scholarly journals Knowledge and attitudes of adolescents towards the human microbiome and antibiotic resistance: a qualitative study

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine V Hayes ◽  
Charlotte V Eley ◽  
Fiona Wood ◽  
Alicia Demirjian ◽  
Cliodna A M McNulty

Abstract Background Antibiotic and dietary behaviour affect the human microbiome and influence antibiotic resistance development. Adolescents are a key demographic for influencing knowledge and behaviour change. Objectives To explore adolescents’ knowledge and attitudes towards the microbiome and antibiotic resistance, and the capability, motivation and opportunity for educators to integrate microbiome teaching in schools. Methods Qualitative study informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) and COM-B model. Six educational establishments were purposively selected by rural/city and socioeconomic status, within Gloucestershire, South West England in 2019. Forty 14–18-year olds participated in focus groups, and eight science or health educators participated in interviews. Data were analysed thematically, double-coded and mapped to the TDF/COM-B. Results Adolescents were aware of ‘good microbes’ in the body but lacked deeper knowledge. Adolescents’ knowledge of, and intentions to use, antibiotics appropriately differed by their levels of scientific study. Adolescents lacked knowledge on the consequences of diet on the microbiome, and therefore lacked capability and motivation to change behaviour. Educators felt capable and motivated to teach microbiome topics but lacked opportunity though absence of topics in the national curriculum and lack of time to teach additional topics. Conclusions A disparity in knowledge of adolescents needs to be addressed through increasing antibiotic and microbiome topics in the national curriculum. Public antibiotic campaigns could include communication about the microbiome to increase awareness. Educational resources could motivate adolescents and improve their knowledge, skills and opportunity to improve diet and antibiotic use; so, supporting the UK antimicrobial resistance (AMR) national action plan.

2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-383
Author(s):  
Vasily N. Afonyushkin ◽  
N. A. Donchenko ◽  
Ju. N. Kozlova ◽  
N. A. Davidova ◽  
V. Yu. Koptev ◽  
...  

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a widely represented species of bacteria possessing of a pathogenic potential. This infectious agent is causing wound infections, fibrotic cystitis, fibrosing pneumonia, bacterial sepsis, etc. The microorganism is highly resistant to antiseptics, disinfectants, immune system responses of the body. The responses of a quorum sense of this kind of bacteria ensure the inclusion of many pathogenicity factors. The analysis of the scientific literature made it possible to formulate four questions concerning the role of biofilms for the adaptation of P. aeruginosa to adverse environmental factors: Is another person appears to be predominantly of a source an etiological agent or the source of P. aeruginosa infection in the environment? Does the formation of biofilms influence on the antibiotic resistance? How the antagonistic activity of microorganisms is realized in biofilm form? What is the main function of biofilms in the functioning of bacteria? A hypothesis has been put forward the effect of biofilms on the increase of antibiotic resistance of bacteria and, in particular, P. aeruginosa to be secondary in charcter. It is more likely a biofilmboth to fulfill the function of storing nutrients and provide topical competition in the face of food scarcity. In connection with the incompatibility of the molecular radii of most antibiotics and pores in biofilm, biofilm is doubtful to be capable of performing a barrier function for protecting against antibiotics. However, with respect to antibodies and immunocompetent cells, the barrier function is beyond doubt. The biofilm is more likely to fulfill the function of storing nutrients and providing topical competition in conditions of scarcity of food resources.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Rahmaini Fitri

Pregnancy causes physiological changes in the body and as well as in the oral cavity. Dental and oral diseases associated with pregnancy that is, gingivitis, periodontitis and pregnancy granuloma. Mouth dental disease during pregnancy is not only influenced by the pregnancy itself but rather the lack of knowledge about dental and oral health maintenance. Efforts to improve the knowledge of pregnant women about oral health is done by providing information, information necessary for health education media. In this case the media is created and used to improve the knowledge of pregnant women is the booklet. This study aimed to analyze the differences in knowledge and attitudes before and after maintenance booklet oral health in pregnant women. This study is a quasi experiment with one group pre  and post test design. The sample is the first trimester pregnant women who come to the health center in Sentosa Baru Medan as many as 34 people. Analysis of the data  forcompare the average difference in scores of knowledge and attitudes before and after the intervention used the Wilcoxon test. The results showed there is an increased knowledge and attitude maintenance of oral health in pregnant women after being given a booklet with a value of p < 0.001, a percentage increase of 30% knowledge and attitudes percentage of 37%. The conclusions of this study is increased knowledge and attitude maintenance of oral health in pregnant women after being given a booklet.


