Diversity of SCCmec Elements in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Recovered from a Healthy Student Population in Kenya

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osborn Khasabuli ◽  
Caroline Ngugi ◽  
John Kiiru

Abstract Background: Methicillin-resistant S. aureus continues to be a concern for public health systems, particularly due to infections emerging in non-hospital settings. Resistance to methicillin is presently classified as a serious phenomenon because the majority of methicillin-resistant strains are also multi-drug resistant. The genetic determinant of resistance to methicillin and other β-lactam antibiotics is the mec-A gene, which lies in the SCCmec resistance island. In Kenya, studies done previously have shown the existence of SCCmec types in clinical isolates, but similar information on isolates recovered from healthy populations is scanty.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on healthy university students residing within the university residence halls to determine the carriage of MRSA. MRSA was detected using Cefoxitin (30µg), and mec-A gene and Sccmec elements were detected using conventional PCR methods. A total of 237 students were recruited, and 657 swabs were collected using standards methods for recovering S. aureus.Results: A total of 231 S. aureus isolates were recovered, out of which 26 (11.3%) were MRSA. Out of the 26 MRSA strains, 17 carried the mecA gene in their gene cassettes. SCCmecV was the most prevalent (61.5%), followed by SCCmecII (53.9%) among the MRSA strains. SCCmecIVa, SCCmecIVb, SCCmecIVc and SCCmecIVd were absent in all the isolates. SCCmecV was found to be highly prevalent (64.7%) followed by SCCmecII, 8 (47.1%) among the mecA-positive MRSA strains. On the other hand, small proportions of mecA-negative isolates harbored SCCmecI (0.9%), SCCmecII (3.3%), SCCmec III (0.5%) and SCCmecV (2.3%).Conclusion: This study revealed that the strains recovered from the student population were highly diverse in terms of the SCCmec elements they carried in their gene cassettes.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitra Omidi ◽  
Farzaneh Firoozeh ◽  
Mahmood Saffari ◽  
Hossein Sedaghat ◽  
Mohammad Zibaei ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective This study aimed to evaluate the phenotypic and genotypic characterization of biofilm formation and spa and ica genes among clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Result This cross-sectional study was performed on 146 Staphylococcus aureus isolates from hospitalized patients in Isfahan Province Hospitals. MRSA isolates were confirmed using disk diffusion test with oxacillin disk and amplification of mecA gene by PCR assays. Ability of biofilm production was evaluated targeting the icaA and icaD genes. Of 146 Staphylococcus aureus isolates, 24 (16.4%) carried mecA genes and identified as MRSA strains. Strong ability of biofilm production was seen among 76.02% (111/146) S. aureus isolates and 87.5% (21/24) MRSA strains, respectively. Also, 75.0% (18/24) MRSA isolates carried icaA and icaD was not detected in these strains. Analysis of spa gene showed 70.83% (17/24) MRSA strains were spa positive. From which 14 and 3 strains identified with one band (150, 270, 300, 360, 400 bp) and two bands (150–300 bp), respectively. According to data obtained, the prevalence of MRSA isolates from Isfahan Province Hospitals is relatively high and a remarkable percentage of them show strong power in biofilm production. Also analysis of spa gene showed a fairly large diversity among MRSA strains.


1998 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 414-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Na’was ◽  
A. Hawwari ◽  
E. Hendrix ◽  
J. Hebden ◽  
R. Edelman ◽  
...  

Staphylococcus aureus is a major cause of nosocomial infections. During the period from March 1992 to March 1994, the patients admitted to the intensive care unit of the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center were monitored for the development ofS. aureus infections. Among the 776 patients eligible for the study, 60 (7.7%) patients developed 65 incidents of nosocomialS. aureus infections. Of the clinical isolates, 43.1% possessed a polysaccharide type 5 capsule, 44.6% possessed a type 8 capsule, and the remaining 12.3% had capsules that were not typed by the type 5 or type 8 antibodies. Six antibiogram types were noted among the infection-related isolates, with the majority of the types being resistant only to penicillin and ampicillin. It was noted that the majority of cases of pneumonia were caused by relatively susceptible strains, while resistant strains were isolated from patients with bacteremia and other infections. Only 16 (6.3%) of the isolates were found to be methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). DNA fingerprinting by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed 36 different patterns, with characteristic patterns being found for MRSA strains and the strains with different capsular types. Clonal relationships were established, and the origins of the infection-related isolates in each patient were determined. We conclude that (i) nosocomial infection-related isolates from the shock trauma patients did not belong to a single clone, although the predominance of a methicillin-resistant genotype was noted, (ii) most infection-relatedS. aureus isolates were relatively susceptible to antibiotics, but a MRSA strain was endemic, and (iii) for practical purposes, the combination of the results of capsular and antibiogram typing can be used as a useful epidemiological marker.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Sadaf Razzak ◽  
Hina Faisal ◽  
Amir Bux Detho ◽  
Muhammad Asif Durrani ◽  
Fakhuruddin ◽  
...  

