Occurrence of bacteraemia following oral and maxillofacial surgical procedures in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Study Design: A prospective study of 130 patients attending the Government Dental and Maxillofacial Hospital (now Maxillofacial unit, Rivers State University Teaching Hospital), Port Harcourt, between August 2018 and September 2019. Objective: To examine the factors that affect the occurrence of a bacteremia associated with oral and maxillofacial surgical procedures, and the types of bacteria causing this bacteremia, and establish the need or otherwise for prophylactic antibiotics in, ‘at risk’ patients. Methods: 130 healthy adult patients requiring various oral and maxillofacial surgical procedures under local anesthesia using 2% lidocaine with 1: 100,000 adrenaline, were screened bacteriologically to determine the occurrence of a bacteremia. 5 milliliters of venous blood was collected from the antecubital vein of each patient preoperatively and within 3 minutes postoperatively. The samples collected were cultured and bacteriological identification done and analyzed. Results: Bacteremia was found in 43 (33.1%) of 130 patients postoperatively. In patients undergoing extractions, bacteremia occurred more frequently when teeth were extracted due to inflammatory dental diseases. There was no statistical correlation between the occurrence of a bacteremia and the number of teeth extracted (p>0.05). Of the 70 isolates obtained postoperatively, 5 (6.4%) were aerobes, 51 (65.4%) were facultative anaerobes (including microaerophiles) and 14 (17.9%) were anaerobes. Among the facultative anaerobes (including microaerophiles), the most frequently isolated bacteria generawere species of Staphylococcus (25.7%), Streptococcus spp. (17.1%) and Streptococcus viridans (15.7%) and among the anaerobes, Bacteriodes spp. (8.6%) were the most frequently isolated. All the isolates were sensitive to azithromycin, amikacin, imipenemand meropenem. However, 3 (30%) of the isolates were resistant to amoxicillin, which is a commonly used drug for antimicrobial prophylaxis. Conclusion: This study shows the occurrence of bacteremia in Nigerians following various oral and maxillofacial surgical procedures and that the observed bacteremia was not dependent on the patient’s age or gender. This study emphasizes the need for antibiotic prophylaxis in those patients who are at risk of developing complications from bacteremia. Amoxicillin as this study shows will not be an effective antibiotic prophylactic agent in a majority of patients. The author therefore recommends the use of azithromycin as an alternative prophylactic agent in those patients. Keywords: Bacteremia; bacteria isolates; antimicrobial prophylaxis; Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

SUBSTANTIATION OF COMPONENT COMPOSITION OF A COMPLEX PREPARATION AGAINST T-2 TOXIN IN in vitro EXPERIMENTS

As a stimulant (adaptogen), a unique, harmless and rich in biological composition among numerous apiproducts is considered a powder of bee dead. In this regard, the substantiation of the component composition of the developed complex prophylactic agent against T-2 toxin in in vitro experiments was carried out. That was the purpose of this work. The research work was carried out on the basis of the laboratory of mycotoxins of department of toxicology of FSBSI "Federal Center for Toxicological, Radiation and Biological Safety" (Kazan). The results of the study made it possible to determine the component composition of the complex prophylactic agent "Zeapitox" with antitoxic and immunostimulating effects. Its composition consists of zeolite – 95 % and bee dead – 5 %. The adsorption capacity of the "Zeapitox" against T-2 toxin was 66 %.

Montelukast and Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Scoping Review

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging worldwide issue, that has affected a large number of people around the world. So far, many studies have aimed to develop a therapeutic approach against COVID-19. Montelukast (MK) is a safe asthma controller drug, which is considered as a potential antiviral drug for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This review has a systematic approach to investigate the reports on the use of MK as a part of treatment or a prophylactic agent in COVID-19. The search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases and yielded 35 studies containing the influence of MK on SARS-CoV-2. Ultimately, MK appears to be worth being used as an adjuvant therapeutic and prophylactic drug against SARS-CoV-2. Nevertheless, more clinical trials are required to accurately investigate its effectiveness.

A Retrospective Observational Study of Chlorine Dioxide Effectiveness to Covid19-like Symptoms Prophylaxis in Relatives Living with COVID19 Patients

To date, there is no effective prophylactic agent to prevent COVID-19. However, the development of symptoms similar to covid19 could be prevented with an aqueous solution of chlorine dioxide (ClO2). This retrospective study evaluated the effectiveness of an aqueous solution of ClO2 (CDS) as a prophylactic agent in 1,163 family members living with positive/suspected COVID19 patients. Prophylactic treatment consisted of 0.0003% chlorine dioxide solution (CDS) orally for at least fourteen days. Family members in whom no reports of the development of covid19-like symptoms were found in the medical history were considered successful cases. The efficacy of CDS in preventing covid19-like symptoms was 90.4% (1,051 of 1,163 relatives did not report any symptoms). The comorbidities, sex and severity of the illness of the sick patient did not contribute to the development of symptoms similar to covid19 (P = 0.092, P = 0.351 and P = 0.574, respectively). However, older relatives were more likely to develop covid19-like symptoms (ORa = 4.22, P = 0.002). There was no evidence of alterations in blood parameters or in the QTc interval in relatives who consumed CDS. The recent findings regarding Chlorine Dioxide justify designing clinical trials to assess its efficacy for preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Mitochondria as a potential target for the development of prophylactic and therapeutic drugs against Schistosoma mansoni infection