2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 586-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Crowe ◽  
Lisa Whitehead ◽  
Mary Jo Gagan ◽  
G. David Baxter ◽  
Avin Pankhurst ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Atif ◽  
Beenish Ihsan ◽  
Iram Malik ◽  
Nafees Ahmad ◽  
Zikria Saleem ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The emerging threat of antibiotic resistance is growing exponentially and antibiotic stewardship programs are cornerstone to fight against this global threat. The study aimed to explore the knowledge, perspectives and practices of physicians regarding various aspects of antibiotic stewardship program including antibiotic stewardship activities, rational use of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance, prescribing practices and factors associated with these practices. Methods In this qualitative study, a total of 17 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with doctors of three tertiary care public sector hospitals in Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan were conducted. The convenient sampling method was adopted to collect the data and the saturation point criterion was applied to determine the sample size. Thematic analysis approach was used to draw conclusions from the data. Results The analysis of data yielded five themes, 12 subthemes and 26 categories. The themes included, (i) perception about antibiotic use and antibiotic stewardship, (ii) antibiotic prescription practices, (iii) antibiotic resistance, (iv) limited strategies adopted by hospital administration to ensure quality and safe distribution of antibiotics, (v) implementation of antibiotic stewardship program: barriers, suggestion and future benefits. Doctors had misconceptions about the rational use of antibiotics. The perception regarding antibiotic stewardship programs was poor. Moreover, very few activities related to ASP existed. The participants gave many suggestions for successful implementation of ASP in order to reduce the burden of antibiotic resistance, including development of guidelines for the use of antibiotics, strict legislation regarding use of antibiotics, active participation of healthcare professionals and awareness program among general public about the use of antibiotics. Conclusion This study concluded that poor knowledge of doctors regarding ASP, non-existence of antibiogram of hospital and lack of rules for the safe use of antibiotics were the main driving factors associated with irrational antibiotic prescription practices and development of AR.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 6891
Author(s):  
João S. Rebelo ◽  
Célia P. F. Domingues ◽  
Francisco Dionisio ◽  
Manuel C. Gomes ◽  
Ana Botelho ◽  
...  

Recently, much attention has been paid to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet bacterial resistance to antibiotics remains a serious and unresolved public health problem that kills hundreds of thousands of people annually, being an insidious and silent pandemic. To contain the spreading of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, populations confined and tightened hygiene measures. We performed this study with computer simulations and by using mobility data of mobile phones from Google in the region of Lisbon, Portugal, comprising 3.7 million people during two different lockdown periods, scenarios of 40 and 60% mobility reduction. In the simulations, we assumed that the network of physical contact between people is that of a small world and computed the antibiotic resistance in human microbiomes after 180 days in the simulation. Our simulations show that reducing human contacts drives a reduction in the diversity of antibiotic resistance genes in human microbiomes. Kruskal–Wallis and Dunn’s pairwise tests show very strong evidence (p < 0.000, adjusted using the Bonferroni correction) of a difference between the four confinement regimes. The proportion of variability in the ranked dependent variable accounted for by the confinement variable was η2 = 0.148, indicating a large effect of confinement on the diversity of antibiotic resistance. We have shown that confinement and hygienic measures, in addition to reducing the spread of pathogenic bacteria in a human network, also reduce resistance and the need to use antibiotics.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Roux ◽  
Russell Belk

Abstract While previous research has mobilized sociological and psychological readings of the body, this study considers it ontologically as the ultimate place we must live in, with no escape possible. A phenomenological framework and a four-year, multimethod, qualitative study of tattoo recipients and tattooists substantiates the conceptualization of the body as a threefold articulation: an inescapable place (topia), the source of utopias arising from fleeting trajectories between here and elsewhere, and the “embodied heterotopia” that it becomes when people rework their bodies as a better place to inhabit. We show how tattooed bodies are spatially conceived as a topia through their topographies, territories, landscapes, and limits. We then highlight how this creates a dynamic interplay between past, present, and future, resulting in utopian dreams of beautification, escape, conjuration, and immutability. Finally, we show how tattooees produce embodied heterotopias, namely other places that both mirror and compensate for their ontological entrapment. In considering the body as a place, our framework enriches phenomenological and existential approaches to self-transformation in contemporary consumption.


2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (36) ◽  
pp. 9623-9628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Kowarsky ◽  
Joan Camunas-Soler ◽  
Michael Kertesz ◽  
Iwijn De Vlaminck ◽  
Winston Koh ◽  
...  

