METHODS: A retrospective descriptive study from August 2013 to December 2015 was conducted in the Medical Microbiology & Parasitology laboratory of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, which is a tertiary teaching hospital with more than 700 beds. This hospital treats patients with various medical and surgical conditions. Suspected CRE from any clinical specimens received by the laboratory was identified and confirmed using standard protocols. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was performed to determine the genotype.
RESULTS: Altogether, 8306 Enterobacteriaceae was isolated from various clinical specimens during the study period and 477/8306 (5.74%) were CRE. Majority of the isolated CRE were Klebsiella [408/477, (85.5%)], of which Klebsiella pneumoniae was the predominant species, 388/408 (95%). CRE were mainly isolated from rectal swab (screening), 235/477 (49.3%); urine, 76/477 (15.9%); blood, 46/477 (9.6%) and about 7.1% from tracheal aspirate. One hundred and thirty-six isolates were subjected to genotype determination and., 112/136 (82.4%) showed positive detection of New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase 1 (NDM-1) gene (blaNDM1).
CONCLUSION: The study noted a high numbers of CRE isolated especially from rectal swabs. Active screening results in significant cost pressures and therefore should be revisited and revised, especially in low resource settings.
METHODS: Expectorated sputum specimens were collected from the Hajj pilgrims with symptomatic respiratory tract infections (RTIs). Subsequently, the bacterial pathogens were identified using the standard bacteriological culture method and Vitek II system.
RESULTS: This study indicated that 255 (87.33%) out of 292 cultured sputa were positive with at least one potential pathogenic bacteria. Out of 345 total bacterial isolates, 60% (n=207) were Haemophilus influenzae, which was associated with both single bacterium infection (132/173, 76.3%) and multiple bacterial infections (75/82, 91.5%). The other bacterial isolates included; Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=37, 10.7%), Moraxella catarrhalis (n=27, 7.8%), Haemophilus parainfluenzae (n=25, 7.2%), Streptococcus group G (n=18, 5.2%), Klebsiella spesies (n=16, 4.6%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (n=11, 3.2%) and few other organisms.
CONCLUSION: High frequency of H. influenzae was isolated from Malaysian Hajj pilgrims, especially those with respiratory symptoms. Further study should evaluate the actual pathogenicity of the organism and the interactions between the respiratory microbiota towards developing effective prevention strategies of RTIs among the local pilgrims.
METHODS: The qLAMP assay was optimized targeting the HPV-16 E7 gene. The analytical sensitivity and specificity of the assay were determined using HPV-18 (ATCC® 45152D™), HPV-35 (ATCC® 40330™), HPV-43 (ATCC® 40338™) and HPV-56 (ATCC® 40549™) viral strains and oral bacteria. HPV-16 standard curve was constructed for determination of HPV-16 viral load. The diagnostic performance of the assay was evaluated from 63 OSCC patients comprising 63 tissue, 13 saliva and 49 blood samples, in comparison with p16 immunohistochemistry (IHC), in-house PCR and nested PCR assays.
RESULTS: The detection limit of developed LAMP and PCR assays was 4.68 × 101 and 4.68 × 103 copies/μl, respectively. qLAMP assay enabled detection of positive results as early as 23 min at 67 °C. This assay can detect HPV-16 positivity in 23 % (3/13) saliva and 4.8 % (3/63) tissue samples with the viral load ranging from 4.68 × 101 to 4.68 × 104 copies/μl. HPV-16 positivity was not detected in all the blood samples. The sensitivity and specificity of qLAMP were 100 % in comparison with that of p16 IHC and nested PCR.
CONCLUSION: This study reports for the first time on the use of qLAMP assay for detection of HPV-16 in OSCC in both tissue and saliva as the sample matrix which holds promise in improving the diagnostic application owing to its rapidity, simplicity, high sensitivity and specificity.