METHODOLOGY: This study was conducted at medical college hospitals in Bangladesh during the period from 1998 through 2000. The pre-intervention survey of antimicrobial use was conducted during 1998 in five hospitals. The post-intervention survey was conducted after the interactive training during the succeeding year in three of the original five hospitals, of which one was the intervention hospital and two control hospitals. A total of 3,466 admitted paediatric patients' treatment charts (2,171 in the pre-intervention and 1,295 in the post-intervention surveys) were reviewed.
RESULTS: The most commonly used antimicrobials were ampicillin, gentamicin, amoxicillin, cloxacillin and ceftriaxone. Appropriate antimicrobial therapy for the most common infectious diseases, pneumonia and diarrhoea, increased by 16.4% and 56.8% respectively in the intervention hospital compared with the two control hospitals and these improvements were significant (p = < 0.001 and p = 0.002, for pneumonia and diarrhoea respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: An interactive, focussed educational intervention, targeted at physicians, appears to have been effective in improving appropriate antimicrobial prescribing for the most common paediatric infectious diseases in a medical college hospital in Bangladesh.
Method: A total of 24 elastomeric devices were prepared, and six elastomeric devices containing 6mg/mL of ceftaroline (three in each type of diluents) were stored at one of the following conditions: 4°C for 6 days, 25°C for 24hours, 30°C for 24hours or 35°C for 24hours. An aliquot was withdrawn before storage and at different time points. Chemical stability was measured using a stability indicating high-performance liquid chromatography, and physical stability was assessed as change in pH, colour and particle content.
Results: Ceftaroline, when admixed with both diluents, was stable for 144, 24 and 12hours at 4°C, 25°C and 30°C, respectively. At 35°C, ceftaroline admixed with normal saline (NS) and glucose 5% was stable for 12hours and for 6hours, respectively. No evidence of particle formation, colour change or pH change was observed throughout the study period.
Conclusions: Our findings support 12 or 24hours continuous elastomeric infusion of ceftaroline-NS admixture, and bulk preparation of elastomeric pumps containing ceftaroline solution in advance. This would facilitate early hospital discharge of patients eligible for the elastomeric-based home therapy and avoid the need for patient's caregivers travelling to the hospital on a daily basis.
METHODOLOGY: A retrospective cross-sectional study was employed to identify patients with positive AR bacteria between March 2019 and March 2022. The bacterial isolates and patients' data were identified from laboratory and medical records departments retrospectively. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the factors associated with AR and deaths. Multinominal logistic regression was applied to confirm the factors associated with AR classification.
RESULTS: AR Gram-negative bacteria decreased during and after the pandemic. However, S. aureus showed a negligible increase in resistance rate after pandemic, while E. faecium, recorded a higher-than-average resistance rate during the pandemic. The prevalence of pan drug resistance (PDR) during the pandemic (85.7%) was higher than before (0%) and after (14.3%), p = 0.001. The length of stay and time were significant predictors for AR classification. The odds of multi drug resistance (MDR) development to PDR during the pandemic were 6 times higher than before and after (OR = 6.133, CI =, p = 0.020). Age, nationality, COVID-19 infection, smoking, liver disease, and type and number of bacteria were associated with death of patients with positive AR.
CONCLUSIONS: Further studies are recommended to explore the prevalence of PDR and to justify the increased rates of E. faecium AR during the COVID-19 pandemic.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Honey and some of its components, which include the sugars, the proteins, the hydrogen peroxide produced, and the phenolics, were exposed to cultured fibroblasts. The MTT colorimetric assay was used to assess cell viability and proliferation.
RESULTS: The stimulatory effect of honey on fibroblast proliferation was observed to be time- and dose-dependent. The continuous production of hydrogen peroxide by the honey-glucose oxidase system also acts to stimulate cell proliferation in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The presence of phenolics with antioxidant properties, on the other hand, renders protection to the cells against the toxic effect of hydrogen peroxide. However, the presence of a growth factor-like substance in honey could not be ascertained.
CONCLUSION: For the first time, honey and its major components were shown to exert stimulatory effects on cultured fibroblasts. Honey is therefore potentially useful in medicinal practices.