Objectives: D-Test as a tool to detect the frequency of clindamycin resistance in community acquired and hospital acquired methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections. Study Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: Microbiology department of BMSI, JPMC, Karachi. Period: January 2015 till December 2015. Material & Methods: Pus samples from deep wounds, skin lesions, abscesses, postoperative wounds from surgical, medical wards and OPDs were collected. MRSA testing and susceptibility testing for antibiotics was done according to CLSI2014. The frequency of inducible clindamycin resistance was detected by D-Test of the CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA. Result: In a total of 402 S. aurous isolates, 253 (62.93%) were methicillin-sensitive and 149 (37.06%) were methicillin-resistant. Out of 149 MRSA, 106 (71.14%) were HA-MRSA and 43(28.85%) were CA-MRSA. Among the HA-MRSA, 63(59.8%) were resistant to clindamycin while with D-Test, it increased to 78(73.58%). Out of 43 CA-MRSA, 9 (21.6%) were clindamycin resistant, while with D-Test, the resistance to clindamycin increased to 13 (30.23%). Conclusion: Inducible clindamycin-resistant strains may lead to clindamycin treatment failure in patients with S. aureus infection. Therefore, D-test should be done in priority to detect inducible clindamycin resistance in S. aurous.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
P Vlachopanou ◽  
T Tsiampalis ◽  
E Karagiannopoulou

Abstract Background In recent decades there has been keen research interest in the concept of procrastination and its impact on the student population with few studies being conducted in the Greek student population. The present study aimed to contribute to our knowledge regarding the causes that bring about academic procrastination and to further explore participants’ characteristics regarding these causes. Methods A cross-sectional study conducted in Greece with 628 college students at the University of Ioannina. Specially designed instruments were used to record students’ sociodemographic characteristics and causes of procrastination (CP). Factor Analysis (FA) with principal components (PCA) was used to derive the main students’ causes of procrastination, though Analysis of Covariance was used to examine the effect of their characteristics on these causes. Results 5 main causes of procrastination were identified explaining 48% of the total variation. Students’ lack of duty/ low tolerance for frustration was significantly associated with their gender (p = 0.005), year of study (p = 0.048) and grades (p = 0.008), while their dependency/difficulty of claim was significantly affected by students’ gender (p = 0.042), way of living (p = 0.034), place of residence (p = 0.001) and their age (p = 0.006). Moreover, their place of residence was significantly associated with their fear of failure (p = 0.001) and their difficulties in time management and decision making (p = 0.049), with those not living in the place of origin presenting greater values in relation to the aforementioned factors. Conclusions Procrastination is a widespread phenomenon in academic settings that affects differently each gender and is also affected by the sociodemographic factors. This study demonstrates the importance of investigating the causes of procrastination as a concept that helps us understand students’ behaviour and patterns associated with it. Key messages There is a great need for further studies on the causes of procrastination in order to help Universities to design learning environments that will be helpful for their students. The college instructors should train students not to procrastinate via preventing interventions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-198
Author(s):  
Heiko Haase ◽  
Arndt Lautenschläger

AbstractThe paper aims at exploring determinants of the university students' intentions to stay within their university region. At this, we presume that students' career choice motivations are related to their professional intentions, which again, along with demographic characteristics, affect their migration decision. Our analysis is based on a cross-sectional study of 2,353 students from three different higher education institutions, two of them located in Germany and one in Namibia. Results indicate that in Germany migration matters because a considerable proportion of students intend to leave the university region after graduation. At this, we found that the students' geographical provenance exerts the most significant effect on the intention to stay. Moreover, certain professional intentions were directly and some career choice motivations were indirectly linked with the intention to remain at the university location. We present several conclusions and implications.


