Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) making up a large majority of all cases. Despite advancement and discoveries in cancer therapy, treatment of this disease has been less successful due to serious side effects and drug resistance. Therefore, there is a need to research into new therapeutic approaches for this disease. This study, therefore, evaluated the effect of two common cytotoxic lung cancer drugs, the etoposide and cisplatin on two lung cell lines, A549 (lung cancer cell line) and BEAS-2B (normal lung virus-transformed cell line). Our study was aimed at testing the response of normal lung and lung cancer cells to different concentrations of etoposide and cisplatin over a period of time in order to determine the cytotoxic effect of these drugs. The cells were grown in culture plates and MTT assays were performed on both cell lines in order to determine each cell line's IC50 in response to various concentrations of cisplatin and etoposide over a maximum period of 72 hrs. Our results showed a cytotoxic effect on both cell lines. Unexpectedly, higher drug toxicity was observed on BEAS-2B compared to A549 cell lines. Consequently, this data highlights the necessity for further search of a more selective and effective drug that has minimal toxicity on the normal cells for effective treatment of NSCLC and lung cancer in general.

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Staphylococcus aureus is a well-known agent of zoonotic infections. Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus (LA-MRSA) had been receiving public health attention for over a decade. Recently, the genomes of some MRSA strains evolved further by enabling acquisition of vanA gene from enterococcus which drives the emergence of vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA), thus signaling a higher threat to antimicrobial chemotherapy and diagnostic microbiology. This study was designed to examine slaughtered chicken carcasses in Omu-Aran, North-Central Nigeria for the presence of VRSA using vancomycin agar screen (VAS) as recommended by the Clinical and Laboratories Standards Institute (CLSI). To provide independent witness to further support the evidences from VAS, a 235 bp marker for vanA gene was simultaneously detected by Original Research Article

Fusariums pecies are opportunistic fungi that play an important role in nosocomial infection. The reservoir of Fusarium species in the hospital is not well understood in our environment. Therefore, the present study sought to identify the reservoir of Fusarium species in hospital environment. Three hundred and sixty (360) samples were collected from the environment of two tertiary health care facilities A and B. The sample consists of water (120), soil (120) and plants (120) which were sourced from hospital environments. Cultures of these samples were performed and polymerase chain reaction was used to confirm Fusarium species. The most predominant specie was Fusarium oxysporum Hospital A:(57.3%) and Hospital B:(64.4%). Most of the Fusarium isolates (76.7%) were recovered from soil samples, followed by water (45.0%) and the least were from plants (30.8%). In conclusion the present study has demonstrated that hospital environment is a reservoir for Fusarium species. However, identification of such reservoir would further enhance effective infection control measures.

Background: Garlic has been recognized not only as a spice but also