Benefits of antibiotics are threatened by the self-medication, people’s lack of knowledge and inappropriate use of antibiotics, especially in developing countries. This study was designed to determine knowledge; attitudes and practices toward antibiotics use in an urban community, and evaluate the factors that are associated with antibiotic use. Between January and March 2015, a cross sectional and prospective study was conducted in all pharmacies within the Douala IV health district, Cameroon. Anonymous interviews including both open and closed ended questions were conducted in participants selected by convenience sampling Descriptive and logistic regression analysis were performed using StataSE11 software (version 11 SE) and R software (version 3.1.1) in data analysis. Overall 402 (33.7%) of 1,192 customers purchased antibiotics and of these, 47% bought antibiotics without a prescription. 60.7% of purchased antibiotics was for adult ‘patients and around 60% of parents carried out self-medication on their children. The vast majority reported that all microbes can be treated with antibiotics (88.3%). The belief that antibiotics are appropriate for bacterial infections was more common among those with a higher level education (OR = 4.03, 95%CI:1.89–8.57, p<0.0001) and among public/private servants (OR = 2.47, 95%CI:1.21–5.08, p = 0.013). Physicians provide less explanations about antibiotics are and their potential side effects than the pharmacy auxiliaries (OR = 0.205, 95%CI = 0.09–0.46, p<0.0001), but more than pharmacists (OR = 3.692, 95%CI:1.44–9.25, p = 0.005). Indications on antibiotics use were 7 times more given to customers with a prescription compared to those without a prescription (OR = 7.37, 95% CI = 2.13–25.43, p = 0.002). Adult male (OR = 2.32, 95%CI:1.24–4.34, p = 0.009) and higher education (OR = 2.05, 95%CI:1.08–3.89, p = 0.027) were significantly associated with self-medication. Misuse, little "practical knowledge" and high self-medication confirm the unsatisfactory prescription and dispensing practices of the antibiotics in our country. These results highlight the important of the development and implementation appropriate guidelines for the responsible use of antibiotics for health care providers and health education targeting community members themselves.

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BackgroundUrinary tract infection (UTI) is usually defined as the presence of actively multiplying organisms in any part of the urinary tract such as kidneys, bladder, and urethra (1,2). Bacterial agents are mainly implicated as the causative germs of UTIs (3,4) which account for more than 95% of all cases (5). Viruses, parasites, and fungi may also be responsible for this type of infection, especially in immuno-compromised individuals (1,3). Each year, about 150 million urinary infection cases are recorded worldwide costing the world economy over six billion US dollars (5,6). According to some reports, several factors such as age, gender, race, and circumcision status are associated with an increased risk of UTI (1). The bulk of UTIinduced burden is concentrated on children, pregnant women, child-bearing women, and immunocompromised individuals (1,3).Similarly, evidence-based information regarding the epidemiology of UTIs is increasingly released but disseminated in the African continent. However, the existing studies evaluating the prevalence of UTI causative germs emphasized the significant predominance of Gram-negative bacteria with Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella pneumoniae as the most prevalent germs (7-10).Young children represent one of the most social groups who are at the risk of UTI (1,3) which is a common and important public health problem since its symptoms in children may be subtle or non-specific making the diagnosis more complicated (11,12). In general, the symptoms in children may include fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, poor appetite, irritability, and the overall feeling of illness (4). When UTI is not early diagnosed, life-threatening complications such as sepsis and renal scarring may occur as a consequence. In addition, renal scarring is the most common cause of hypertension in later childhood and renal failure in adulthood (3,7,12).In developing countries particularly in resourceconstrained ones, the treatment of UTI heavily relies on an empiric or probabilistic approach (2,7,12) which owing to various reasons, may be initiated even before the availability of the final laboratory diagnostic test results (6). Accordingly, this increases the drug pressure which the uropathogens are exposed to and thus leads to the

