ABSTRACT
Introduction: Escherichia coli (E.coli) is the major pathogencausing urinary tract infections (UTIs), and carbapenems areprescribed frequently to treat UTIs at tertiary care settings. Itis, therefore, of clinical importance to determine the changein carbapenem susceptibility of E.coli isolated from urinarysamples after adopting a new cleaning policy. Study aimed todetermine the change in antimicrobial susceptibility of E.colistrains isolated from urinary samples towards carbapenems.Material and methods: A retrospective comparison ofcarbapenems susceptibility profile of E.coli isolated fromurine cultures at a tertiary care centre was carried out for twoyears between 2017 and 2018. E.coli isolates were identifiedfrom positive cultures as per the conventional microbiologicalmethods. Carbapenem susceptibility was exhibited usingMeropenem (10 µg) disk on Mueller-Hinton Agar (MHA)using Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method.Results: In a total of 1219 urinary E.coli isolates, sensitivitytowards carbapenems has increased from 81.3% to 84.2%(overall 83.2%). The value of chi-square for the differencein the distribution of Meropenem susceptibility for 2017 and2018 was found to be <0.001, which is highly significant.Hence, the susceptibility profile of Meropenem changedsignificantly in two consecutive years in this tertiary carehospital after adopting a new cleaning policy.Conclusion: E.coli is the leading pathogen causing UTIs,and carbapenems are prescribed frequently, so regularmonitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility is recommended.Better cleaning policies can improve the sensitivity patternsof isolates towards antimicrobials.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Assessment of thyroid function duringpregnancy is important for assessing maternal and foetalwell being. However, the complex physiological alterationsoccurring during normal pregnancy cause thyroid hormonelevels to change. Hence, the interpretation of the thyroidprofile becomes difficult in pregnancy if normal referenceranges are not defined. Study objective was to determinetrimester specific reference ranges for thyroid hormone innormal pregnancy.Material and methods: Serum sample was collected from194 females in various trimester of normal intrauterine singlepregnancy and total T3, total T4 and TSH was determined.The results obtained were then analysed to determine gestationspecific thyroid hormone levels.Result: The normal ranges of thyroid hormone in first, secondand third trimesters during normal pregnancy in our studywere: total T3 (83.9-196.6, 86.1-217.4, 79.9-186 ng/dl), totalT4 (4.4-11.5, 4.9-12.2, 5.1-13.2 μg/dl) and TSH (0.1-2.7, 0.4-3.3, 0.5-3.8 IU/ml) respectively.Conclusion: The levels of thyroid hormones in pregnancynot only show characteristic changes from non pregnant statebut also vary with each trimester. Hence, trimester specificreference ranges for thyroid hormone need to be defined toensure correct interpretation of these tests.