Frequancy of different species of cockroaches in tertiary care hospital and their role in transmission of bacterial pathogens

To identify different species of cockroaches in tertiary care hospital of Rawalpindi and evaluate their role in the transmission of bacterial pathogens as carrier agents. Three species of cockroaches namely Periplaneta americana [American cockroach], Blatta orientalis [Oriental cockroach] and Blattella germanica [German cockroach] were identified. They were collected from nine sites of the hospital viz. Medical ward- 16, Medical ward-2, Medical ward- 10. Children medical ward, Gynecology and Obstetrics ward, Children surgical ward, Female surgical ward, Skin ward and Cook house. A total of 100 cockroaches were collected from various sites of a tertiary care Hospital from Oct-Dec 2004. American cockroaches were the most common in all the sites accounting for 73% followed by Oriental cockroaches 18% and German cockroaches 9%. Thirteen types of bacteria were isolated which included Enterococcus spp 13.4%, Proteus spp 11.5%, Citrobacter spp 11.3%, Klebsiella pneumoniae 12.8%, Escherichia coli 9.7%, Enterobacter spp 8.0%, Pseudomonas spp 8.0%, Bacillus spp 6.9%, Pseudomonas aeruginosa 5.7%, Serratia marcescens 4.7%, Providencia spp 3.4%, Staphylococcus spp 2.3% and Klebsiella oxytoca 1.8%. The prevalence of Periplaneta Americana was highly significant and Enterococcus spp was the most common bacterial isolate in the hospital environment. Cockroaches appear to be potential source of spread of infection in the hospitals. Effective measures need to be taken to tackle this issue

Relationship of blood group AYE with ischemic heart disease

To see the relationship between blood group AYE and ischemic heart disease. This was a case control study done at Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology [AFIC]/ National Institute of Heart Diseases [NIHD] from 1[st] July 2001 to 30[th] June 2003. Blood groups of all patients undergoing bypass surgery were recorded. The controls were the blood groups of all angiography negative cases from the same institute for the same period. Total of 1196 cases and 1196 controls were selected on 1:1 ratio. Out of 1196 cases, 519 [43.4%] were of AYE phenotype blood group [486 Aye positive and 33 Aye Negative], 369[30.8%] were BEE, 251[21.98%] were OOO, 57 [4.76%] were AB phenotype blood group. On computing the strength of association of blood group with the IHD, it was found that persons having blood group AYE have 3.34 times more chances of developing IHD than other blood groups. The difference was highly significant [P < 0.0001]. Out of 1196 controls, 223 [18.67%] were of blood group AYE [201 Aye positive and 22 Aye Negative], 468 [39.19%] were of blood group BEE, 432 [36.18%] were of Blood Group OOO, and 72 [6.03%] were of blood group AB. Being an important risk factor it is recommended that Blood Group AYE should be included in Non modifiable risk factors of ischemic heart disease