The five-year prevalence of HBV infection among blood donors in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia (3.24%) is lower than that reported for other regions in the country. The occult HBV infection rate of 0.05% emphasizes the importance of NATs in isolating potential infectious blood units.

The western region of Saudi Arabia is known as a multinational region with different ethnic groups of people. This study aims to evaluate the ABO and rhesus blood groups among study subjects in the Western area of Saudi Arabia and their comparison with other regions of the Kingdom. It is a retrospective study. 35,388 participants were included. ABO blood grouping was done using tube method. Agglutination in any tube or hemolysis was considered as positive. Blood grouping was done by a preliminary finger prick, and was repeated again and a serum sample was obtained at the time of donation. Statistical Package for Social Sciences software was used for the data analysis. Results showed that the most common blood group is O, (50.1%) followed by A (29.7%), B (16%) and less frequent is AB (4.1%). Rhesus positive were 91.3%, while rhesus negative were 8.63%. These results demonstrate that the most common blood group in the Western province is O. Blood group A was noticed to be less frequent. Understanding the frequencies of the blood groups and their phenotypes is crucial for blood banking and for setting transfusion service protocols.

Introduction. Bloodstream infections (BSI) among patients with hematological malignancies (HM) could predispose them to higher morbidity and mortality for various underlying conditions. Several microorganisms, either pathogenic or opportunistic normal human flora, could cause severe bacteremia and septicemia. While conventional methods have their own limitations, molecular methods such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) can detect these blood infections with more reliability, specificity, and sensitivity, in addition to information on microbial population landscape. Methodology. Blood samples from HM patients ( n = 50 ) and volunteer blood donor control individuals with no HM ( n = 50 ) were subjected to 16S rRNA gene amplification using standard PCR protocols. A metagenomic library was prepared, and NGS was run on a MiSeq (Illumina) sequencer. Sequence reads were analyzed using MiSeq Reporter, and microbial taxa were aligned using the Green Genes library. Results. 82% of the patients showed BSI with Gram-negative bacteria as the most predominant group. E. coli comprised a major chunk of the bacterial population (19.51%), followed by K. pneumoniae (17.07%). The CoNS and Viridans Streptococci groups are 17.07% and 14.63%, respectively. Other major species were S. aureus (9.75%), P. aeruginosa (7.31%), A. baumannii (4.87%), E. cloacae (4.87%), and P. mirabilis (4.87%). 34.14% of the cases among patients showed a Gram-positive infection, while 14.63% showed polymicrobial infections. Conclusion. Most of the BSI in patients were characterized by polymicrobial infections, unlike the control samples. Molecular methods like NGS showed robust, fast, and specific identification of infectious agents in BSI in HM, indicating the possibility of its application in routine follow-up of such patients for infections.

Background  The presence of Extended-spectrum β-lactamase positive bacteria in hospital setting is an aggravating influential factor for hospitalized patients, and its consequences may be hazardous. Therefore, there is a need for rapid detection methods for newly emerging drug-resistant bacteria. This study was aimed at the molecular characterization of Extended-spectrum β-lactamase -positive  Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates recovered from the patients of a teaching hospital in Sindh, Pakistan.   Methods  A total of 513  K. pneumoniae isolates were obtained from various clinical samples during June 2019 to May 2020. The collected isolates were investigated for antimicrobial susceptibility (antibiogram), and PCR and DNA sequencing were performed to analyse the ESBL genes.   Results  Among the 513 isolates, as many as 359 (69.9%) were Extended-spectrum β-lactamase producers and 87.5% were multi-drug resistant, while none had resistance to imipenem. PCR scored 3% blaTEM, 3% blaSHV, and 60% blaCTX-M-15 genes for the tested isolates.   Conclusion  The study showed that CTX-M-15 was the major prevalent Extended-spectrum β-lactamase type among the isolates. Additionally, all the isolates were susceptible to carbapenems. Screening and detection of Extended-spectrum β-lactamase tests are necessary among all isolates from the enterobacteriaceae family in routine microbiology laboratory to prevent associated nosocomial infections. A larger study is essential to understand molecular epidemiology of Extended-spectrum β-lactamase producing organisms to minimize morbidities due to these multidrug resistant organisms.

Purpose To identify the Acinetobacter baumannii infection among transfusion dependent thalassemia patients. Methods A quantitative approach was employed to assess Acinetobacter baumannii infection in transfusion dependent thalassemia patients. Samples were collected from 916 patients, which have shown bacterial growth on MacConkey and blood agar culture media. A. baumannii strains were identified by microbiological methods and Gram's staining. API 20 E kit (Biomerieux, USA) was used for final identification. Results From 916 cultured blood specimens, 107 (11.6%) showed growth of A. baumannii. Serum ferritin in thalassemic patients without bacterial infections was 3849.5 ± 1513.5 µg/L versus 6413.5 ± 2103.9 µg/L in those with bacterial infections (p = 0.0001). Acinetobacter baumannii infected patients have shown higher serum ferritin levels (p = 0.0001). Serum ferritin in thalassemic patients was 3849.5 ± 1513.5 µg/L versus 6413.5 ± 2103.9 µg/L in those with bacterial infections (p = 0.0001). Acinetobacter baumannii infected patients showed high serum ferritin levels (p = 0.0001). The clinical symptoms have been found with A. baumannii +ve with a mean and standard deviation of 47 (5.1%) and A. baumannii −ve with mean and standard deviation of 60 (6.5%). Conclusion Isolation of asymptomatic A. baumannii from the thalassemia patients shows an alarming situation of bacterial infections. A continuous surveillance of transfusion dependent thalassemia patients is recommended for bacterial sepsis.