Bacteria isolated from blood, stool and urine of typhoid patients in a developing country.

Blood, stool and urine samples were collected from 100 patients diagnosed as having typhoid in 5 hospitals in Akwa Ibom State and analyzed for the presence of Salmonella species and other bacteria. Of the 100 blood samples screened, 55 (55%) were positive with the Widal test and 39 (39%) were positive on blood culture. Thirteen (14.1%) out of 92 urine samples were positive for bacterial growth, while 22 (26.8%) of the stool cultures were positive out of the 82 samples screened. Those within the age range 11-20 years old were infected most frequently (33%), followed by the age range 21-30 (19%) and 41-50 (18%) years old. Those in the age range of 0-2 years old (4%) were least infected. Female subjects were more infected than males. The commonest organisms isolated from the blood samples were Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, Streptococcus faecalis, Salmonella paratyphi and Salmonella typhi. S. aureus, S. epidermidis, E. coli, K. aerogenes, S. faecalis, Proteus mirabilis and P. aeruginosa were isolated from urine, while those isolated from stool were S. aureus, E. coli, S. typhi, S. paratyphi, Shigella sp, K. pneumoniae, P. vulgaris, P. aeruginosa and Vibrio cholerae 01. The isolates were sensitive to peflacine, ceftazidine, ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime and chloramphenicol. These antibiotics are recommended as the drugs of choice in therapy. The results suggest the existence of symptomless carriers of enteric fever bacilli in the state. This is worrisome, since some of the S. typhi isolates exhibited multiple resistance to commonly used antibiotics.

Epidemiology and endemicity of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in Southeastern Nigeria.

The incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in Southeastern Nigeria was studied using cultures and microscopic examination of sputa. The isolation of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) from sputa of some in- and out-patients in hospitals and health centers revealed the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in 420 (31.7%) out of the 1,324 patients examined during a TB outbreak. A mortality rate of 9 (2.14%) of the 420 AFB-positive cases was observed during the study period of 10 months. The most affected age group was between 16 and 35 years, with high incidence rates found in traders (33.8%), health workers (31.0%), and food vendors (13.8%). Male subjects had a higher incidence of 35.6%, compared to 26.9% in females. Intensification of training programs for adequate numbers of medical diagnostic personnel in referral hospitals; public health education and integration of socio-political, cultural and economic frameworks are advocated in the subregion to avert iminent TB epidemic in Southeastern Nigeria.

Correlation studies on Widal agglutination reaction and diagnosis of typhoid fever.

A total of 80 patients at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) suspected of having enteric infections were screened for the presence of Salmonella species using blood, urine and stool samples along with Widal agglutination tests. Although 39 patients tested positive for the Widal agglutination test with titers ranging from 1:80 to 1:320, no Salmonella organism was encountered in some cultures. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences (chi2) at the 5% probability level between the Widal test and the cultures of the clinical samples. The results suggest that serological investigations alone may not be a reliable index for the diagnosis of Salmonella infections.

Incidence of enteric bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus in day care centers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

The incidence of enteric bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus in four day care centers in Akwa Ibom State was studied using culture techniques. The percentage frequencies of the isolates from 124 samples were Staphylococcus aureus (33.9), Escherichia coli (19.0), Klebsiella sp (14.4), Citrobacter sp (12.5) and Proteus mirabilis (7.4). The sources of contamination were floors, chairs, skin, bed linen, door handles, fans, children's tables, walls, windows, ceiling, headmistress's table and chairs, drinking water and wash water. Cultures from Aunty Chimmy's Day Care and Nursery School, Eket and Ideal Day Care and Nursery School, Eket yielded more organisms than those from Trinity International Nursery School, Ikot Ekpene and Adiaha Obong Day Care Center in Uyo. The results revealed the insanitary conditions in these day care centers. The enforcement of an effective public health enlightenment program is advocated in order to attract sufficient attention of the proprietors of these establishments to the role of fomites as reservoirs of pathogenic microorganisms.

Pollution status of swimming pools in south-south zone of south-eastern Nigeria using microbiological and physicochemical indices.

Microbiological and physicochemical characteristics of swimming pools in South Eastern states of Nigeria (Akwa Ibom and Cross River) were investigated. The bacterial isolates included Enterococcus faecalis, Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli. Others were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus vulgaris and Staphylococcus epidermidis, while fungal isolates were Penicillium sp, Rhizopus sp, Aspergillus versicolor Fusarium sp, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Mucor sp, Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger and Absidia sp. The total viable count of microorganims in Ibeno (B) and Uyo (E) swimming pools were 6 x 10(6) cfu/ml and for Calabar (H) swimming pool, 3.3 x 10(7) cfu/ml. The total coliform counts were 10(6) cfu/100 ml for Calabar (G) swimming pools and 2 x 10(7) cfu/100 ml for Calabar (H) swimming pools while the fungal count ranged from 5 x 10(6) cfu/ml to 3 x 10(7) cfu/ml. Physical and chemical parameters known to be hazardous to health were also identified. The presence of high levels of coliform and fecal coliform bacteria (E. coli) revelaed that the swimming pools have not met the World Health Organization (WHO) standard for recreational waters. The swimming pools constitute a serious public health hazard.