This study revealed the prevalence of nasal carriage of S. aureus strains among HCWs to be lower than that found in other studies from Iran. The antibiotic susceptibility patterns also differed, perhaps as a result of the excessive use of antibiotics at our hospital. Only the occupation of nurse was an independent risk factor for MRSA carriage.

Background. Diabetic foot infections (DFIs) are a major public health issue and identification of the microorganisms causing such polymicrobial infections is useful to find out appropriate antibiotic therapy. Meanwhile, many reports have shown antibiotic resistance rising dramatically. In the present study, we sought to determine the prevalence of microorganisms detected on culture in complicated DFIs in hospitalized patients and their antibiotic sensitivity profiles. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of 24 months from 2012 to 2014 in Nemazee Hospital, Shiraz, Iran. The demographic and clinical features of the patients were obtained. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing to different agents was carried out using the disc diffusion method. Results. During this period, 122 aerobic microorganisms were isolated from DFIs. Among Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, Staphylococcus spp. and E. coli were the most frequent organisms isolated, respectively. Of the isolates, 91% were multidrug while 78% of S. aureus isolates were methicillin resistant. 53% of Gram-negative bacteria were positive for extended-spectrum β-lactamase. Conclusion. Given the involvement of different microorganisms and emergence of multidrug resistant strains, clinicians are advised to consider culture before initiation of empirical therapy.

To characterize Shigella clinical strains, we studied 82 Shigella strains recovered from 719 stool samples of patients with bloody diarrhea in Shiraz, Iran, over the period from April to October 2003. Serological assay classified the Shigella isolates as follows: 61 (74.39%) Shigella sonnei isolates, 16 (19.51%) Shigella flexneri isolates, 3 (3.65%) Shigella boydii isolates, and 2 (2.43%) Shigella dysenteriae isolates. In an antibiogram test, all Shigella strains were susceptible to ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, and ceftriaxone. They showed high degrees of sensitivity to nalidixic acid, gentamicin, cephalothin, and amikacin. Approximately 90.24% of the Shigella isolates were resistant to co-trimoxazole. The plasmid profile patterns of all strains were determined by a modified alkaline lysis method. The average number of plasmid bands for each strain was 9.5. By plasmid profile analysis we identified 56 genotypes among all isolates and 42, 14, 3, and 2 genotypes among the S. sonnei, S. flexneri, S. boydii, and S. dysenteriae strains, respectively. PCR assays showed that all isolates were positive for two virulence genes, ipaBCD and ipaH. In conclusion, these data mandate local monitoring of drug resistance and its consideration in the empirical therapy of Shigella infections. These results also demonstrate that plasmid profile analysis is more reliable than antibiotic susceptibility pattern analysis for the identification of Shigella epidemic strains isolated in Iran.

This study was carried out from October 2003 to March 2007 to investigate susceptibility patterns to antifungals of Candida strains isolated from 410 immunocompromised patients in Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran. Patients were checked for systemic candidiasis. Fungal colonization was determined and clinical samples collected from those patients with clinical signs of infections were examined. The carbohydrate assimilation patterns of all 354 isolates were studied. Susceptibility of the isolates to antifungal agents was determined using the reference broth microdilution method. Candida albicans was the species most often isolated. Voriconazole was highly active against all the isolates. Major resistance to itraconazole was observed in all Candida spp. Regular investigations into antifungal resistance in medical centres is highly recommended as this will result in more efficient management of invasive candidiasis in immunocompromised patients.

Our data show that the prevalence of ACV-resistant strains is very low in the general immunocompetent population; however, in patients with AIDS, the prevalence of ACV-resistant strains is remarkable (P = 0.001). Alternative antiherpetic agents should be employed to control and reduce the emergence of ACV-resistant strains in patients with AIDS.