Methods: The in vitro effect of tannins was studied against MRSA reference strain (ATCC 43300) and MRSA clinical strains utilizing antimicrobial assays in conjunction with both scanning and transmission electron microscopy. To reveal the influence of tannins in MRSA protein synthesis disruption, we utilized next-generation sequencing (NGS) to provide further insight into the novel protein synthesis transcriptional response of MRSA exposed to these compounds.
Results: Tannins possessed both bacteriostatic and bactericidal activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 0.78 and 1.56 mg/mL, respectively, against all tested MRSA. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy of MRSA treated with tannins showed decrease in cellular volume, indicating disruption of protein synthesis.
Conclusion: Analysis of a genome-wide transcriptional profile of the reference strain ATCC 43300 MRSA in response to tannins has led to the finding that tannins induced significant modulation in essential ribosome pathways, which caused a reduction in the translation processes that lead to inhibition of protein synthesis and obviation of bacterial growth. These findings highlight the potential of tannins as new promising anti-MRSA agents in clinical application such as body wash and topical cream or ointments.
Methods: S. aureus
strains were isolated from the nasal swabs of 200 health sciences students of a Malaysian university. Twelve classes of antibiotics were used to evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles with the macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLSB) phenotype for inducible clindamycin resistance determined by the double-diffusion test (D-test). Carriage of resistance and virulence genes was performed by PCR onS. aureusisolates that were methicillin resistant, erythromycin resistant and/or positive for the leukocidin gene,pvl(n=15).
Results: Forty-nine isolates were viable and identified asS. aureuswith four of the isolates characterized as methicillin-resistantS. aureus(MRSA; 2.0%). All isolates were susceptible to the antibiotics tested except for penicillin (resistance rate of 49%), erythromycin (16%), oxacillin (8%), cefoxitin (8%) and clindamycin (4%). Of the eight erythromycin-resistant isolates, iMLSBwas identified in five isolates (three of which were also MRSA). The majority of the erythromycin-resistant isolates harbored themsrAgene (four iMLSB) with the remaining iMLSBisolate harboring theermCgene.
Conclusion: The presence of MRSA isolates which are also iMLSBin healthy individuals suggests that nasal carriage may play a role as a potential reservoir for the transmission of these pathogens.
Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in five electronic databases limited to publication dates from 1st January 2000 until 31st August 2017. After screening n=481 articles, n=21 were found to meet the inclusion criteria of this systematic review.
Results: Results from the meta-analysis revealed that the risk for MRSA isolates in the burn ICU was 55.0% higher (OR 0.55, 95%CI 0.32-0.94). Therefore, timely testing, appropriate hygiene practice and suggested wound care must be practiced while handling such patients.
Conclusion: Further studies are needed to identify the risk factors of MRSA infections among burn patients and to develop new antimicrobial agents for MRSA infections.
Methods: The first strain isolated from each MSSA infection in HCTM during the year 2009 was included into the study. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing and agr group typing were carried out for all strains; virulence gene (cna, seh, TSST-1 and PVL) typing results of the strains were obtained from a previous study. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was done on selected strains from the orthopedic ward. Relationship(s) between different typing methods used in the study was investigated, where a p value of <0.05 indicated significant association between typing methods.
Results: A total of 880 MSSA strains were included into the study. The strains were generally susceptible to most antibiotics, with most of them carrying cna and agr-I (51.6%, n=454; 39.8%, n=350, respectively). A total of 17 PFGE pulsotypes were identified using an 80% similarity cut-off value, where the main pulsotype (pulsotype E) consisted of 24 isolates (23.5%). agr-III strains were found to be usually positive for both cna and seh (p<0.05). In addition, some PFGE pulsotypes were also characteristic of certain virulence genes or agr groups.
Conclusions: We did not identify a dominant MSSA clone circulating in HCTM in 2009. Nevertheless, results from this molecular surveillance will provide good baseline data for the hospital's second S. aureus surveillance planned for the year 2020.
METHODS: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted based on AMR profiles of clinical Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates. The AMR data represented isolates from five specimen types (body fluids; blood; respiratory; wound, bone, or other tissues; and urine) of patients admitted to four wards (surgical, medical, pediatric, and maternal-postnatal). Tested isolates between January 2019 and February 2020 represented the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period in Kuwait, whereas those from February 2020 until April 2021 represented the 'during COVID-19' period.
RESULTS: A total of 1,303 isolates (57.2% E. coli and 42.8% P. aeruginosa) were analyzed. For ceftazidime, ertapenem and meropenem, the prevalence of AMR in E. coli was significantly (p<0.05) lower in pre-COVID-19 wards compared to that during COVID-19, whereas for other antibiotics (i.e., cefepime, gentamicin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole), the prevalence of AMR in pre-COVID-19 was significantly higher than that during COVID-19. The prevalence of AMR to gentamicin in P. aeruginosa isolates from non-COVID-19 wards (52.8%) was significantly higher (p<0.001) than that from COVID-19 wards (35.0%) and from the pre-COVID-19 period (32.9%). The multidrug-resistance (MDR) prevalence was 37.4% for E. coli and 32.1% for P. aeruginosa isolates. The odds of MDR in E. coli isolates from the COVID-19 medical wards were significantly lower (OR=0.27, [95%CI: 0.09-0.80], p=0.018) compared to the pre-COVID-19 wards. The odds of MDR E. coli and P. aeruginosa isolates by COVID-19 status stratified by specimen type were not different (p>0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: No major differences in AMR in E. coli and P. aeruginosa prevalence by specimen type and wards prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic was observed at this hospital. The high reported MDR prevalence calls for better infection control and prevention.