This study reports the preparation and characterization of silver nanoparticles synthesized by the mediation of the plant weed Stachytarpheta cayennensis through solution method. Ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) determines the presence of nanoparticles in the solution. Infrared spectroscopy (IR) proves organic molecules at the particles interface. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) provides phase composition and crystallinity. Shape was showed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) demonstrated the elemental mapping of the silver nanoparticles. Hydrogen peroxide scavenging and phosphomolybdenum antioxidant assays, egg albumin denaturation anti-inflammation study, and the formation mechanism complete the study. The particles have been found composed of pure silver Ag and silver chloride AgCl nanocrystallites. The average crystallite sizes were found to be 13 nm and 20 nm for Ag and AgCl respectively. A Rietveld refinement based XRD pattern data followed by Williamson-Hall plot allows a size and strain analysis. Based on SEM, spherical agglomerates materials were formed and EDX proved the presence of Clions. The reaction formation mechanism of Ag and AgCl is proposed to be simultaneous and competitive. The silver nanoparticles moderately inhibit the denaturation of egg albumin and exhibit antioxidant action; hence, the nano

Background Pregnancy increases the risk of recurrent bacteriuria and acute pyelonephritis which is associated with significant maternal and fetal risks. The prevalence of bacteriuria varies worldwide. Clinical diagnosis is challenging since it is usually mistaken for normal physiological changes during pregnancy. This study aims to determine the prevalence, clinical presentation, risk factors and microorganism responsible for bacteriuria in pregnant women of Douala city, Cameroun. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 3 hospitals of Douala from January to April 2015. We consecutively recruited all consented pregnant women aged 18 years and above attending antenatal clinics. Socio-demographic characteristics, medical and obstetrical past history, clinical signs and obstetric characteristics of the index pregnancy were collected. Thereafter, urine were collected aseptically and subjected to routine macroscopy, microscopy examination and culture. The culture was obtained by inoculation of 10 μl of urine on the appropriate medium. Identification of pathogens was done automatically using the VITEK2 ™ (BioMérieux- France). Data were processed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 18. Statistics were descriptive and analytic; Odds ratios were calculated. Associations between variables and bacteriuria were conducted using the Chi squared test and the fisher exact probability. Associations with p -values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results Overall, 354 pregnant women were enrolled with mean of age 28.18 ± 4.4. The prevalence of significant bacteriuria was 9.9% (35 out of 354). The prevalence of bacteriuria in women who were asymptomatic was 5.7%. Cystitis and pyelo-nephritis were observed in 3.6 and 0.6% respectively. The most commonly isolated organism was Escherichia coli ( E. coli) : 48.6%. History of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) ( p = 0.035, OR = 2.183, CI = 1.055–4.518) was significantly associated with bacteriuria. High level of education was protective. Conclusions Bacteriuria was frequent in pregnant women and significantly increased with the past history of UTI and low level of education. Asymptomatic bacteriuria was more common. E coli was the most frequent uropathogen. Education and proper treatment of UTI should be provided to reduce the burden of this pathology in order to prevent its severe complications.

The development of drug-resistant strains is rising and the search for new and novel ways of fighting new or reemerging microbes goes on. A hope of treating such multidrug-resistant infections came from plants mediated nanoparticles since nature is a generous source which provides a variety of chemical compounds that can be used for new drug discovery. Silver nanoparticles are reported to possess antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, larvicidal activity and anticancer properties. We reported green synthesis of silver nanoparticles mediated food plants Megaphrynium macrostachyum, Corchorus olitorus, Ricinodendron heudelotii, Gnetum bucholzianum, and Ipomoea batatas and their antibacterial efficacy against the Enterobacteriaceae Escherichia coli. The nature and size of the obtained nanoparticles are discussed as well as their Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and the Minimum Bactericide Concentration (MBC) values considering their application in medical industry.

Antibacterial properties of silver ion are known from ancient times. The plant extract mediated synthesis of nanoparticles is gaining popularity due to green chemistry for the generation of nanosized materials. Corchorus olitorus Linn and Ipomea batatas (L.) Lam are world crops having leaves of high nutritional value. In the present work, Ag and AgCl nanoparticles were synthesized by incubating leaf aqueous extracts with silver nitrate salt, making them to react in the dark. Plasmon resonance bands, studied by ultraviolet spectroscopy, have been obtained. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the average size of pure crystallites composed of Ag and AgCl. Optimization studies for the synthesis process highlight positive impact of pH, reaction time and reactants quantities.

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