Bacterial adherence: the role of serum and wound fluid

Bacteria are known to initiate wound infections and have been found associated with wound infections. The purpose of this study was to investigate the bacterial adherence potential [BAP] of isolates commonly isolated from wounds in the presence of wound agents. The bacteria used were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus which were isolated from infected wounds and assayed for their adherence ability using wound fluid and serum. The BAP were achieved by exposing the pathogens to freshly excised wounds. The adhered bacteria were then eluded and quantified using log [CFU]/cm[2] on Mueller Hinton Agar per cm[2] of tissue. The results indicated that wound fluid and serum have a remarkable bacterial adherence potential [BAP] when exposed to freshly injured wounds as when compared to distilled water and no agent

screening of multi-drug resistance [MDR] susceptibilities of staphylococcus aureus and staphylococcus epidermidis to methicillin and vancomycin in teaching hospitals in Nigeria

In Nigeria, the widespread use of antibiotics had led to high levels of resistance among bacterial isolates from patients with nosocomial infections. This had led to prolonged hospital stay and antibiotic therapy, especially beta-lactam antibiotics that predispose patients to acquisition of methicillin - resistant Staph. aureus [MRSA] and coagulase negative resistant staphylococci. To evaluate the resistant pattern of multi-drug resistant strains of 80 clinical Staph. aureus, 22 environmental Staph. aureus, 30 clinical Staph. epidermidis and 12 environmental Staph. epidermidis to methicillin and vancomycin from teaching hospitals in Nigeria. The Staphylococcus species were identified and confirmed by gram-positive positive reaction, tested for mannitol salt fermentation and DNase production. The organisms were confirmed to be Staph. aureus and Staph. epidermidis by the tube coagulase test. The antibiotics susceptibility patterns were determined both by overnight broth-micro-dilution and agar disk diffusion methods. The isolates were resistant to ampicillin, followed by penicillin, tetracycline, erythromycin and gentamicin but to a lesser extent were sensitive to ciprofloxacin. All the multi-drug resistant [MDR] Staphylococcus species were 100% sensitive to vancomycin and methicillin with a minimum inhibition concentration [MIC] breakpoint <4 micro g/ml to vancomycin and MIC < 5 micro g/ml to methicillin on Mueller Hinton agar supplemented with 2% NaCI. The results indicated that methicillin and vancomycin are still very potent antibiotics against staphylococcal infections in Nigeria