harith fahad

The present study included a collecting of 165 specimens form different sources, 93 isolates were identified as Escherichia coli depending on morphological and biochemical tests in addition to automated systems such as VITEK 2 and api 20E. All isolates under study developed high resistance toward cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, and ciprofloxacin estimated by minimum inhibitory concentration. Stool and wound specimens characterized by harbouring the highest resistant isolates in a percentage reached 100% against antibiotics under study. Insignificant differences were found between isolates collected from males and females. Upon using disk displacement method to detect extended spectrum beta lactamases (ESBL), it was found that 37.73% of isolates were ESBL producers. However, stool and urine specimens harboured the highest percentage of producers. The present study findings revealed a presence of efflux pump in 77.5% of tested isolates using cartwheel method. Nevertheless, PCR t...

The term ‘biofilm’ was described in 1978 by Costerton. It is clear that biofilm formation is part of the normal growth cycle of most bacteria. A biofilm can be defined as a sessile community, surfaceassociated microorganism characterized by cells that are irreversibly attached to a living ornonliving substratum to form a multilayered cell clusters that embedded in a matrix of extracellular polysaccharide (slime), that they have produced, which facilitates the adherence of these microorganisms to the surfaces and protect them from host immune system and antimicrobial therapy. Biofilm formation is therefore a major problem in many fields, ranging from industrial corrosionandbiofouling to chronic and nosocomial infections. Hence this work aimed to investigate the resistance of E. coli biofilm cells to one of the third generation cephalosporin; ceftriaxone in comparison to planktonic cells. Although that, certain antimicrobial agents could significantly reduce the biofilm layer. These e...

One hundred and sixty five mid stream urine specimens were collected from outpatients presented with urinary tract infections (UTI). The results showed the dominance of Escherichia coli over other causative agents. Antibiotic sensitivity test was carried out to E. coli isolates. Thence, the isolate that developed the highest multidrug resistance was chosen for further studies. Moreover, five Lactobacillus isolates comprising L. acidophilus L1 and L. acidophilus L2 were isolated from yogurt and vinegar, respectively, L. plantarum L3 and L. plantarum L5 from saliva and raw milk, respectively, while L. fermentum L4 was isolated from vagina. Cup assay method was employed to investigate the inhibitory (antagonistic) activity of lactobacilli isolates against E. coli A99 on MRS agar. Results showed that L. acidophilus L1 developed the highest activity. The cell free supernatant of lactobacilli developed the same activity. L. acidophilus L1 supernatant showed the highest inhibition activity...

One hundred and six S. aureus were isolated from 250 Nasal swabs of
Healthcare workers and patients at Al- Kadhamia teaching Hospital and Al-
Numan hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. The study was undertaken over a period of
ten months between August 2011 and June 2012. S. aureus isolates were
diagnosed based on phenotypic traits and biochemical tests. Antibiotics
sensitivity to 11 antibiotics, revealed that S.aureus is totally resistant to
Pencillin G (100%), highly resistant to Cefoxitin (alternative to Methicillin)
(94.3%) While there are varied resistance percentage for the rest of
antibiotics: Erythromycin (37.7%), Tetracycline (34.9%), Gentamicin
(29.3%), Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (50%), Ciprofloxacin (29.2%),
and showed highly sensitive to Rifampin (96.2%), Clarithromycin (78.3%)
and Clindamycin (73.6%),Whereas Vancomycin intermediate S. aureus
(VISA) was 32.1% and 3.8% was Vancomycin resistant S. aureus (VRSA).
The incidence of MRSA among S. aureus was 94.3%. It is concluded that S.
aureus nasal carriage is a common health problem all over the world and
Methicillin resistant S. aureus is an emerging subject even in our
community, which requires further attention and support.