Infections caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) producing bacteria, including Klebsiella pneumoniae have increasingly subjected to therapeutic limitations and patients with these infections are at high risk for treatment failure, long hospital stays, high health care costs, and high mortality. The aim of this study was to screen the prevalence of the blaTEM,blaCTX-M and blaSHV ESBL genes in K. pneumoniae strains isolated from nosocomial urinary tract infections (UTIs). During the March 2016 to December 2017, one hundred isolates of K. pneumoniae were collected from urine specimens of patients suffering from nosocomial UTI referred to Khatam Al-Anbia hospital in Shahrud, north-central Iran. All isolates were identified by standard bacteriological tests. The pattern of antibiotic susceptibility was determined according to the CLSI guidelines. The presence of the ESBLs was investigated using the double-disc synergy test (DDST). Polymerase chain reaction technique was used to detect the blaTEM, blaCTX-M and blaSHV genes in DDST positive isolates. Most isolates showed remarkable resistance to tested antibiotics with highest rate against nitrofurantoin (75%) and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (65%). The imipenem was the most effective antibiotic against K. pneumoniae isolates. ESBL phenotype was detected in 50 (50%) of isolates. The prevalence of blaTEM, blaCTX-M and blaSHV genes among 50 ESBLs-positive isolates was 25 (50%), 15 (30%) and 35 (70%) respectively. The blaTEM and blaSHV genes were seen in 25 isolates (50%) simultaneously. The findings of this study indicated the 50% frequency rate of ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae in our geographic region. Since the treatment of infections caused by this bacterium is associated with many limitations, this high prevalence is a warning sign to adopt new control policies to prevent further spread of this microorganism.

Introduction The growing resistance to antibiotics and the complexity of defeating multi-drug resistant bacteria have led to an increase in the search for novel and effective antimicrobials from various plants. This study aimed to determine the bioactive contents of Auricularia auricular-judae mushroom and evaluate the antimicrobial potential of its protein extract against some selected human bacterial and fungal pathogens which could serve as a lead to the discovery of new antimicrobial agents. Methods The constituents of the A. auricular-judae were evaluated by standard phytochemical analysis methods. The agar well diffusion, micro-broth dilution, and time-kill kinetic assays were used to determine the antimicrobial activity of the extracts against Staphylococcus aureus , Bacillus subtilis , Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Klebsiella pneumoniae , yeast ( Candida albicans ), and dermatophytic pathogens. Results The preliminary phytochemical analysis of the extracts revealed the presence of carbohydrate (43.15 %; 38.30 %) proteins (23.75 %; 23.75 %), flavonoids (1.20 %; 0.80 %), alkaloids (0.60 %; 1.00 %), saponin (6.00 %; 2.40 %), tannin (1.65 %; 1.57 %), cyanide (0.24 %; 0.40 %), ash (12.40 %; 10.40 %), moisture (6.00 %;6.00 %), lipids(6.00 %;6.00 %), and fiber (8.70 %; 6.45 %) for the Tris buffer and warm aqueous extracts, respectively. The Tris and warm aqueous protein extracts showed antimicrobial effects toward all the human bacterial pathogens and two fungal isolates. Conclusions This study revealed the potential ability of A. auricula-judae for use as a herbal antimicrobial in the treatment of human bacterial and fungal pathogens.

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In Nigeria, several investigations have been done about the prevalence of the AmpC enzyme in clinical isolates of Gram-negative bacteria; however, little information is available on the occurrence rate of this important enzyme in abattoir specimens that play a major role in the environmental pollution in Nigeria. This study aimed to evaluate the presence of FOX AmpC-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from abattoir samples by both phenotypic method and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In this study, 360 abattoir samples were analyzed for the isolation of P. aeruginosa strains. Antibiogram was carried out using the disk diffusion technique. The production of AmpC enzymes was phenotypically screened and confirmed using the cefoxitin--cloxacillin double-disk synergy test (CC-DDST). Finally, gene responsible for FOX AmpC enzyme production was investigated using PCR. A total of 147 (40.8%) isolates of P. aeruginosa was recovered from the abattoir samples. Ceftazidime and ciprofloxacin with 45.6 and 19% of susceptibility rates were the most and the less effective antibiotics, respectively. A total of 24 (16.3%) P. aeruginosa isolates were confirmed to phenotypically produce AmpC enzyme. However, the PCR result showed that only three (12.5%) of P. aeruginosa isolates harbored the FOX AmpC gene suggesting the attendance of other AmpC resistance genes. This study reported the first occurrence of P. aeruginosa isolates harboring the FOX AmpC gene in abattoir samples from south-eastern Nigeria. This incident requires the adoption of new policies and measures to prevent the further spread of strains carrying the AmpC gene.

