Articles

Background: Egypt has the highest prevalence of HCV in the world as more than 10% of population suffers from HCV infection. High prevalence of HCV in Egypt represents a great risk to the whole population that requires aggressive mass awareness regarding routes of infection and means of prevention. Aim: To determine the knowledge and practices of university students in 5 different faculties in Suez Canal University regarding HCV infection and means of prevention. Materials and method: A cross sectional study was conducted in five university faculties in Suez Canal University. Results: The study included 698 students from the faculties of Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Nursing and Education in Suez Canal University in Ismailia city in Egypt. There was a statistically significant difference regarding the knowledge about the diagnosis, complications and routes of transmission total knowledge score for HCV among the different faculties. Conclusion and Recommendations: Knowledge and practices of university students in Suez Canal University is partial to weak especially in students of non-biological sciences who have less close contact with patients

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the top five pathogens causing healthcare-associated infections. Biofilm formation is nowadays a major problem. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of virulence genes in clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa at Suez Canal University Hospitals with respect to the site of infection and microbial resistance of the strains. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on 47 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains collected from hospitalized patients from December 2015 to August 2017. To detect biofilm formation, we used Tissue Culture Plate Method. The virulence genes (toxA, algD, nan1, pslA and pelA) were amplified using PCR technique. Results: The highest sensitivity was to Imipenem and Ciprofloxacin (85.1% and 68.1% respectively).With respect to the virulence genes, toxA gene was detected in 45 isolates (95.7%), algD gene in 42 isolates (89.4%), pslA in 42 isolates (89.4%) %), pelA cted in 41 isolates (87.2%) and nan1gene was detected in 19 isolates (40.45%). Conclusions and Recommendations: We conclude that there is relationship between virulence genes and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We recommend the expansion of work on a larger sample size in a longer period of time.

Biomarkers have been used in the diagnosis of disease and other conditions for many decades. There are diverse ranges of analytical targets, including metabolites, nucleic acids and proteins were used as a biomarker. Clinical diagnoses already rely heavily on these for patient disease classification, management, and informing treatment and care pathways. For that there is always a need of rapid and point of care test. However, until fairly recently, studies of biomarker efficacy in a clinical setting were mainly limited to single or dual use, and the landscape was complex, confused, and often inconsistent. Few candidates emerged from this somewhat clouded picture: C-reactive protein, procalcitonin (PCT) for sepsis, ADA for mycobacterium tuberculosis and a Circulating miRNAs serve as molecular markers for diverse physiological and pathological conditions.

Filariasis is one of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) known to be of serious public health importance and pose devastating socio-economic burden especially among the poor people in tropical and subtropical countries of the world. The parasite is responsible for lymphatic filariasis affecting about 1.3 billion people in 72 countries worldwide. The major parasitic agents of the infection are three closely related nematodes of clade Onchocercidaei namely Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi and B. timori that are transmitted to human through bites by mosquitoes of genera: Aedes, Anopheles, Culex and Mansonia. The disease is targeted by the World Health Organization (WHO) for elimination by 2020 through the use of chemically synthesized drugs used as therapeutic agents to cure the disease but there are some setbacks. Phytochemical extracts are viewed as alternative therapy in the management of the disease. Additionally, the species have many ecological variants and are diversified in terms of their genetic fingerprint. This diversification in terms of genomic sequences as well as rapid infection rate warrant the lymphatic filarial parasites to respond differently to diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Thus understanding the genomic diversity of the parasite will help in efficient therapeutic management of the disease, thereby eliminating it to prevent unnecessary suffering and contribute to the reduction of poverty. In this review, we have highlighted on the used for phytochemical extracts in the therapeutic management of the lymphatic and the molecular genetic diversity of the parasite was delineated.

