Microbiology Commons^™

Evaluation Of Semi-Quantitative Compared To Quantitative Cultures Of Tracheal Aspirates For The Yield Of Culturable Respiratory Pathogens - A Cross-Sectional Study, Salima Rattani, Joveria Farooqi, Ghazala Jabeen, Saeeda Chandio, Qaiser Kash, Aijaz Khan, Kauser Jabeen

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Background: Diagnosis of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) depends on the presence of clinical, radiological and microbiological findings. Endotracheal suction aspirate (ETSA) is the commonest respiratory sample sent for culture from intubated patients. Very few studies have compared quantitative and semi-quantitative processing of ETSA cultures for LRTI diagnosis. We determined the diagnostic accuracy of quantitative and semi-quantitative ETSA culture for LRTI diagnosis, agreement between the quantitative and semi quantitative culture techniques and the yield of respiratory pathogens with both methods.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at the Aga Khan University clinical laboratory, Karachi, Pakistan. One hundred and seventy-eight …

Tick-Borne Pathogens Shape The Native Microbiome Within Tick Vectors, Abdulsalam Adegoke, Deepak Kumar, Cailyn Bobo, Muhammad Imran Rashid, Aneela Zameer Durrani, Muhammad Sohail Sajid, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Ticks are blood-feeding arthropods and transmit a variety of medically important viral, bacterial, protozoan pathogens to animals and humans. Ticks also harbor a diverse community of microbes linked to their biological processes, such as hematophagy, and hence affect vector competence. The interactions between bacterial and/or protozoan pathogens and the tick microbiome is a black-box, and therefore we tested the hypothesis that the presence of a protozoan or bacterial pathogen will alter the microbial composition within a tick. Hence, this study was designed to define the microbial composition of two tick species, …

A Race Against Time: Reduced Azithromycin Susceptibility In Salmonella Enterica Serovar Typhi In Pakistan, Junaid Iqbal, Irum Fatima Dehraj, Megan E. Carey, Zoe A. Dyson, Denise Garrett, Jessica C. Seidman, Furqan Kabir, Senjuti Saha, Stephen Baker, Farah Naz Qamar

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Antimicrobial resistance is an ongoing issue in the treatment of typhoid fever. Resistance to first-line antimicrobials and extensively drug resistant (XDR) Salmonella Typhi isolates in Pakistan have left azithromycin as the only remaining effective oral treatment. Here, we report the emergence of organisms with a single point mutation in acrB gene, implicated in azithromycin resistance, in a S. Typhi isolate from Pakistan. The isolation of this organism is worrisome and highlights the significance of the introduction of typhoid conjugate vaccine in South Asia.
Importance: The emergence of XDR Salmonella Typhi in Pakistan has left azithromycin as the only viable oral …

Draft Genome Sequences Of Two Extensively Drug-Resistant Strains Of Acinetobacter Baumannii Isolated From Clinical Samples In Pakistan, Sara Lomonaco, Matthew A. Crawford, Christine Lascols, Debra J. Fisher, Kevin Anderson, David R. Hodge, Segaran P. Pillai, Stephen A. Morse, Erum Khan, Molly A. Hughes, Marc W. Allard, Shashi K. Sharma

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Infections in immunocompromised patients that are caused by extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Acinetobacter baumannii strains have been increasingly reported worldwide. In particular, carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii strains are a prominent cause of health care-associated infections. Here, we report draft genome assemblies for two clinical XDR A. baumannii isolates obtained from hospitalized patients in Pakistan.

Comment: Probably A Good News: Covid-19 Is Not Spreading Fast In Tropical Region Like In Temperate Region, Madeeha Manzoor

Journal of Bioresource Management

My understanding of Covid-19 is that, there are some climatic factors involved in seed spread of this virus. As it started from the area of China which falls under temperate zone, its second victim was Iran’s city Qom which also falls under temperate zone and third is Italy which is completely in temperate zone.

Data from two countries from Temperate zone and three countries from Tropical zone was compared. The days counted from the 100 cases each country reached as day one and further days studied on equal basis.