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Biomedical subjects

S Keating

Publications and source records attributed to S Keating.

39 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Increasing resistance to ciprofloxacin among isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoea in Dublin.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae cases are increasing in Ireland. Ciprofloxacin is often used as first line treatment for this infection in STI clinics. A retrospective study to analyze resistance in two Dublin clinics was undertaken. Cases were defined as patients from whom an isolate of N. gonorrhoea was recovered. All cases from two clinics between January 1997 and June 2003 were included. Antimicrobial resistance data was correlated with sex and sexuality. One thousand one hundred and eighty laboratory-confirmed cases were identified. Eighty seven percent were male. Sixty nine percent were MSM. Twenty seven percent of isolates demonstrated reduced susceptibility to penicillin and 6% to ciprofloxacin. Isolates with reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin increased year on year from 3.8% in 1997 to 15% in 2003. Prevalence of isolates of N. gonorrhoea with reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin has exceeded 10% in these clinics since 2002. In concordance with international guidelines, ceftriaxone became the treatment of choice for gonorrhoea in July 2003.

Ambulatory Care Facilities↗

Detection of benzodiazepine abuse in opiate addicts.

There is an increasing problem with benzodiazepine co-abuse in the opiate dependent population of Dublin. The importance of early detection of this co-abuse is essential as there is an increased risk of dangerous injecting practices such as sharing of needles and criminality in those who co-abuse benzodiazepines and opiates. This study was carried out in the National Drug Treatment Centre, Dublin. It aims to describe the current difficulties in identifying the co-abuse of short acting benzodiazepines including flunitrazepam in a cohort of opiate dependent patients. Using a sample of those attending the clinic it was discovered that standard methods of urinalysis failed to identify 10% of co-abuse. For those patients whose abuse of flunitrazepam is undetected on screening, clinical interventions which aim to minimise the consequence of the co-abuse and reverse the chaotic drug using patterns fail to be put in place at the earliest possible time.

Ambulatory Care Facilities↗