SUMMARYObjectives: To examine sputum specimens from patients with persistent bronchopulmonary disorders for mycobacterium species and to characterize the recovered isolates with a view to determining the extent of involvement of environmental mycobacteria in pulmonary infections. Design: Analytical study using standard microscopy, culture and biochemical test for the identification of mycobacterium species. Setting: Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) and 2 referral hospitals: Plateau Specialist Hospital and Evangelical Churches of West Africa (ECWA) Evangel Hospital in Jos, Nigeria. Participants: Three hundred and twenty nine (329) volunteer new patients seen at the chest clinic and general out patient departments with broncho-pulmonary disorders. Patients already on anti-tuberculosis were excluded from the study. Interventions: Subjects were administered antituberculosis drugs and or other treatment regimes after proper diagnosis Results: Sixty-five (65) mycobacterial isolates were obtained and differentiated into human tubercle bacilli, bovine and or environmental (atypical) mycobacteria on the basis of nine identification tests. Of the 65 mycobacterial isolates subjected to the tests, 40 (61.54%) were identified as mycobacterium tuberculosis, 10 (15.38%) as M. bovis and 15 (23.08%) as environmental mycobacteria. Among the environmental group, 9 (20.69%) were classified as M. avium 3 (3.45%) each as M. kansasi and M. fortuitum. Conclusions:The study confirms the involvement of bovine and environmental mycobacteria in pulmonary infections. This may be related to the rising prevalence of HIV/AIDS globally. The need for adequate bacteriological analysis in current-day diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in indicated.

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Background: Antimicrobial resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae has compromised the effectiveness of therapy for pneumococcal diseases and asymptomatic nasopharyngeal carriers play an important role in transmission of resistant strains. Method: Eighty-eight volunteer students attending 2 secondary schools in Jos, Nigeria were involved in this study to determine the antimicrobial resistant profile of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from the nasopharynx. The study population consisted of males and females between the ages of 15 -25 years. Nasopharyngeal swab samples were analyzed for the presence of S. pneumoniae using standard bacteriological methods. The isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the disc diffusion method. Results: S. pneumoniae was isolated from 37(42.04%) of the 88 samples. Isolates showed the highest resistance of 12 (32.43%) to erythromycin and lowest resistance of 4(10.81%) to ciprofloxacin. The resistance profiles for the 26(70.27%) penicillin-sensitive and 11(29.72%) penicillin-resistant isolates were similar. Both exhibited varying degrees of resistance to several groups of antimicrobials. However, isolates found to be resistant to penicillin showed a higher degree of resistance to other antimicrobial agents. Conclusion:This study has shown that some secondary school students are carriers of multiple antibiotic-resistant S. pneumoniae.

Objective: To evaluate the Christie, Atkins, Munch-Peterson (CAMP) and hippurate hydrolysis reactions as diagnostic tools for Streptococcus agalactiae carriage in pregnancy. Design: Observational, analytical case-control study. Setting: Hospital-based study in a primary and a tertiary health care institution. Patients: One hundred and six pregnant and 56 non-pregnant (controls) women were included in the study. The participants were of different socio-economic status. A volunteer sample was used. About 800 subjects were contacted and 162 participated in the study. Results: The sensitivity of the screening test varied from 25% for the CAMP test to 77.78% for the hippurate hydrolysis reaction. The specificity was the same for both tests at (50%). A significant difference in positivity between the CAMP and hippurate hydrolysis reactions (95% confidence limit, P<0.05) was observed. The predictive values of the positive test were 66.6% (CAMP) and 87.55% (hippurate hydrolysis) while the negative test were 14.29% (CAMP) and 33.30% (hippurate hydrolysis). Pregnant women had 0.33 chances of being GBS carriers with the CAMP compared to 3.5 with the hippurate hydrolysis. Conclusion:The hippurate hydrolysis test is highly recommended since the reagents are easily available and the organism was easily isolated using this method. The presence of GBS in the anorectum and endocervix is likely to induce systemic and local immunity in the female genital tract. This can contribute to the development of a mucosal vaccine for GBS diseases.