develop strategies that increase personal and professional growth. Some nurses may have learned to express their needs honestly to use anger constructively, to improve personal and work relation ships and to build self-confidence through assertive behavior. But others still struggle with being assertive, perhaps because they don't believe they have the right to be assertive, they are anxious about asserting themselves or they don't know how to be assertive Learning assertive techniques are considered as tools for coping skills with a variety of life stressors. Increasing assertive behavior becomes an expression of person's feelings. So the aim of this study was to assess the effects of assertive training techniques on coping skills of nurses working in psychiatric setup. The study was conducted on nurses at Tanta Mental Health Hospital, Ministry of Health [n=58]. Data were collected using four tools, Assessment of Coping Skill inventory, Assertiveness inventory, 5 selected situations, 5 selected clinical situations used only as a post-test. The study showed that a significant change was found in level of assertiveness responses and coping responses of the studied nurses before and after training. The assertiveness training affect on coping level of the nurses significantly as the coping level of nurses has improved after the training. This revealed that the assertiveness training helped nurses to communicate and to be more tolerant to their patients in different situations

comparative anatomical study of soleus muscle in guinea pig, rabbit and human

Forty-five soleus muscles were used in this study; 15 were obtained from human formalin preserved cadavers, 15 from guinea pig and 15 from rabbit after cervical dislocation. The obtained specimens were dissected and examined for their gross anatomy and nerve supply. The posterior surface of soleus of human, guinea pig and rabbit received a constant posterior branch originated from the tibial nerve in the popliteal fossa and entered the upper part of this surface. The human soleus received an additional branch originated from the tibial nerve, either in the popliteal fossa or near the calcaneus and entered the anterior aspect of the muscle, this is identified as anterior branch. This branch was absent in guinea pig and rabbit soleus muscle. Bipennate belly present on the anterior surface of the muscle was demonstrated only in human soleus and absent in guinea pig and rabbit soleus

Gonadotoxicity induced by exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in engine repair workshops

This study has documented the gonadotoxic effect of exposure to hydrocarbons in workers of diesel and petrol engine repair workshops as measured by urinary 1-hydroxypyrene [1-OHP], semen analysis study and annexine-V bioassay. Twenty workers exposed to hydrocarbons in diesel and petrol engine repair workshops were included in this study. They showed nearly six-fold increase in 1-OHP excretion [the most reliable indicator for PAHs exposure] as compared with the control group [20 males of the workers' relatives of matched age and socioeconomic standard]. The study revealed a significant correlation between the relative number of sperm cells that expressed PS [annexine-V positive cells] and duration of exposure to hydrocarbons, low sperm count, diminished motility and the urinary 1-OHP levels of the exposed workers. This study recommended biomonitoring of urinary excretion of 1-OHP in workers exposed to hydrocarbons as a screening test and to use the annexine-V binding assay as an early measure of gonadotoxicity induced by toxic exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons