Bacteriological and mycological study of corneal ulcers in and around Aurangabad.

In the present study an attempt was made to find out bacteria and fungi causing corneal ulcers. Sixty cases of corneal ulcer were studied. Corneal scrapings from patient of corneal ulcer were collected and processed for isolation of bacterial and fungal agents. The commonest age group affected was 21-30 yrs. Incidence of corneal ulcer was more in males 39 (65%) as compared to females 21 (35%). Trauma was the commonest predisposing factor. Out of sixty cases of corneal ulcer positive cultures were obtained in 23 (38.33%). Bacteria were isolated in 10 (16.66%) fungi in 12 (20%) and mixed culture in 1 (1.66%) of the patients. Among the bacterial isolates commonest was Staphylococcus aureus 6 (10%). Among fungal isolates Fusarium species was the commonest isolate 4 (6.66).

Epidemiology of cholera--a five year study.

A total of 286 strains of Vibro Cholerae were isolated and tested over a period of five years. The strains were identified by standard methods and confirmed by slide agglutination tests with polyvalent, Ogawa and Inaba antisera. The non-agglutinating strains were tested with O-139 antisera. The maximum number of cases were found in the age group of 0-10 years. The number of females affected was more than the males. V. cholerae O-139 was isolated in the year 1998 and then again in 2000. V. cholerae serotype Inaba was found only in the year 1999. All of the other isolates belonged to the serotype Ogawa. The periodic shift between O1 and O-139 serogoups is reminiscent of the shifts from the Ogawa to the Inaba serotypes periodically witnessed among V. cholerae, possibly mediated by the immune pressure in the population.

Prevalence of resistant Staphylococcus aureus at Aurangabad.

Seven hundred and eighty three isolates of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from pus (586), blood (78), sputum (25), urine (23), cerebrospinal fluid (23) and various other body fluids (48) were subjected to in-vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing by modified Kirby-Bauer method. Almost all the isolates were resistant to penicillin (99.62 per cent) and ampicillin (99.62 per cent). Resistance to erythromycin, tetracycline and cotrimoxazole was observed in 88.5, 87.62, and 80.85 per cent isolates respectively. Resistance to gentamicin was 68.32 per cent. Resistance to most of the commonly used antimicrobial agents indicates a need to replace these drugs with other agents and maintenance of surveillance to detect changing patterns of resistance.

Changing aetiology of urinary tract infections and emergence of drug resistance as a major problem.

A study was undertaken to ascertain the spectrum of causative agents responsible for UTI and to detect the magnitude of anti microbial resistance in aetiological agents. Klebsiella species caused urinary tract infection in maximum number of cases (124, 37.35%) followed by Escherichia coli (114, 34.4%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 32 (9.64%) and Staphylococcus aureus 23 (6.93%). Other organisms caused urinary tract infection in 39 (11.75%) cases. Resistance to gentamicin was observed in 83% S. aureus, 84.7% Klebsiella species, 78.1% Escherichia coli, 71.9% Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 94.8% of remaining isolates. A large number of isolates (> 90%) were resistant to ampicillin, Cotrimoxazole erythromycin, and chloramphenicol. All the isolates of S.aureus were resistant to penicillin. This observations indicate extremely high degree of resistance in urinary pathogen and warrant change in antibiotic usage as well as formulation of policy for rational use of antibiotics.