Background: The haematological parameters are influenced by various factors like age, ethnicity, diet, genetic and gender differences and hence it is important to define the specific reference values with regards to the age, gender and the region. The indices like the Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW), the Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) and the Platelet Distribution Width (PDW) are newer haematological parameters which are calculated by automated haematology analyzers. There is an increasing evidence that these are clinically valuable bio markers. But not many studies have estimated the reference intervals for these parameters in our population.Aim and Objective: Our primary objective was to identify the gender specific reference intervals for RDW, MPV, PDW and other haematological parameters for the healthy adult population of our region. We also aimed at comparing the study reference intervals with the existing reference ranges.
Materials and Methods:A retrospective review of 2443 medical case sheets of the individuals who attended the preventive health check up program in a tertiary care hospital in the year 2011, was done. With 500 subjects who satisfied our study criteria, the haematological reference intervals were established.
Results:Gender specific reference intervals were established for the newer indices as well as for the other haematological parameters. We derived the reference intervals for the newer parameters in our population as:RDW: 12.23%-15.36% in males and 12.3%-15.85% in females MPV: 7.9 fL-13.7 fL in males and 8 fL -13.28 fL in females PDW: 9 fL -16.56 fL in males and 8 fL -13.28 fL in females.
Conclusion:Our values differed from the existing haematological reference values, thus showing the importance of developing region-specific reference intervals. Our data also showed the importance of establishing gender specific reference intervals.
Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most important etiology of community and hospital acquired infections. With an increasing incidence of Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern in a tertiary care Hospital between July 2017 and July 2018. In this prospective cross sectional study, 100 Staphylococcus aureus were isolated and identified conventionally from various clinical specimens collected from different departments of the hospital. Subsequently, antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method as per Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Among the 100 S. aureus isolates, MRSA was found to be 54% by cefoxitin (30 μg) disk diffusion method out of which maximum numbers were isolated from the age group of more than 60 years i.e. 14 isolates (25.92%) predominantly in males. Among the 54% of MRSA isolated, maximum 44.44% were from pus, 18.53% from blood, 11.11% each from sputum, urine and drain and 1.85% each from Ascitic fluid and tracheal aspirate. Among the MRSA isolated, 33.33% were from Surgery which was the highest followed by 27.78% from IMCU, 18.52% from Orthopaedics, 9.26% from Dermatology and 5.56% from Burns ward. All the isolates were resistant to Penicillin and Cephalexin, followed by Tetracycline (22 isolates), Erythromycin (21 isolates), Clindamycin and Cotrimoxazole 19 isolates each, Gentamicin (18 isolates), Ciprofloxacin (17 isolates) and Amikacin (15 isolates). All the isolates were sensitive to Vancomycin, Linezolid and Teicoplanin. Inducible Clindamycin resistance was detected in 13 isolates (24%) among MRSA isolates. Due to increasing development of resistance to multiple antibiotics, there is an increased need to find out the prevalence of MRSA and their current antimicrobial profile in order to provide appropriate therapy to the patients.
K e y w o r d sMethicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA Community and Hospital acquired infections ,Disk diffusion Method, Antibiotic susceptibility testing
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