Blood circulates throughout the human body and contains molecules drawn from virtually every tissue, including the microbes and viruses which colonize the body. Through massive shotgun sequencing of circulating cell-free DNA from the blood, we identified hundreds of new bacteria and viruses which represent previously unidentified members of the human microbiome. Analyzing cumulative sequence data from 1,351 blood samples collected from 188 patients enabled us to assemble 7,190 contiguous regions (contigs) larger than 1 kbp, of which 3,761 are novel with little or no sequence homology in any existing databases. The vast majority of these novel contigs possess coding sequences, and we have validated their existence both by finding their presence in independent experiments and by performing direct PCR amplification. When their nearest neighbors are located in the tree of life, many of the organisms represent entirely novel taxa, showing that microbial diversity within the human body is substantially broader than previously appreciated.


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 966-977 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A Lynch ◽  
Julie A Luker ◽  
Dominique A Cadilhac ◽  
Caroline E Fryer ◽  
Susan L Hillier

Objective: To explore the factors perceived to affect rehabilitation assessment and referral practices for patients with stroke. Design: Qualitative study using data from focus groups analysed thematically and then mapped to the Theoretical Domains Framework. Setting: Eight acute stroke units in two states of Australia. Subjects: Health professionals working in acute stroke units. Interventions: Health professionals at all sites had participated in interventions to improve rehabilitation assessment and referral practices, which included provision of copies of an evidence-based decision-making rehabilitation Assessment Tool and pathway. Results: Eight focus groups were conducted (32 total participants). Reported rehabilitation assessment and referral practices varied markedly between units. Continence and mood were not routinely assessed (4 units), and people with stroke symptoms were not consistently referred to rehabilitation (4 units). Key factors influencing practice were identified and included whether health professionals perceived that use of the Assessment Tool would improve rehabilitation assessment practices (theoretical domain ‘social and professional role’); beliefs about outcomes from changing practice such as increased equity for patients or conversely that changing rehabilitation referral patterns would not affect access to rehabilitation (‘belief about consequences’); the influence of the unit’s relationships with other groups including rehabilitation teams (‘social influences’ domain) and understanding within the acute stroke unit team of the purpose of changing assessment practices (‘knowledge’ domain). Conclusion: This study has identified that health professionals’ perceived roles, beliefs about consequences from changing practice and relationships with rehabilitation service providers were perceived to influence rehabilitation assessment and referral practices on Australian acute stroke units.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Nur Asnah Sitohang ◽  
Dewi Elizadiani Suza ◽  
Cut Adeya Adella

Menstruation is periodic bleeding occurring repeatedly every month in women that starts about 14 days after ovulation and is released through the vagina. Menstruation is a characteristic feature of a woman's maturity where there is a change in the uterus in preparation for pregnancy. Menstrual health management (MHM) is a term that is often used in relation to cleanliness during menstruation. Menstrual health management includes facilities used during menstruation including clean water, soap used for bathing and cleaning all parts of the body as well as cleaning sanitary napkins that have been used. MHM is also related to the access they have to safe and comfortable facilities to dispose of used sanitary napkins. Young women must understand knowledge about menstruation and how to manage it appropriately without shame or fear. Health education is a form of independent nursing action to help clients, both individuals, groups and communities in overcoming their health problems through learning activities in which the nurse acts as a nurse educator. This study aims to increase students' knowledge and attitudes about menstrual health management by providing health education. The method used was to socialize activities to the school, identify the condition of menstrual health service facilities in schools such as bathrooms, clean water supply, provide educational media for menstrual health management in the form of videos, leaflets and modules; conduct health education about menstrual health management and post tests. The data analysis used was univariate. The number of samples was 36 people, namely grade VII students. The results of the study that the majority of respondents were 12 years (77.8%), had menstruation (58.3%), age at first menstruation was 11 years (52.3%), experienced menstrual pain (66.7%), information sources regarding: (1) hygiene during menstruation is the mother (38.5%), (2) sanitary napkins from TV commercials (25%), menstruation from mothers (45.5%), (3) types of sanitary napkins currently used modern sanitary napkins (65.9%), (4) the current brand of sanitary napkins from mothers (36.5%). The majority of  knowledge adolescents category is 88.9% good and the attitude of the adolescents is 100% positive. Research proves that there are still students with sufficient knowledge (10.1%) and considering the importance of MHM as an effort to prevent infection in the female reproductive system and minimize the occurrence of cervical cancer in women in the future. Researchers suggest that schools include this topic in subject matter so that reproductive health can be maintained.


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