Emergence of parasites resistant to praziquantel, the only therapeutic agent, and its ineffectiveness as a prophylactic agent (inactive against the migratory/juvenile Schistosoma mansoni ), makes the development of new antischistosomal drugs urgent. The parasite’s mitochondrion is an attractive target for drug development because this organelle is essential for survival throughout the parasite’s life cycle. We investigated the effects of 116 compounds against Schistosoma mansoni cercariae motility that have been reported to affect mitochondria-related processes in other organisms. Next, eight compounds plus two controls (mefloquine and praziquantel) were selected and assayed against motility of schistosomula ( in vitro ) and adults ( ex vivo ). Prophylactic and therapeutic assays were performed using infected mouse models. Inhibition of oxygen consumption rate (OCR) was assayed using Seahorse XFe24 Analyzer. All selected compounds showed excellent prophylactic activity, reducing the worm burden in the lungs to less than 15% that obtained in the vehicle control. Notably, ascofuranone showed the highest activity with a 98% reduction of the worm burden, suggesting the potential for development of ascofuranone as a prophylactic agent. The worm burden of infected mice with S. mansoni at the adult stage was reduced by more than 50% in mice treated with mefloquine, nitazoxanide, amiodarone, ascofuranone, pyrvinium pamoate, or plumbagin. Moreover, adult mitochondrial OCR was severely inhibited by ascofuranone, atovaquone, and nitazoxanide, while pyrvinium pamoate inhibited both mitochondrial and non-mitochondrial OCRs. These results demonstrate that the mitochondria of S. mansoni are feasible target for drug development.

A retrospective observational study of Chlorine Dioxide effectiveness to covid19-like symptoms prophylaxis in relatives living with COVID19 patients

To date, there is no effective prophylactic agent to prevent COVID-19. However, the development of symptoms similar to covid19 could be prevented with an aqueous solution of chlorine dioxide (ClO2). This retrospective study evaluated the effectiveness of an aqueous solution of ClO2 (CDS) as a prophylactic agent in 1,163 family members living with positive/suspected COVID19 patients. Prophylactic treatment consisted of 0.0003% chlorine dioxide solution (CDS) orally for at least fourteen days. Family members in whom no reports of the development of covid19-like symptoms were found in the medical history were considered successful cases. The efficacy of CDS in preventing covid19-like symptoms was 90.4% (1,051 of 1,163 relatives did not report any symptoms). The comorbidities, sex and severity of the illness of the sick patient did not contribute to the development of symptoms similar to covid19 (P = 0.092, P = 0.351 and P = 0.574, respectively). However, older relatives were more likely to develop covid19-like symptoms (ORa = 4.22, P = 0.002). There was no evidence of alterations in blood parameters or in the QTc interval in relatives who consumed CDS. The recent findings regarding Chlorine Dioxide justify designing clinical trials to assess its efficacy for preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Pattern of use of hydroxychloroquine as prophylaxis among health care workers against COVID-19: a KAP study

Background: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQs) was one of the first chemoprophylaxis that received the recommendation for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). ICMR also time to time revised the guidelines for the use of HCQs as a prophylactic agent against COVID-19. But its mechanism of action for the same and duration of use was not much supported by available evidence. Hence, we conducted a web-based survey among Health Care Workers (HCWs) to know their Knowledge attitude practice (KAP) on HCQs use.Methods: We used a web-based questionnaire through google form which was circulated through snowball technique among health care worker working in a various hospital set up through various social media over a period of 1-month.Results: In our study total 159 HCWs responded to questionnaire. 37.1% (59/159) HCWs had taken HCQs, out of which 13.2% (21/59) participants acquired SARS-CoV-2 infection. Out of suffered HCWs, 38% (8/21) had taken full 7 weeks regime. Also, 84.7% (50/59) participants responded that they were confused whether to continue further taking HCQ after completing 7 weeks HCQ regimen or before every turn of their COVID duty.Conclusions: ICMR recommended its use in early phase of COVID-19 when there was not sufficient data available about its treatment and prophylaxis. But with the coming evidences we now know that there is limited role of HCQ in terms of prophylactic agent against SARS-CoV-2.

Bovine Colostrum Derived Antibodies Against SARS-CoV-2 Show Great Potential to Serve as a Prophylactic Agent

Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) until now imposes a serious burden to health systems globally. Despite worldwide vaccination, social distancing and wearing masks, the spread of the virus is still ongoing. One of the mechanisms how neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) block virus entry into cells encompasses interaction inhibition between the cell surface receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and the spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 specific NAb development can be induced in the blood of cattle. Pregnant cows produce NAbs upon immunization, and antibodies move into the colostrum just before calving. Here we immunized cows with SARS-CoV-2 S1 receptor binding domain (RBD) protein in proper adjuvant solutions, followed by one boost with SARS-CoV-2 trimeric S protein, and purified immunoglobulins from colostrum. We demonstrate that this preparation indeed blocks interaction between the trimeric S protein and ACE2 in different in vitro assays. Moreover, we describe the formulation of purified immunoglobulin preparation into a nasal spray. When administered to human subjects, the formulation persists on the nasal mucosa for at least 4 hours as determined by a clinical study. Therefore, we are presenting a solution that shows great potential to serve as a prophylactic agent against SARS-CoV-2 infection as an additional measure to vaccination and wearing masks. Moreover, our technology allows for a rapid and versatile adaption for preparing prophylactic treatments against other diseases by using the defined characteristics of antibody movement into the colostrum.