Comamonas testosteroni, a lesser-known member of the genus, has shown little apparent capacity for causing infections in humans. We here present a case of purulent meningitis due to C. testosteroni, which occurred in a patient who had recurrent cholesteatoma. Ceftriaxone treatment was not effective in this patient even though in vitro the bacteria were susceptible to the drug. The patient responded well to meropenem therapy.
BackgroundHuman brucellosis is a preventable zoonoses that may become persistent, causing, if left untreated, severe localized disease. Occupational exposure to infected animals or animal products and consumption of fresh contaminated dairy are main risk factors.MethodsOne hundred farmworkers employed at two cattle farms one in Khartoum North and one in Omdurman were screened for the presence of specific antibodies and seropositive workers were invited to donate a blood sample for blood culture. Molecular typing was used to characterize Brucella isolates.ResultsTen percent of farmworkers tested seropositive and while Brucella melitensis biovar 1 was isolated from the blood of three individuals, an isolate identical to the B. abortus S19 vaccine strain was isolated from a fourth person. All four bacteremic individuals were employed as milkers and did not have obvious disease.ConclusionsThe isolation of the highly infectious pathogen B. melitensis from seropositive workers is consistent with the notion that the pathogen may persist in the blood without causing overt disease. While vaccination with strain S19 is essential for the control of bovine brucellosis the vaccine strain may be transmitted to the human population and protective measures remain important to prevent exposure also in view of the presence of B. melitensis. To create awareness for this potentially severe disease more information on the prevalence of the pathogen in different risk groups and in livestock in the Sudan is needed.
This study documents some epidemiologic and bacteriological data on one of the most common surgical problems. We found a substantial proportion of the infecting organisms to be CA-MRSA. This reflects the abuse of antibiotics in the community and stresses the importance of health education. Standardized surgical and anesthetic guidelines should be followed for I&D of abscesses to avoid recurrence. Further studies are needed urgently.
Background.The system-based curriculum of the Medical College of Alzaiem Alazhari University, Sudan, entails skills training for pre-clerkship students. The increased demands on full-time trained clinical teachers cannot be solved by employing part-time staff owing to the poor financial incentives that are offered. Objectives. To verify the feasibility of implementing a peer tutor model for skills training of junior students and to establish whether this model can overcome the shortage of clinical teachers. Methods. Eight selected and trained peer tutors participated in teaching certain aspects related to the basic skills module to 2nd-year students (N=144). Three sessions were prepared, conducted and implemented by peer tutors. The effectiveness of the experience was evaluated by an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) and two questionnaires. Results. Junior students received the peer teaching sessions favourably and requested a continuation of the process. The performance of the tutees was good. Peer tutors enjoyed and benefited from this teaching method without it negatively affecting their own learning. Discussion. Our study demonstrated that a peer teaching educational model is feasible and can contribute to solving the problem of skills training of junior medical students. The peer teaching model is effective, provided the tutors are well trained and the educational experience is supervised. Conclusion. Peer-assisted learning is effective and beneficial for both tutors and tutees in resource-limited environments. It can contribute towards addressing the problem of skills training of junior medical students where there is a shortage of trained clinical teachers.
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