2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-110
Author(s):  
Gina Botnariu ◽  
Norina Forna ◽  
Alina Popa ◽  
Raluca Popescu ◽  
Alina Onofriescu ◽  
...  

To assess the correlation between main parameters of glycemic control and cardiovascular risk scores in non-diabetic persons. Risk scores were calculated by using the University of Edinburgh Risk Calculator. Risk scores are used to estimate the probability of cardiovascular disease in individuals who have not already developed major atherosclerotic disease. We correlated the results of these scores with the parameters that describes the glycaemic profile: preprandial glicaemia, HbA1c and 1 hour and 2 h post-prandial glycaemia, determined during Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).Both fasting glycaemia and HbA1c significantly correlated with cardiovascular risk scores calculated for a period of 10 years. The recorded post-prandial glycaemic values at 1h and 2h after glucose loading didn�t significantly correlate with calculated scores, in the study group. The observed correlations underline the importance of glycaemia in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases.


Author(s):  
Sebastián Videla ◽  
Aurema Otero ◽  
Sara Martí ◽  
M. Ángeles Domínguez ◽  
Nuria Fabrellas ◽  
...  

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic started in December 2019 and still is a major global health challenge. Lockdown measures and social distancing sparked a global shift towards online learning, which deeply impacted universities’ daily life, and the University of Barcelona (UB) was not an exception. Accordingly, we aimed to determine the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic at the UB. To that end, we performed a cross-sectional study on a sample of 2784 UB members (n = 52,529). Participants answered a brief, ad hoc, online epidemiological questionnaire and provided a nasal swab for reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) SARS-CoV-2 analysis and a venous blood sample for SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody assay. Total prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection (positive RT-PCR or positive IgG) was 14.9% (95%CI 13.3 to 17.0%). Forty-four participants (1.6%, 95%CI: 1.2–2.1%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR. IgG against SARS-CoV-2 was observed in 12.8% (95%CI: 11.6–14.1%) of participants. Overall, while waiting for population vaccination and/or increased herd immunity, we should concentrate on identifying and isolating new cases and their contacts.


2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark W. Swanson ◽  
Eric Bodner ◽  
Patricia Sawyer ◽  
Richard M. Allman

Little is known about the effect of reduced vision on physical activity in older adults. This study evaluates the association of visual acuity level, self-reported vision, and ocular disease conditions with leisure-time physical activity and calculated caloric expenditure. A cross-sectional study of 911 subjects 65 yr and older from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Aging (SOA) cohort was conducted evaluating the association of vision-related variables to weekly kilocalorie expenditure calculated from the 17-item Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire. Ordinal logistic regression was used to evaluate possible associations while controlling for potential confounders. In multivariate analyses, each lower step in visual acuity below 20/50 was significantly associated with reduced odds of having a higher level of physical activity, OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.67, 0.97. Reduced visual acuity appears to be independently associated with lower levels of physical activity among community-dwelling adults.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. e045643
Author(s):  
Alison Fielding ◽  
Benjamin Eric Mundy ◽  
Amanda Tapley ◽  
Linda Klein ◽  
Sarah Gani ◽  
...  

IntroductionClinical teaching visits (CTVs) are formative workplace-based assessments that involve a senior general practitioner (GP) observing a clinical practice session of a general practice registrar (specialist vocational GP trainee). These visits constitute a key part of Australian GP training. Despite being mandatory and resource-intensive, there is a paucity of evidence regarding the content and educational utility of CTVs. This study aims to establish the content and educational utility of CTVs across varying practice settings within Australia, as perceived by registrars and their assessors (‘CT visitors’). In addition, this study aims to establish registrar, CT visitor and practice factors associated with CTV content and perceived CTV utility ratings.Methods and analysisThis study will collect data prospectively using online questionnaires completed soon after incident CTVs. Participants will be registrars and CT visitors of CTVs conducted from March 2020 to January 2021. The setting is three Regional Training Organisations across four Australian states and territories (encompassing 37% of Australian GP registrars).Outcome factors will be a number of specified CTV content elements occurring during the CTV as well as participants’ perceptions of CTV utility, which will be analysed using univariate and multivariable regression.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval has been granted by the University of Newcastle Human Research Ethics Committee, approval number H-2020-0037. Study findings are planned to be disseminated via conference presentation, peer-reviewed journals, educational practice translational workshops and the GP Synergy research subwebsite.


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