Antibiotic resistance of enterococci isolated from frozen foods and environmental water.

We evaluated 239 isolates of enterococci (113 from frozen foods and 126 from environmental water) for their resistance to 8 antibiotics by agar disk diffusion method. Most isolates from both sources were resistant to tetracycline (64.1% food strains; 46.8% water strains) and ciprofloxacin (53.4% food strains; 48.4% water strains). A relatively high prevalence of chloramphenicol, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and vancomycin resistance was present, ranging from 9.7 to 27.2% for food strains and 10.3 to 15.9% for water strains; while other drug resistance (ampicillin, gentamicin and teicoplanin) was minimal (< or = 0.9% for food strains; < or = 1.6% for water strains). No significant differences in resistant rates between the two sources were found for any of the drugs (p>0.05) except tetracycline (p<0.05). The majority of isolates from both sources were multi-resistant strains (50% for food strains and 42% for water strains). Most of them showed resistance to two drugs. There was no significant difference in the non-resistance patterns and the multidrug resistance patterns (p>0.05) between the frozen food and environmental water strains, but a significant difference was seen in the single drug resistance pattern (p<0.05). Vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) were isolated from nearly all sources studied, 9.7% food isolates and 10.3% water isolates, with no significant difference between the two sources (p>0.05). This study shows a high prevalence of multidrug resistance among enterococci isolated from foods of animal origin and environmental water. This may serve as a potential transfer route of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistant genes into the human food-chain and environment which could potentially pose a health threat to humans in the future. The use of antibiotics for purposes other than human health, ie in animal feeds and in the treatment of infection in animals, should be reduced and eventually eliminated. Improved hygiene practices and controlled use of antibiotics in agriculture, animal husbandry, and fisheries are desirable for environmental management and public health protection.

Bottle and biochemical assays on temephos resistance in Aedes aegypti in Thailand.

The bottle bioassay measuring the time-mortality rate is a simplified procedure for detecting insecticide resistance. It can be used with a biochemical microplate assay to identify the mechanism involved. This integrated approach was used to detect temephos resistance in Aedes aegypti from Nonthaburi (lowest use) and Roi Et (highest use). Ae. aegypti BKK1 laboratory strain was used as the susceptible reference strain. The appropriate concentration of insecticide for bottle bioassay was determined empirically for Ae. aegypti BKK1 strain and found to be in the range of 800-1,050 microg/bottle. The time-mortality rate at 800 microg/bottle was 170 +/- 8.66 minutes, significantly different from the time-mortality rates in the 850, 900, 950, and 1,050 microg/bottle (p = 0.008) concentrations, which were 135 +/- 15.00, 140 +/- 8.66, 135 +/- 15.00, and 125 +/- 8.66 minutes, respectively. The cut-off concentration selected for resistance detection was 850 microg/bottle. The time-mortality rate for the Roi Et strain was 382 +/- 26.41 minutes, significantly higher than the Nonthaburi (150 +/- 25.10 minutes) and BKK1 strains (145 +/- 20.49 minutes) (p < 0.001). The temephos resistance ratio (RR100) for the Ae. aegypti Roi Et strain was 2.64-fold higher at lethal time (LT100) than for the reference Ae. aegypti BKK1 strain. The mean optical density (OD) value from the biochemical microplate assay for the non-specific esterase of the Roi Et strain was higher than the mean OD for the non-specific esterase of both the Nonthaburi and BKK1 strains. Insensitive acetylcholinesterase was not found to be responsible for the resistance in the field-collected mosquitos. This study suggests that esterase detoxification is the primary cause of resistance in the Ae. aegypti population from Roi Et. Both the bottle bioassay and the biochemical microplate assay were proven to be promising tools for initial detection and field surveillance for temephos resistance.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis among prisoners of three prisons in Bangkok and the vicinity.

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis and some factors associated with drug resistance among prisoners of three prisons in Bangkok and the vicinity. Susceptibility testing to four first-line antituberculous drugs was performed on 165 M. tuberculosis strains isolated from prisoners of three prisons including Klongprem Central (KC) prison, Bangkwang Central (BC) prison and the Correctional Institution (CI) for Male Drug Addicts. Of 165 smear positive tuberculosis (TB) cases with drugs susceptibility results, resistance to one or more drugs was 49.7 per cent. Resistance to one, two, three, and four drugs was 20.0, 13.3, 4.2 and 12.1 per cent, respectively. Multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) was 18.8 per cent. Patients classified as primary and acquired drug resistant were 6.7 and 50.0 per cent. The primary drug resistance to one or more drugs among prisoners at KC, BC and CI were 42.5, 36.4 and 53.9 per cent, respectively and MDR-TB were 8.2, 3.0, and 7.7 per cent, respectively. Of several factors analyzed in the present study, only a history of previous TB treatment was significantly associated with drug resistance (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the results indicate the high prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis and the seriousness of the TB problem in prisons. The public health sector and prison authorities should work in close collaboration and co-ordination to continue improving TB case detection. Directly Observed Treatment Short course (DOTS) is highly recommended. Moreover, discharged prisoners with tuberculosis should be appropriately referred to hospitals or TB control centers.