International Journal of Enteric Pathogens
Year:2017 | Volume:5 | Issue:4|Papers Count:7

The 3rd International and 10th National Congress of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases of Iran (NICOPA10) was held from November 1-3, 2017, at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran (http: //nicopa10.sums.ac.ir/en/) (Figure 1). This meeting brought together parasitologists from several prestigious universities and research centers throughout Iran, as well as leading experts from other countries including Germany, Norway, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Afghanistan (Figure 2).

Background: Antibiotic resistance (AR) is an important challenge in prevention, treatment and control of infectious diseases and is a public health threat for human. Escherichia coli strains are the major causes of urinary tract infections (UTIs).Objective: This research aimed to determine prevalence of resistance to quinolone and fluoroquinolone antibiotics and screen qnr genes among E. coli isolates from UTIs.Materials and Methods: A total of 105 E. coli isolates were obtained from UTI cases in Bojnord city (northeast of Iran) and confirmed by biochemical tests. All strains were studied to determine their resistance to 3 antibiotics including ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid, and levofloxacin via disk diffusion method. Moreover, the frequency of qnrA, qnrB and qnrS genes and phylogroups was studied by conventional Polymerase chain reaction (PCR).Results: In this study, prevalence of phenotypic AR to ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid and levofloxacin was 47.6%, 44.8% and 38.1%, respectively. Three isolates were positive for qnrS and 1 isolate was positive for qnrA. Seven phylogenetic groups were also identified as follows: 18% A0, 6.7% A1, 7.6% B1, 1.9% B22, 23.8% B23, 15.3% D1 and 26.7% D2.Conclusion: Prevalence of qnr genes was very low; thus, other types of qnr and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes were probably responsible for the resistance. Phenotypic AR to the 3 antibiotics was found in approximately half of E. coli strains. It is strongly recommended that antibiogram tests should be done before prescribing the ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid and levofloxacin for UTIs.

Background: Paper banknotes would be a vector for transmission of pathogenic microorganisms through handling.Objective: This study aimed to determine bacterial contamination of Iranian paper currencies in circulation and their antibiotic resistance patterns.Materials and Methods: In this study, 337 currency notes of different value were collected from markets, shops, restaurants, bus stations and banks in Kashan, Iran during April 2015 to March 2016. The currency notes transferred to microbiology laboratory and were tested for bacterial contamination using standard microbiological methods. Antibiotic resistance patterns of isolated bacteria were determined by disk diffusion method according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) standards. The results and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: Of 337 currency notes, 262 (77.7%) were identified with bacterial contamination. Bacteria isolated from currency notes were as follows: Bacillus spp 113 (43.1%), coagulase-negative staphylococci 99 (37.7%), Escherichia coli 20 (7.6%), Enterococci species 14 (5.3%), Staphylococcus aureus 8 (3.1%), Klebsiella spp 4 (1.5%), Shigella species 2 (0.8%), and Pseudomonas species 2 (0.8%). The most and least contaminated currency notes were 50000 and 500 Rials, respectively. The highest resistance rates in gram-negative rods were against nalidixic acid, and ampicillin. However, the highest resistance rates in S. aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci and Enterococci species were against ampicillin, erythromycin and tetracycline.Conclusion: Our study revealed that the bacterial contamination among Iranian paper currency in circulation especially those obtained from certain sources including shops and bus stations is high and in most cases these bacterial isolates are antibiotic-resistant strains.

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection as a serious medical issue is one of the most important pathogens of the human. Youngsters with thalassemia who get blood transfusions are endangered with a high risk of HCV contamination.Objective: This review intended to study the predominance of HCV among thalassemia patients in Abadan, Khuzestan, in the south-west of Iran.Materials and Methods: For this study, a specific questionnaire on demographic information (age, number of blood transfusions) was completed by trained personnel based on acquired information from patient records, and also blood samples were taken at the same time in order to check the presence and level of anti-HCV antibodies.Results: As a result, it was shown that from 179 patients 20 (11.17%) were positive for anti-HCV antibodies.Conclusion: The HCV infection is an illness which influences extensive number of thalassemia patients in the world. The Lack of knowledge about blood safety and HCV infection as the most predominant illness transmitted with contaminated blood in thalassemia patients is a major threat to public health in a group of countries including Iran and the data are mostly obtained from provinces of Iran. The prevalence of HCV infection in patients with thalassemia who live in Khuzestan province is less than that in other provinces of Iran and also neighbour countries; and researchers should pay attention to hepatitis C infection in order to prevent thalassemia cases.

