H1N1 update review

There is worldwide concern on the spreading pandemic wave of the new swine influenza virus [S-OIV]. The WHO has placed the pandemic threat alert to level 6. World leaders and scientists importantly stress that regulations and pandemic preparedness may lower the morbidity and mortality. This review describes the background, origin, epidemiology, signs and symptoms, methods of detecting H1N1, the risk of H1N1 pandemic control plans, immunity to H1N1, vaccination against H1N1, hospital management, patient management, and treatment of symptoms. It also describes in considerable detail the responsibilities of health professionals in navigating the complex areas of laboratory diagnosis, patient isolation procedures, and how to minimize and manage any accompanying staff infections, all of which are vital processes to help mitigate and minimize the seriousness of local and national de-novo outbreaks of emerging H1N1 infection

Prevalence, antibiotic susceptibility pattern and production of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases amongst clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae at armed forces hospital in Saudi Arabia

The aim of this descriptive study was to determine the prevalence of Klebsiella pneumoniae from different clinical specimens, their antibiotic susceptibility pattern and the extended-spectrum b-lactamase [ESBL] production among such isolates at Armed Forces Hospital, Al-Kharaj, Saudi Arabia, from November, 2004 to October, 2007. A total of 328 isolates of K. pneumoniae recovered from 8152 different specimens were studied for ESBL production and antimicrobial susceptibility. The prevalence of K. pneumoniae was 4% [328/8152]. We observed a high percentage of K. pneumoniae resistant to ampicillin [100%] and tetracycline [92%]. The prevalence of ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae was found to be 10.4% [34/328]. The ESBL-producing strains were mostly from aspirates [25%] followed by sputum [20%] and blood [18.2%]. These ESBLproducing isolates were highly resistant to gentamicin and ciprofloxacin. All isolates were susceptible to imipenem. Our findings demonstrate a high percentage of ESBL-producers among clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae and a high rate of multidrug resistance. Continued infection control measures and prudent use of antimicrobial agents are essential in reducing the spread of multi-resistant ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae