Enterococcus faecalis is one of the major causes of urinary tract infection, showing acquired resistance to various classes of antimicrobials. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of drug resistance and its genetic determinants for E. faecalis clinical isolates in north-central Bangladesh. Among a total of 210 E. faecalis isolates, isolated from urine, the resistance rates to erythromycin, levofloxacin, and gentamicin (high level) were 85.2, 45.7, and 11.4%, respectively, while no isolates were resistant to ampicillin, vancomycin and teicoplanin. The most prevalent resistance gene was erm(B) (97%), and any of the four genes encoding aminoglycoside modifying enzyme (AME) were detected in 99 isolates (47%). The AME gene aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2”)-Ia was detected in 46 isolates (21.9%) and was diverse in terms of IS256-flanking patterns, which were associated with resistance level to gentamicin. Tetracycline resistance was ascribable to tet(M) (61%) and tet(L) (38%), and mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining region of both GyrA and ParC were identified in 44% of isolates. Five isolates (2.4%) exhibited non-susceptibility to linezolide (MIC, 4 μg/mL), and harbored the oxazolidinone resistance gene optrA, which was located in a novel genetic cluster containing the phenicol exporter gene fexA. The optrA-positive isolates belonged to ST59, ST902, and ST917 (CC59), while common lineages of other multiple drug-resistant isolates were ST6, ST28, CC16, and CC116. The present study first revealed the prevalence of drug resistance determinants of E. faecalis and their genetic profiles in Bangladesh.

SUMMARY:To investigate the accurate prevalence of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection in Mymensingh, a local area in central-northern Bangladesh, 40 female sex workers (FSW) and 110 sexually active women (SAW, non-FSW) of reproductive age from a local community with clinical symptoms were examined by an immunochromatography test (ICT) and plasmid-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) during a 1-year period from July 2011 to June 2012 using the endocervical swab as a specimen. By ICT and/or PCR, the C. trachomatis detection rate was 58z and 27z in FSW and SAW, respectively, showing a significant difference ( P º 0.01). Two C. trachomatis strains from FSW were determined to be serovar D by ompA-based PCR and sequencing analysis. The highest prevalence was found among women aged 15 to 35 years. A lower socioeconomic status was considered to be an important risk factor for C. trachomatis infection in FSW but not in SAW. This is the first study to determine the prevalence of C. trachomatis infections in FSW and SAW in the same local area in Bangladesh.

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Objective: To determine the attributable risks (AR) for vascular events (VE: stroke, myocardial infarction, and vascular death) due to hypertension and diabetes by race/ethnicity, sex and age. Background: Understanding the distribution of risk factors and their contribution to disease incidence is critical for effective allocation of resources for disease prevention. There is little data on the relative contribution of vascular risk factors among multiethnic elderly populations. Methods: The Northern Manhattan Study is a population-based prospective cohort study of incidence, risk factors, and outcomes in a multiethnic urban population. Multi-variable Cox models adjusted for socio-demographic and vascular risk factors were used to calculate hazard ratios, AR and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) for (1) all stroke and (2) VE. Results: The cohort (n=3,298) had mean age 69.2+/-10 years with 63% women, 52% Hispanic, 73% hypertensive and 21% diabetics. There were 347 strokes and 835 VE during a median follow-up of 12 years. The AR due to hypertension was 30% (95%CI 13-48%) for stroke and 24% (95%CI 13-35%) for VE; AR due to diabetes was 19% (95%CI 12-27%) for stroke and 13% (95%CI 8-17%) for VE.The AR for stroke from hypertension differed by age and race-ethnicity (table), while for diabetes it only differed by age. For VE, the AR of hypertension and diabetes did not differ by age, sex, or race-ethnicity. Conclusions: On a population level diabetes and hypertension have important effects on the risk of VE across all socio-demographic groups. For stroke, these effects are more notable at age< 80. Our results may in part be driven by competing risks for other VE outcomes with stroke, or a differential impact of risk factors on stroke in younger individuals.