The world is striving against the severe crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare professionals are struggling to treat their patients based on nonspecific therapies. Amidst this uncertainty, convalescent plasma therapy (CPT) has appeared to be an interim adjuvant therapy for severely ill patients of COVID-19 until long-term clinical trial treatment options are available. Considering the transfusion-related hazards, especially lung injuries and microbial transmission, where sensitivity is not ensured, rigorous trials should be conducted to determine this therapy's efficacy. Moreover, the ratio of recovered cases to plasma donors is not satisfying, which questioning this therapy's availability and accessibility. Although some countries are making the treatment free, the attributable cost mandates a justification for its suitability and sustainability. Our article aimed to review the published facts and findings of CPT's effectiveness in lowering the mortality rate of COVID-19. This pandemic showed that healthcare systems worldwide need core reform. A unified global collaboration must align and coordinate to face the current pandemic and enhance world readiness for future outbreaks based on health equity and equality.

Background: In Bangladesh, treatment for urinary tract infection has become increasingly difficult due to antibiotic resistance. In addition, the prescription of age and gender-specific drugs is still far from being practiced in Bangladesh. We are examining trends of antibiotic resistance per age and gender in patients with urinary tract infection (UTI) caused by the most frequent agent, Escherichia coli. Methods: We determined the resistance of 1663 E. coli isolates obtained from urine cultures. A sensitivity study using the Kirby-Bauer method was carried out to identify the antibiotic resistance trends. Results: Imipenem with 1.9% resistance of all isolates found to be the lowest percentage of resistance. Meropenem (2.8%), amikacin (2.8%), colistin (2.9%), and nitrofurantoin (15.8%) showed low resistance percentages. The sensitivity analysis suggests that age and gender (area under curve ¼ 0.67) should be taken into consideration to prescribe amikacin. The increasing odds ratios (OR) by age groups suggest that amikacin is a less effective agent for older patients with UTIs. Moreover, nitrofurantoin (OR ¼ 1.45, 95% confidence interval (CI) ¼ 1.07-1.95) and colistin (OR ¼ 2.09, CI ¼ 1.13-3.76) were less effective against isolates obtained from males compared to isolates obtained from females. Meropenem was effective against bacteria obtained from all age groups and genders. On the other hand, efficacy of imipenem was lower in isolates obtained from adults older than 40 years (OR: 0.44 for < ¼ 18 years, OR ¼ 0.47 for 19-40 years, OR ¼ 0.86 for 41-60 years; reference: > ¼ 61 years). Conclusion: In Bangladesh, meropenem, imipenem, amikacin, colistin, and nitrofurantoin are suitable therapeutic alternatives against urinary tract pathogens. Among the oral agents, amikacin, colistin, and nitrofurantoin should be prescribed, taking consideration of age and gender. These results will assist physicians in prescribing effective primary care antibiotics for UTI patients and encouraging the implementation of health policies for a safe prescription of antibiotics.

Objective: Almost all year round occurrence of typhoid fever remains a major public health issue in Bangladesh. In recent years, there has been a significant rise in the prevalence of multi-drug resistance Salmonella typhi in Dhaka city. The major objective of this study was to observe the prevalence of multi-drug and Extended drug-resistant patterns of typhoidal Salmonella typhi among the patients attending a tertiary medical center by conventional culture and serologic test. Materials and Methods: Blood was collected by syringe and equally divided between aerobic & anaerobic BacT Alert bottle, 10 mL for paediatrics. Post isolation Salmonella strains were identified and were tested for antibiotic resistance. Results: A total of 600 blood samples of typhoid suspected patients were tested, where 32.5% came out positive, which were identified as Salmonella typhi. These isolates were susceptible to carbapenem drugs but highly resistant to Fluoroquinolones and Aminoglycosides antibiotics. Discussion: It was seen that 73.23% of isolates among male patients were extensively drug-resistant (XDR) meaning that isolates were sensitive against only one or two antibiotics while in the female it was 58.46%. Isolates from Female patients showed higher multi-drug resistant (MDR) (26.15%) isolates resistance to multiple antibiotics in comparison to isolates from the male (16.54%). 87.19% of the strains showed high drug resistance (XDR and MDR). Conclusion: The emergence of XDR and MDR strains of S. typhi in recent years is becoming a significant threat. Although no PAN-Drug resistance (resistant against all tested drugs