Background: The protein listeriolysin O (LLO) encoded by hly gene, is one of the most important virulence factors of Listeria monocytogenes, responsible for phagosomal membrane disruption and bacterial escape to the cytoplasm, stimulation of CD8+T cells and Th1 response. Recently path obiotechnological vaccination using probiotic bacteria have been proposed. One of these strategies is expression of LLO in non-pathogenic bacteria such as lactic acid bacteria as delivery strains.Objective: In the current study, we aimed to clone hly gene in a Lactobacillus species via pNZ8110, an inducible expression vector which is specific for Lactococcus species.Materials and Methods: Hly gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and inserted into pNZ8110 by restriction enzymes cutting and ligation method. After transformation and propagation in Escherichia coli MC1061 intermediate host, it was successfully electrotransformed into Lactobacillus plantarum.Results: Gel electrophoresis of colony PCR, extracted plasmids and restriction analysis along with sequencing confirmed the transformation. After induction with supernatant of nisin producer, strain Lactococcus lactis NZ9700, expression of LLO was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and western blot.Conclusion: Here, we employed a nonpathogenic probiotic strain, L. plantarum for the first time to express hly gene of L. monocytogenes in order to propose a new vaccine candidate.

Background: F: Parasitic infections, especially those caused by intestinal agents could affect social and personal hygiene and health; and to avoid the spread of pollution, monitoring the infectious sources is critical.Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of intestinal parasites and identify factors associated with intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) among students of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences during 2013-2014.Materials and Methods: This study was carried out between September 2013 and February 2014. A total of 1293 stool samples were taken from 431 students and were examined by direct wet mounting and formalin-ether methods. A questionnaire for common risk factors was completed for each individual.Results: Overall, the prevalence of IPIs was estimated to be 125 (29%) that was caused by both pathogenic and non-pathogenic intestinal parasites. Various species of pathogenic and non-pathogenic protozoa were detected: Entamoeba coli was the most common parasite (9.04%) followed by Blastocystis hominis (8.12%), and Giardia lamblia (4.64%). In the current study, 3.2% of students were infected with multiple parasites. A significant association was observed between the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections and the type of accommodation (odds ratio [OR] =1.5; 95% CI: 1.1; 1.9), parents’ educational level (OR=1.5; 95% CI: 1.1; 1.9) and gender (OR=1.5; 95% CI: 1.1; 1.9). No association was detected between the prevalence of infection and age, but a slightly positive prevalence was observed with aging (P=0.66).Conclusion: The data showed that intestinal parasites were slightly more prevalent than expected; that might be due to the interior sources of infection in college, such as carrier students. Hence, performing periodic stool screening of students is a necessity to promote the hygiene among the students.

Background: Sclerocarya birrea is widely used in Nigerien communities for medicinal purposes to treat several gastrointestinal diseases including diarrhea. To lend credibility to its traditional use against diarrhea, laboratory studies were conducted.Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the antibacterial activity and the phytochemical constituents of the crude extracts of root, bark and leaf of S. birrea.Materials and Methods: The collected different plant parts were air dried, powdered and separately extracted with ethanol and methanol. The alkaloid, flavonoid, saponin and tannin contents in all the plant parts were estimated using standard methods. The total and serially diluted fractions of the extracts were tested for antibacterial activity against selected enteropathogens by agar well diffusion and deep-well microdilution method.Results: Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoid, saponin and tannin in all the plant extracts. The extracts from the different parts showed varied antibacterial activity against the test bacteria. The bark extracts showed superior activity against Escherichia coli (zone of inhibition=17 mm) and Salmonella typhi (zone of inhibition=20 mm) at 200 mg/mL.Conclusion: The presence of important phytochemical groups and the antibacterial potential of alcoholic extracts of S. birrea could permit to justify its traditional usage against diarrhea.