Chagas disease is a public health problem in Latin America and its treatment is based on the use of benznidazole or nifurtimox compounds. Both present problems such as resistance, inefficiency in chronic infection and cytotoxic effects. New compounds such as posaconazole and amiodarone have been tested against T. cruzii and shown to be effective. In addition, new molecules have been synthesized and tested against T. cruzii. Because this protozoan is highly pathogenic, even with a number of cases of accidental laboratory infections, few laboratories located outside Latin America are authorized to work with its infective developmental stages. On the other hand, Trypanosoma dionisii is a non-pathogenic protozoan phylogenetically related to T. cruzii and that shares similar strategies to complete its life cycle in mammalian cells in vitro. Here, we describe a comparative analysis of the sensitivity of both parasites to benznidazole, posoconazole and amiodarone. We also analyzed the morphological effects of these compounds on both Trypanosoma species using electron microscopy. Our results show that T. dionisii is more sensitive to the compounds tested than T. cruzii. They also support a previous suggestion that it may constitute an excellent model for large scale screening of compounds against T. cruzii.

Background: Melanin production due to phenoloxidase activity is a distinctive property of Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii species complex yeasts. Therefore, an agar medium containing a precursor of melanin pigment is potentially useful to identify and differentiate cryptococcal colonies from other yeasts. Background: This study aimed to evaluate and compare the ability of Cryptococcus neoformans species complex isolates to produce brown-pigmented colonies when grown on media prepared from various plant leaves or seeds extracts. Material and Methods: Forty-six C. neoformans species complex isolates which were obtained from various environmental and clinical samples were inoculated on different media containing coriander, cumin, soybean, lupine, flax, pumpkin, basil, peppermint, and marjoram, were observed for the rate of growth and pigment production during a five-day period. Results: All isolates were pigmented on all media within 24-48 hours, and brown or dark brown colonies were observed in less than five days, while C. albicans grew but did not produce any pigment. Conclusion: The differential media tested in the present study are simple and inexpensive, and represent alternative valid tools for presumptive identification of C. neoformans species complex from clinical and environmental samples

Nonsurgical fertility control is increasingly advocated as more cost-effective than surgical sterilization to manage stray animal populations in a different part of the world. An experimental study was conducted from December 2018 to April 2019 at Mekelle University to evaluate the effect of single bilateral intratesticular injection of cetrimide 2% in adult albino mice. A total of 20 clinically healthy albino mice selected based on their age and sex and were divided randomly into five groups and evaluation was conducted for 30 days after intratesticular injection of cetrimide solution 2% at the dose rate of 5, 10, 15 and 20 mg per testis and for control 0.1 mL normal saline per testis per 100 g body weight were given. All albino mice were evaluated for 30 days at a fixed interval. Change in body weight, scrotal width, sexual behavior, and fertility performance was also assessed. On day 30, all albino mice were sacrificed for histopathological study. Means  ±  Standard deviation of the mean, one-way, and a mixed model ANOVA (for repeated measures) was used to summarize the data, determine the effects of group and time on bodyweight and scrotal width. The significant increase in body weight (p - 0.001) and significant reduction of scrotal width (p - 0.001) were noted in all cetrimide treated in comparison to control groups. In addition, there was a significant (p < 0.05) reduction of scrotal width in albino mice after intratesticular injection of cetrimide on day 1, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 with respect to their experimental groups. Testicular histology revealed that there were multinucleated giant cells in seminiferous tubules, derangement of tubular architecture along with infiltration of leucocytes and appearance of fibrous tissue were seen on testicular sections at a dose rate of 15 and 20 mg. Similarly, a significant change in the sexual behavior of the treated males and no pregnancy was detected on female albino mice after 21 days post-coital at 10, 15, or 20 mg cetrimide-treated males. In conclusion, a single bilateral intratesticular injection of cetrimide 2% at a dose of 15 and 20 mg might provide an effective way of sterilization and may be considered as an alternative to surgical castration in male animals. Besides, further assessment should be done in the future to identify the mechanism of infertility.

