Evaluation of chronic hepatitis B infection in patients with seronegative HbsAg

It is estimated that about 370 million people are chronic carriers of HBV worldwide. Apparently 3% of Iranian populations are chronic carriers of this virus. We aimed to evaluate the viral DNA in biological fluids of chronic hepatitis patients compared to a control group. The current case-control study was designed to evaluate the viral DNA in biological fluids of 70 chronic hepatitis patients compared to a control group using ELISA, PCR and Real Time. All individuals [100%] in case group were HBsAg positive while in control group only 2 individuals [2.8%] were HBsAg positive. Three individuals, in control group were positive using PCR and Real Time PCR indicating that about 7% of those in control group were chronic carriers of HBV. The interesting point was the copy of viral DNA; [5.49 x104, 2.162x103and 7.26x106] for 3 chronic carriers using sera while it was about [5.71x103, 1.45x102 and 2.56x105] using ear cerumen confirming the necessity of investigating for the carriers of HBV in different biological fluid and by different methods. It can be concluded chronic carriers of hepatitis B are much more than what is diagnosed by routine diagnostic tests. On the other hand ELISA alone can not be relied on as a complete test for screening of chronic carriers in hepatitis B. PCR and Real Time PCR are more reliable tests for this purpose

Etiology and antibacterial resistance of bacterial urinary tract infections in children's medical center, Tehran, Iran

Urinary tract infection [UTI] is a common bacterial illness in children. Knowledge of the antimicrobial resistance patterns of common uropathogens in children according to local epidemiology is essential for providing clinically appropriate, cost effective therapy for UTI. The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of urinary tract infections in a referral hospital, Children's Medical Center, and determination of in vitro susceptibility of these organisms to antimicrobial agents. Of the 1231 bacterial isolates the most frequent isolates were Escherichia coll [38.66%], Klebsiella spp. [22.25%], Coagulase-negative staphylococci [10.1%], Pseudomonas spp. [8.7%], enterococci [8.28%], Enterobacter spp. [4.1%], staphylococcus aureus [3.24%], and proteus mirabilis [2.9%]. Among Enterobacteriaceae, 79.80% of E. coli were amikacin-sensitive. Of Gram-positive cocci, 66.66% of staphylococcus aureus were vancomycin-sensitive. Our data show the original distribution of uropathogens from UTIs in children referred to Children's Medical Center in Tehran and the emergence of multidrug resistant strains

Antimicrobial susceptibility and AP-PCR typing of acinetobacter Spp. strains

Acinetobacter spp., as important opportunistic pathogens, have been found to be responsible for an increasing number of nosocomial infections. This study was undertaken to investigate the antimicrobial susceptibility and molecular typing of Iranian isolates of A. baumannii. The study was conducted over a period of 19 months in three hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Acinetobacter spp. Were isolated from different clinical specimens using standard bacteriological methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed according to the standard CLSI guideline using 17 antibiotic disks. The AP-PCR fingerprinting was carried out using ARB11 primer. The PCR product was run and visualized in 2% agarose gels and stained with ethidium bromide. The AP-PCR profiles were grouped depending on the patterns of the amplified bands. Sixty seven strains of Acinetobacter spp. [including 21 A. baumannii and 46 non- A. baumannii] were isolated. The sources of these isolates were blood, urine, wound, and respiratory tract. A. baumannii isolates were further studied. Results showed that all A. baumannii isolates were resistant to at least 11 antibiotics tested. AP-PCR analysis of A. baumannii strains resulted in 7 different patterns. The dominant AP-PCR pattern was E [57.1%]. Acinetobacter spp. are still important nosocomial pathogens in the region studied and most of isolates were multi-drug resistant. Our results also indicate that the AP-PCR technique represents a rapid and simple means for typing of A. baumannii

Bacterial infections in renal transplant recipients

Urinary tract infection [UTI] is considered as one of the important bacterial infections seen among renal transplant recipients. In the present study, bacterial urinary tract infections in renal transplant recipients were investigated. Eighty-seven renal transplant recipients [57 males and 30 females] were included to study the bacterial UTIs. Clean- catch midstream urine specimens were obtained from patients and studied using microscopic analysis and culturing on appropriate bacteriologic media. Bacterial isolates were identified by standard biochemical and serological tests. UTIs were diagnosed in 29 percent of patients [18 males and 11 females]. The most common causative bacterial strains were coagulase negative Staphylococci [31%] and Entrobacter spp [20.7%]. The results showed that all of Proteus spp, Pseudomonas spp, Klebsiella spp, and Enterococcus spp were resistant to most of tested antibiotics, so this research reflects that these multiple resistant bacteria can be accounted as the most cause of UTI in renal transplant recipients

Prevalence of clostridium difficile- associated diarrhean in hospitalized patients with nosocomial diarrhea

Clostridium difficile is a frequently identified cause of nosocomial gastrointestinal disease. It has been proved to be a causative agent in antibiotic-associated diarrhea, antibiotic-associated colitis, and pseudomembraneous colitis. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of C.difficile- associated diarrhea in hospitalized patients with nosocomial diarrhea. The 942 hospitalized patients stool samples with nosocomial diarrhea were collected at three hospitals in Tehran from Dec 2002 to Feb 2004.All the stool samples were cultured and in 97 [prevalence: 10.9%] samples grew C.difficile that 57 [prevalence: 6.1%] isolates were toxigenic by cytotoxicity assay and so 57 patients had C.difficile- associated diarrhea. Results of statistical analysis showed significant difference between the rate of C.difficile associated diarrhea and the patients ages [P<0.05]