ABSTRACT
Background: Geographical variation in the distribution of Malassezia species associated with pityriasis versicolor (PV) has led to the necessity of studying epidemiological, mycological, and clinical characteristics of PV. Aims: To study the epidemiological, mycological, and clinical characteristics of PV in a tertiary care hospital. Settings and Design: The study was carried out with a cross‑sectional design. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and sixty‑two consecutive PV patients were subjected to detailed history, clinical examination, and investigations. Skin scrapings were processed by direct microscopy and culture. Isolates were identified by phenotypic characteristics and polymerase chain reaction‑restriction fragment length polymorphism. Association of Malassezia species with clinical and epidemiological characteristics was studied. Statistical analysis of the data was done using statistical software. Results: Maximum number of PV cases (33.9%) belonged to the age group of 21–30 years with a male preponderance. 61.4% of the patients had a sedentary lifestyle, 70.2% showed the gradual onset of the disease, 51.1% presented with pruritus and in 66.4% of the patients symptoms were continuous. Most commonly involved body site was neck (27.8%), 77.09% of the lesions were bilaterally asymmetrical, 87.4% were macular, and 89.3% were hypopigmented. Malassezia furfur (77.3%) was the predominant species. Sedentary lifestyle (61.4%) and increased sweating (48%) were the most commonly associated predisposing factors. Conclusion: PV is more common in males. Distribution of Malassezia species varies significantly from those reported in other parts of India. M. furfur was the most common species responsible for PV in our region. Hence, further studies are required to evaluate the exact cause of this variation.
ABSTRACT
Aim: This study was carried out to determine the presence of blaTEM, blaSHV and blaCTX-M genes in extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) at a tertiary care referral hospital in Northeast India. Materials and Methods: A total of 270 E. coli and 219 K. pneumoniae isolates were recovered during the period between August 2009 and July 2010. Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method was performed to determine the antibiotic resistance pattern. Screening and phenotypic confi rmatory test for ESBL production were performed using standard disc diffusion methods. Each of the initial ESBL screening test isolate was investigated for the presence of blaTEM, blaSHV and blaCTX-M genes via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using gene-specifi c primers. Results: P henotypic confi rmatory test able to detect ESBL production in 73.58% of E. coli and 67.24% of K. pneumoniae. However, PCR amplifi cation showed the presence of one or more ESBL genes in each of the initial ESBL screening positive isolate. Among three ESBL genotypes, the most prevalent genotype was found to be blaCTX-M in E. coli (88.67%) and blaTEM in K. pneumoniae (77.58%) ESBL producing isolates. Majority of ESBL producing isolates possess more than one ESBL genes. Conclusion: T his study constituted a primer report on high prevalence of blaTEM and blaCTX-M genes in ESBL producing isolates of E. coli and K. pneumoniae and denotes the need of more extensive studies on these antibiotic genes to determine the magnitude of the problem of antibiotic resistance exiting in this locality.