Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Hafiz.
Microwave oven can safely be used in microbiology laboratory for preparation of media. The method is convenient, reliable, economical and reproducible. It saves time and the quality of media is superior as compared to media prepared by conventional autoclaving method.
The incidence of diarrhoeal disease are very high in our population and bacterial etiology amounts to 43.55% of all cases. Pathogen such as Aeromonas hydrophila, Plesiomonas shigelloides, Yersinia enterocolitica and Campylobacter are also present in significant numbers, they make up 50% of bacterial causes. All enteric pathogens can be easily isolated on commonly used media and could be precisely identified by simple biochemical tests.
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One hundred pregnant women in third trimester were screened for the carriage of group B streptococci (GBS) in a prospective study. Rectal and urogenital samples were collected, 25% women were positive for non group B beta haemolytic streptococci. Twelve (48%) were positive at single site and 13 (52%) at more than one site. Beta haemolytic streptococci isolated were non-groupables in 19 (76%) and groupables in 6 (24%). Among groupables, Group D streptococci (GDS) were the commonest 3 (12%) followed by Group G2 (8%) and Group F1 (4%). Group B streptococci were not isolated in our study population.
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Antibiotic testing by Disc was compared with Break-Point method using 535 clinical isolates; Disc sensitivity method was carried out in the routine way using the disc provided by pharmaceutical company. Break-point sensitivity was done by incorporating the substrate into solid medium, the results obtained showed greater resistance by Break-point which appears to be more realistic in the light of indiscriminate usage of antibiotic. The method is simple, cost effective, reliable and realistic (JPMA 39 : 94, 1989).
The incidence of urinary tract infection in our community is studied taking into consideration the indiscriminate and inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents and describing a simple method which could be adopted to evaluate samples of urine for the presence of antimicrobial agents. It reveals that 42.9% individuals were actually on antimicrobial agents and had sufficient levels in their urine to inhibit growth of the most common causative agent of urinary tract infection.
The significance Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of determination for Meningococci is described and according to the present study a shift in the sensitivity of Meningococcus is occurring, local isolates show higher Minimum Inhibitory Concentration for Chloramphenicol and Azactam. Strains of Meningococcus can successfully be stored in a domestic freezer.
Three hundred random sputum samples were collected for analysis from cases of mild to severe respiratory infections and screened for Legionella pneumophila by both the culture method and also the direct fluorescent antigen test. In one third of the cases, blood specimen was also collected and screened for Legionella serum antibodies. With the direct fluorescent test it was possible to identify Legionella in 9% of the samples while the culture gave positive results in 4.3% of cases. Diagnostic antibody titers (1:256) were obtained in 12% of the samples while another 12% cases showed serum antibody titers of 1:64 to 1:128. In Pakistan where antibiotics are used extensively, the direct fluorescent examination of sputum samples gives more accurate diagnosis of Legionella cases than the culture method.
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The pathogenicity of Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a subject of considerable interest. It is believed that N. gonorrhoeae of colonial type 1 are pathogenic while those of type 4 are not. This is based on experimentation in human volunteers. The object of this study was to determine the reasons for the differences of susceptibility of chicken embryos to N. gonorrhoeae strains of colonial types 1, 4, 5 and 1R (a type-1 revertant from a non-pathogenic type 4 strain originally tested in human volunteers). Colonial types 1, 5, 1R and 4 caused mortality rates of 80, 70, 85 and 20% respectively. This variation in lethality appeared to depend upon the availability of free extra-cellular endotoxin and this was confirmed by chicken-embryo inoculation results and electronmicroscopy of normal and heated colonial types 1, 4 and 5. Similar results were obtained by inoculating purified endotoxins from these types into chicken embryos. The results of this study suggest that endotoxins play a major role in the pathogenicity of N. gonorrhoeae and that the variations in virulence of the colonial types depends on the stability of their cell walls.
To determine the microbiological causes of pelvic inflammatory disease, 43 women with acute salpingitis (AS) and 160 controls were studied. Amongst AS women there were significantly higher endocervical isolation rates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (54% vs 6%), Chlamydia trachomatis (40% vs 13%), Mycoplasma hominis (60% vs 19%), enterobacteria (26% vs 11%) and anaerobic bacteria (58% vs 29%). A polymicrobial pathogenic endocervical flora was present in both gonococcal and non-gonococcal AS. Laparoscopic sampling of the fallopian tubes rarely provided useful microbiological data but did reveal the inaccuracy of clinical diagnosis of AS. Thirty-four male consorts of AS women were investigated; 20 had gonorrhoea and 27 had non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU). A high proportion of infected men had asymptomatic gonorrhoea (35%) and/or asymptomatic NGU (56%). These findings had implications for the management of AS.