Background: Bacterial infections are the most common complications in people with HIV/AIDS. There has been no previous report on the prevalence of bacterial co-infections in Iranian HIV/AIDS-positive subjects. Aim: To evaluate the frequency of bacterial infections in hospitalized HIV/AIDS-infected patients in Iran. Materials and methods: Based on PRISMA guidelines, a computerized search in related data banks using relevant keywords was performed in both Persian and English languages for articles that were published until March 10, 2017. A total of 1118 original articles were systematically reviewed to identify eligible studies on the prevalence of bacterial co-infections in HIV/AIDS-infected patients from Iran. After screening for inclusion and exclusion criteria, we extracted data from 28 eligible articles for the meta-analysis. Results: The overall bacterial infection rate among Iranian HIV/AIDS-positive individuals was estimated to be 48.6%. Gastrointestinal disorders (59.5%) were the most frequent bacterial infections in this group of patients followed by bacterial lymphadenopathy (38.9%), TB infection (38.2%), bacterial pneumonia (31.2%), brucellosis (26.3%), skin infections (13.3%) and sexually transmitted infections (9.7%). The prevalence of other bacterial infections including endocarditis, sepsis and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were 10%, 9.1%, and 6.9%, respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of a wide spectrum of bacterial co-infections, especially endemic infections, in Iranian HIV/AIDS-infected patients, is alarming and calls for urgent need to improve the currently applied diagnostic and preventive methods. In addition, timely treatment of these infections is pivotal to decrease the morbidity and mortality rates in HIV/AIDS-infected patients.

Background:The rising frequency of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has led to an increased use of antibiotics such as macrolide, lincosamide, streptogramin B (MLSB) for the treatment of S. aureus infections. Resistance to MLSB in S. aureus is commonly encoded by erm genes, which can be constitutive MLSB (cMLSB) or inducible MLSB (iMLSB). The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of cMLSB, iMLSB, and MS phenotypes using D-test and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods.Materials and Methods:A total of 215 isolates of S. aureus were collected from January 2010 to May 2012 from Al-Zahra Hospital in Isfahan. PCR was performed for detection of mecA gene on all isolates using specific primers. The frequency of MLSB-resistant isolates was determined using D-test, and then a multiplex PCR was performed for detection of ermA, ermB, and ermC genes.Results:Among 215 S. aureus isolates examined, 82 (40.9%) were MRSA, and iMLSB, cMLSB, and MS resistance phenotypes had a frequency of 9 (4.18%), 58 (26.9%), and 11 (5.1%), respectively. Among nine isolates with iMLSB resistance phenotype, four isolates contained ermC gene, two isolates ermB gene, and one isolate ermA gene. Two isolates did not have any erm gene.Conclusion:In the current study, cMLSB was the most frequent phenotype and ermC was the most common gene in iMLSB resistant phenotypes.

The current article is a descriptive-cross sectional study done to investigate the bacterial contamination in the swimming pools in the fall of 2014, in Shahrekord. 21 samples were taken from low-depth and Abstract Background and Purpose: The swimming pool is an important center of entertainment for the public. Pool area is very suitable for the transmission of various diseases, especially fungal and bacterial contamination. The aim of this study was to identify the fungus Candida Albicans, Aspergillus and Penicillium and different bacterial elements in public swimming pools in the fall of 2014. Methods: In this descriptive study, five public swimming pools were investigated in Shahrekord to examine the water contamination for fungal infection in the swimming pools during autumn of 2014. Sampling was done in two different times, and all the microbiological, chemical, and physical tests were done through standard methods. Test parameters included counting and identification of bacteria and fungi, and assessment of the remaining chlorine and pH level. Results: The results revealed that the average pH and chlorine levels were 7.8 and 1.62 mg/L, respectively. The isolated sample of bacteria included Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Other strains of bacteria, i.e. Bacillus cereus, Enterobacter faecalis, Enterobacter aerogenes, and Clostridium perfringens were reported negative. Of 21 strains sampled from five swimming pools in Shahrekord, Penicillium species with 9.52% percent, Candida albicans with 4.76 percent, and Aspergillus species with9.5 % were isolated. Conclusions: As public swimming pools can be contaminated with different types of parasites and also fungi, observing personal and environmental hygiene, and following standards for remaining free chlorine in water can help reduce the fungal contamination. Considering the fact that most of the bacteria isolated from the pool water in the study contained Escherichia coli, we can conclude that improving the environment and hygienic behavior of the swimmers can be effective in reducing the bacterial contamination in the pools.

Background. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the most common pathogens that cause hospital- and community-acquired infections in the world. The use of molecular typing methods is essential for determining the origin of the strains, their clonal relations, and also in epidemiological investigations. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of antibiotic resistant S. aureus isolates and using spa, agr, and SCCmec typing to determine the dominant types in Iran. Material and Method. Fifty isolates of S. aureus were collected from January to May 2010. S. aureus identification was performed by biochemical tests. Disk diffusion method was employed to assess the sensitivity of S. aureus strains to antibiotics and then genetic analysis of bacteria was performed using SCCmec, agr, and spa typing. Results. S. aureus resistance to tetracycline, cefoxitin, clindamycin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, Cot: cotrimoxazole, levofloxacin, rifampin, and vancomycin were found to be 36%, 18%, 12%, 12%, 22%, 6%, 6%, and 0%, respectively. The results of this study showed that 16% of the isolates were resistant to methicillin (MRSA) and the majority of isolates were SSC mec type IV. In addition spa and agr typing revealed agr typeI and spa type t7688 to be the most predominant. Conclusion. In this study, spa typing showed 100% reliability and the t7688 spa type had a frequency of 26% compared to the frequency of 0.0% in the Ridom SpaServer. The frequency of t304 spa type was higher than the global average.

Background:The rapid emergence and spread of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) has raised considerable public health concern in both developed and developing countries. The current study aimed to address the extent of this phenomenon in healthy preschool children of a developing country.Materials and Methods:We conducted a prospective study from April 2013 to March 2014 on 410 healthy 2-6 years old preschool children in Isfahan, Iran. Demographic medical data and nasal samples were collected from the participating children. Isolates were identified as S. aureus and MRSA based on microbiological and molecular tests, including the presence of eap and mecA genes.Results:The overall prevalence of S. aureus and CA-MRSA nasal carriage was 28% (115/410) and 6.1% (25/410), respectively. The identity of isolates was confirmed by molecular assay. The factors that were independently associated with nasal carriage of S. aureus were: Children crowding in day-care nurseries and income level of families. A total of 20/90 (22.2%) of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus and all 25 CA-MRSA displayed multiple drug resistance to 3–8 antibiotics.Conclusions:The current report reflects issues and concerns that the high rate of colonization by CA-MRSA in Iranian healthy children provides obliging evidence that MRSA have established a foothold in the community and are emerging as important health threatening pathogens. It is suggested that we need more effective infection control measures to prevent transmission of nasal CA-MRSA in healthy preschool children.