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: Bio-assay guided fractionation and subsequent isolation of compounds using open column chromatography. The antibacterial activity against gram positive and gram negative ATCC strain and resistant clinical strains were evaluated using microtiter broth dilution method to determine minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) and time-kill assay. The chemical structure of the isolated compounds from the water fraction of the ethanol extract of leaves was elucidated using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR).
RESULTS: The ethanol extract of the leaves and barks showed antimicrobial activity against all four ATCC and eight clinical isolates. The ethanol extract of the leaves and the corresponding water fraction had good activity against MRSA S. aureus. (MIC: 250 μg/ml) and had bactericidal effect on eight of the clinical strains (MSSA,MRSA, oxacillin-resistant CONS, oxacillin-sensitive CONS, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiela species, Kleb pneumoniae ESBL and Candida parapsilosis). Further phytochemical investigation of the water fraction of the crude ethanol extract of leaves afforded compound 7 (hyperin) and compound 8 (cynaroside) that had bactericidal activity against tested bacterial species (MIC 50 μg/ml and 100 μg/ml). The two compounds were isolated from this genus for the first time.
CONCLUSIONS: These results may provide a rational support for the traditional use of Canarium patentinervium Miq. in infections and wound healing, since the antimicrobial compounds isolated were also present in the leaves extract.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to July 2019 on 126 students and 37 laboratory staff/clinical instructors' MPs from the Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia by a simple random sampling technique. Along with the questionnaire, a swab sample from each participant's MPs was collected and transported to the microbiology laboratory for bacterial culture as per standard microbiological procedures and antimicrobial susceptibility test by the disc diffusion technique. Data were analysed by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences Programme version 24.
Results: All of the tested MPs were contaminated with either single or mix bacterial agents. Bacillus spp. (74.8%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS; 47.9%) and S. aureus (20.9%) were the most predominant bacterial isolates, whilst the least isolate was Proteus vulgaris (P. vulgaris) (2.5%). Oxacillin resistance was seen in 5.9% of S. aureus isolate. A comparison of bacteria type and frequency among gender showed a significant difference with P. vulgaris (P = 0.003) and among profession showed a significant difference with S. aureus (P = 0.004).
Conclusion: The present study indicates that MPs can serve as a vector for both pathogenic and non-pathogenic organisms. Therefore, full guidelines about restricting the use of MPs in laboratory environments, hand hygiene and frequent decontamination of MPs are recommended to limit the risk of cross-contamination and healthcare-associated infections caused by MPs.