Introduction: Candidiasis is more frequent in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients and knowledge about the distribution and antifungal susceptibility of oral Candida species is important for effective management of candidiasis. Material and Methods: An oral rinses sample collected from hundred HIV-infected patients with and without clinical evidence of oral candidiasis in this study at the Infectious Department/Tripoli Medical Center, Libya. Species identified by standard phenotypic and conventional methods and in vitro susceptibility testing of the yeast isolates to antifungals were performed using the Disc diffusion method protocol as recommended by the Clinical Laboratory Scientific Institute. Results: Oral Candida colonization is detected in all patients with and without clinical syndromes, and Candida albicans were accounted for (74%), C. dubliniensis (11%) and C. glabrata (6%). A high proportion of Candida species (42%) showed decreased susceptibility to fluconazole. Among C., albicans more than 30% of isolate were resistant to most new azole antifungal including fluconazole, itraconazole, posoconazole and voriconazole. Conclusions: A significant number of oral Candida species particular Candida albicans exhibiting decreased susceptibility to fluconazole were isolated from colonized HIV-infected individual, given the high incidence and severity of fungal infections in HIV-infected individuals. The results of this study reinforce the importance of antifungal susceptibility testing, which contributes to the therapeutic strategies and highlights the need for continuous surveillance of Candida colonization in this population.

This review was conducted for the objective of assessing causes of COVID-19 pandemic impacts on life animals and dairy product processing industry of the world. Since its outbreak in Wuhan town of China, the newly emerged strains of corona virus COVID-19 causes incredible crisis both on life animal and its product especially dairy industry of the globe. During the outbreak of the virus, majority of the world people were stayed home to prevent the spread of the diseases. At that time, the wildlife found in the zoo were exposed to diseases and missed human attention, global wildlife trade was spotlighted and wildlife was running… wild. For the reason of COVID-19 pandemic, many schools and restaurants which received dairy product from dairy producers and cooperatives were shutdown. Due to schools and restaurant shutter, milk supply chain was disrupted. For this moment milk demand and supply was decreased, huge volume of milk was dumped, mode of milk trade was changed, market and farm prices was fluctuated, import- export route was interrupted and Farm workforce absenteeism were some of the challenges cases dairy industry crisis. Trade law modification, provision of financial assistance for dairy industry and farmers, and expansion of export route were the measures taken by concerned bodies to save dairy industry from corona virus crisis. Therefore, COVID-19 pandemic is the disaster diseases which causes social and economic crisis on dairy producers of the world. So, to save wildlife and dairy industry from corona virus crisis, global solidarity prevention is mandatory.

Over the last few years, antimicrobial shampoo therapy has been increasingly used to treat skin infections in order to reduce systemic use of antibiotics. This study was aimed to compare the In vitro bactericidal effect of a black currant oil based shampoo (S1) to a chlorhexidine 4% shampoo (S2) against methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MSSP), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP), Staphylococcus aureus (SA), Escherichia coli (EC) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) isolates. A collection of 50 bacterial strains from skin swabs of dogs with superficial recurrent pyoderma was selected: 10 MSSP, 10 MRSP, 10 SA, 10 EC and 10 PA. The two shampoos were blindly tested in duplicate with a microdilution plate method, with scalar concentrations from 1:2 to 1: 256. The MBC was performed for each dilution. A linear regression was used to detect a statistically significance between the two shampoos. All isolates were completely killed at 1:2 up to 1:16 dilution of the two antiseptic products. At the 1:32 dilution the first bacterial growths were observed, in particular for 2 and 4 strains of MRSP by S1 and S2 respectively. The first lethal dilution for SA was at 1:64 for S1/S2 and only for S2 against SP. No significant difference was observed between the two shampoos according to the results of linear regression significant for: i) MRSP, PA and EC (p < 0.05); ii) MSSP and SA (p < 0.1). This study showed that both black currant oil based shampoo and chlorhexidine 4% shampoo have a similar In vitro bactericidal activity.