In vitro activity of antimicrobial agents against oxacillin resistant staphylococci with special reference to Staphylococcus haemolyticus.

One hundred and sixty seven isolates of staphylococci isolated from the inpatients of a tertiary care referral hospital in South India were speciated and activity of oxacillin, glycopeptides, linezolid and quinupristin/dalfopristin against these isolates was tested by broth microdilution method. Of the 114 coagulase negative staphylococci (CoNS), 49.1 % were S. haemolyticus, isolated predominantly from urine (64.6%), while the rest belonged to 11 other species. More than half the isolates of S. aureus (52.8%) and 68.4% of the CoNS were oxacillin resistant. All the strains were uniformly susceptible to vancomycin, linezolid and quinupristin/dalfopristin; but 25.6% isolates of S. haemolyticus showed reduced susceptibility to teicoplanin (MIC: 8-16 mg/L). Our study demonstrates the high prevalence of oxacillin resistance among hospital isolates of S. aureus and CoNS in India. Vancomycin, along with the newer agents like linezolid and quinupristin/dalfopristin remains the drug of choice for treating multi drug resistant staphylococcal infections.

HIV infection among dental patients.

Oral manifestations may be the important indicators of ongoing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Serum samples were collected from 100 patients repeatedly attending dental outpatients' department of SV Medical College and SVRR Hospital, Tirupati and tested for the presence of HIV antibodies. HIV 1 antibodies were detected in one person, the seropositivity rate being 1%.

Sero-prevalence of herpes simplex virus type-2 among cancer cervix patients.

Serum samples were collected from 140 cancer cervix patients aged between 25-60 years and also from 20 age matched, married, healthy women to serve as controls. These sera were tested for HSV-2 antibodies by ELISA test and HBsAg by RPHA test. HSV-2 antibodies were detected in 92 (65-71%) and HBsAg in 25 (17.8%) cancer cervix patients. Sera from control group were negative for HSV-2 antibodies and HBsAg.

An epidemic of human anthrax--a study.

Twenty-five cases of human anthrax, occurring after contact with a Jercy cow infected with B. anthracis and consumption of its improperly cooked meat after death, were reported. Cutaneous anthrax was the predominant variety in 18 persons, 7 had intestinal anthrax, out of them 2 children died, 5 adults survived and one among them developed associated cutaneous anthrax also. All the persons with cutaneous anthrax recovered with treatment.

Tinea capitis in Tirupati.

One hundred clinically diagnosed cases of Tinea capitis were studied to know the clinical types and the causative agents. The incidence of grey patch, Kerion and black dot being 60%, 31% and 9% respectively. Tinea capitis was found to be more common in males (58%) than in females (42%) and it is more prevalent in children aged between 6-15 years. Trichophyton violaceum is the predominant (63.15%) fungal species isolated.

In vitro comparative activity of kanamycin, gentamicin and sisomicin--a new aminoglycoside, against clinical isolates.

540 strains of bacteria isolated from various clinical materials comprising 440 strains of Gram negative bacilli and 100 strains of Gram positive cocci were tested for their susceptibility in vitro to Kanamycin, Gentamicin and a new aminoglycoside antibiotic Sisomicin (Ensamycin). The sensitivity pattern revealed that 68.88% of the strains were sensitive to Kanamycin, 82.9% to Gentamicin and 89.0% to Sisomicin. The effectiveness of Sisomicin is comparatively greater (6.1%) than the other two aminoglycosides. In particular a considerable number of Gentamicin resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (12.3%) were found to be sensitive to Sisomicin which is a highly desirable property. Existence of about 11% Sisomium resistant strains even before the wide usage of this antibiotic is note worthy.