This study was conducted to determine the microbiological quality of fresh raw and unwashed leafy and salad vegetables in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Six different types of samples (red amaranth, spinach, carrot, radish, tomato, and cucumber) were collected in pre-sterilized zip-lock bags from various local markets in Dhaka. All samples were transported to the Centre of Excellence for Global Health Research Laboratory of Primeasia University at earliest convenience. Samples were enriched in Nutrient Broth media and were then cultured on selective media for isolation purpose. Serial dilution was performed for the total viable count. Biochemical and carbohydrate profiling was conducted for the presumptive identification of the isolates. Commercial antibiotic discs were used for antibiogram by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton agar medium. The total microbial load ranged from 8x107 to 1.70x108. Total 36 isolates were identified, having 7 differentorganisms. The most predominant organism was Vibrio sp. (23%) followed by Klebsiella sp.(20%), Acinetobacter sp. (19%), Pseudomonas sp. (19%), Salmonella sp. (8%), Moraxella sp.(8%) and Escherichia coli (3%). 11% of the Vibrio sp. isolates were V. cholerae, found from 4 samples. No presence of V. cholerae was observed in the tomatosamples. E. coli was observed only in Carrot sample. Antibiotics from 7 different groups were tested against the organisms among which Imipenem showed the highest sensitivity (86%). Following Ceftriaxone (100%), Nitrofurantoin (94%), Erythromycin (89%) and Amoxicillin (83%) had the highest resistance against the isolated organisms. Moreover, most of the isolates showed a multi-drug resistance pattern where they were resistant to at least four drugs. Prevalence of pathogenic bacteria in raw unwashed vegetables can cause potential adverse health effects and therefore the consumers need to be conscious about the matter.

This study was conducted to determine the microbiological quality of fresh raw and unwashed leafy and salad vegetables in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Six different types of samples (red amaranth, spinach, carrot, radish, tomato, and cucumber) were collected in pre-sterilized zip-lock bags from various local markets in Dhaka. All samples were transported to the Centre of Excellence for Global Health Research Laboratory of Primeasia University at earliest convenience. Samples were enriched in Nutrient Broth media and were then cultured on selective media for isolation purpose. Serial dilution was performed for the total viable count. Biochemical and carbohydrate profiling was conducted for the presumptive identification of the isolates. Commercial antibiotic discs were used for antibiogram by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton agar medium. The total microbial load ranged from 8x107 to 1.70x108. Total 36 isolates were identified, having 7 differentorganisms. The most predominant organism was Vibrio sp. (23%) followed by Klebsiella sp.(20%), Acinetobacter sp. (19%), Pseudomonas sp. (19%), Salmonella sp. (8%), Moraxella sp.(8%) and Escherichia coli (3%). 11% of the Vibrio sp. isolates were V. cholerae, found from 4 samples. No presence of V. cholerae was observed in the tomatosamples. E. coli was observed only in Carrot sample. Antibiotics from 7 different groups were tested against the organisms among which Imipenem showed the highest sensitivity (86%). Following Ceftriaxone (100%), Nitrofurantoin (94%), Erythromycin (89%) and Amoxicillin (83%) had the highest resistance against the isolated organisms. Moreover, most of the isolates showed a multi-drug resistance pattern where they were resistant to at least four drugs. Prevalence of pathogenic bacteria in raw unwashed vegetables can cause potential adverse health effects and therefore the consumers need to be conscious about the matter.