The ear infections are highly popular disease in the world. Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is one of the prevalent hearing problems, this infection of the middle ear may extend to cranium that can cause many serious complications if not treated duly. It is famed for its return enduring infection. The causative agents of bacteria or fungi may be cause the CSOM infection. Therefore, our study is mainly aimed to identify the bacterial isolates which causing of CSOM and detect some isolates of fungi which implicated in this ear infection with performed of the antimicrobial susceptibility test. The study was executed on people whose attending the outpatients clinic of ENT in AL-Mwanee General Hospital during the period from November, 2016 to May, 2017 in Basrah governorate. Ear swab samples were collected and processed from eighty five (85) patients of CSOM by the following of standard bacteriological procedures mainly, for isolation and identification the bacterial pathogens, in addition, common diagnosis methods was used to detect of some fungal isolates. The positive microbial growth cultures were seen in 59 cases with frequent of (69.41 %) and 26 cases were negative in frequent of (30.58%). Their ages ranged from 1-60 years with high incidence of CSOM in age groups ≤ 10 and 31-50 years old in percent's of (38.82 % and 24.70 %) respectively. Polymicrobial samples from the total isolates (89) which identified in this study were (82) aerobic bacterial isolates in frequent (92.13 %) and 7 fungal isolates in frequent of (7.86 %). The most predominant bacterial isolated which causing CSOM was Pseudomonas aeruginosa in ratio (34.83 %) followed by Staphylococcus aureus,

Research doing on isolation and identification of S.aureus resistance to vancomycin and Methicillin on 547 samples outpatient (adults and non-adults) clinic of Al Shefa General Hospital in Basrah district during the period from October, 2007 to March, 2008, their age was ranged from 5-65 years. One urine sample was collected from each patient under investigation and cultured by the streaking method onto Enrichment media and Selective (differential) media because of the common urinary pathogens and other pathogens grow well on these cultures media. For isolation species depending to genus staphylococcus especially S.aureus (COPS) and (CONS); the samples urine streaking on Mannitol-Salt agar (selective media), the biochemical reactions (identification tests) were doing for staphylococcus Spp. especially COPS, CONS and other bacterial species in dependence on Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology (Holt et.al., 1994). Furthermore, two antimicrobial agents were used in this research : Vancomycin in (30 mg) and methicillin (5 mg) for antimicrobial susceptibility test to S.aureus bacterial isolates (COPS); (CONS). Results showed that the highest isolation rate of infection with S.aureus in cases: VRSA,VISA and VSSA were correlated with age group above 50 years in proportion: 7.93% , 4.76% and 12.69% respectively. Also, the Methicillin Resistance Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was recovered 6.42% and 9.52% in age groups above 50 years. The MR Staphylococci (CONS) was isolated in this study in proportion 4.76%. Besides, different species of bacterial isolates other than S.aureus were identified in 55 infected person with UTI by the common diagnosis method. They consisted of E.coli (38.18%) as the most common bacterium, P.aeruginosa (29.09%), K. pneumoniae (21.81%) and E.faecalis (10.90%).

<abstract> <p>This study aimed to assess the efficacy of starch-based zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) against methicillin-resistant <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> (MRSA) isolates from clinical specimens in Basrah, Iraq. In this cross-sectional study, 61 MRSA were collected from different clinical specimens of patients in Basrah city, Iraq. MRSA isolates were identified using standard microbiology tests, cefoxitin disc diffusion and oxacillin salt agar. ZnO-NPs were synthesized in three different concentrations (0.1 M, 0.05 M, 0.02 M) by the chemical method using starch as the stabilizer. Starch-based ZnO-NPs were characterized using ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The antibacterial effects of particles were investigated by the disc diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the most effective starch-based ZnO-NPs were determined using a broth microdilution assay. The UV-Vis of all concentrations of starch-based ZnO-NPs exhibited a strong absorption band at 360 nm which was characteristic of the ZnO-NPs. XRD assay confirmed the representative hexagonal wurtzite phase of the starch-based ZnO-NPs, and their purity and high crystallinity. The spherical shape with a diameter of 21.56 ± 3.42 and 22.87 ± 3.91 was revealed for the particles by FE-SEM and TEM, respectively. EDS analysis confirmed the presence of zinc (Zn) (61.4 ± 0.54%) and oxygen (O) (36 ± 0.14%). The 0.1 M concentration had the highest antibacterial effects (mean ± SD of inhibition zone = 17.62 ± 2.65 mm) followed by the 0.05 M concentration (16.03 ± 2.24 mm) and the 0.02 M concentration (12.7 ± 2.57 mm). The MIC and the MBC of the 0.1 M concentration were in the range of 25–50 µg/mL and 50–100 µg/mL, respectively. Infections caused by MRSA can be treated with biopolymer-based ZnO-NPs as effective antimicrobials.</p> </abstract>