ABSTRACT
Introduction : A disseminated disease with positive Blood Culture during the first month of life and encompasses various systemic infections of the newborn such as septicemia, meningitis, pneumonia, arthritis, osteomyelitis and Urinary Tract Infection is defined as Neonatal Sepsis. It is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality amongst neonates of developing countries. Aim : To determine the microbial profile of Blood Culture-positive Septicemia cases and study their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. Materials and Methods : Blood Culture and C-reactive Protein (CRP) estimation were done for all 220 clinically suspected neonates. All the pure Bacterial and Candida isolates were identified using standard biochemical tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done for all bacterial isolates using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method as per Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Results : Out of 220 cases, 68.2% were culture positive. Early-onset Neonatal Septicemia (EONS) cases were 74% and Late-onset Neonatal Septicemia (LONS) 26%. The male to female ratio was 1.9:1. Bacterial cases were 66% and 34% were due to Candida. Gram-negative isolates predominated, with Klebsiella pneumonia being the most common one. In the case of Gram-positive isolates, Staphylococcus aureus was most common. The best overall sensitivity of Gram-negative isolates was to Amikacin (100%), Colistin (100%), and Imipenem (96%). Grampositive isolates reported 100% sensitivity to Vancomycin, Teicoplanin and 97.4% to Linezolid. Conclusion : Gram-negative isolates were the leading cause of Sepsis in our study. Strict antimicrobial stewardship should be implemented to prevent the emergence of multi-drug resistant strains.
ABSTRACT
Uric-acid-utilizing soil bacteria were isolated, and 16s rRNA sequence was studied for strain identification. The most prominent uricase-producing bacterium was identified as Comamonas sp BT UA. Crude enzyme was extracted, freeze-dried and its Km and Vmax were determined as 40 μM and 0.047 μM min−1ml−1 using Line-weaver Burke plot. An activity of 80 U/mg of total protein was observed when cultured at 37°C for 84 h at pH 7. The purified enzyme was used to measure uric acid by spectrophotometric method and electrochemical biosensor. In the biosensing system the enzyme was immobilized on the platinum electrode with a biodegradable glutaraldehyde-crosslinked gelatin film having a swelling percentage of 109±3.08, and response was observed by amperometry applying fixed potential. The electrochemical process as obtained by the anodic peak current and scan rate relationship was further configured by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The polymer matrix on the working electrode gave capacitive response for the electrode–electrolyte interaction. The sensitivity of the biosensor was measured as 6.93 μAμM−1 with a sensor affinity [Km(app)] of 50 μM and 95% reproducibility after 50 measurements. The spectrophotometric method could be used in the range of 6–1000 μM, whereas the biosensor generated linear response in the 1.5– 1000 μM range with a response time of 24 s and limit of detection of 0.56 μM. Uric acid was estimated in human blood samples by the biosensor and satisfactory results were obtained.