Medicine
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This repository contains the published and unpublished research of the Faculty of Medicine by the staff members of the faculty
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Item Antibiotic sensitivity patterns among extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing organisms causing urinary tract infections in Sri Lanka(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2016) Luke, W.A.N.V.; Fernando, S.C.; Wickremasinghe, R.D.S.S.; Sebastiampillai, B.S.; Gunathilake, M.P.M.L.; Miththinda, J.K.N.D.; Silva, F.H.D.S.; Premaratna, B.A.H.R.INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: ESBLs are enzymes that confer resistance to all penicillins, cephalosporins, and aztreonam. ESBL producing organisms causing urinary tract infections (ESBL-UTI) are increasing in incidence and pose a major burden to health care requiring treatment with expensive antimicrobials and prolonged hospital stay. Documented antibiotic susceptibility of ESBL organisms include meropenem (95-100%) and aminoglycosides (45-60%). This study evaluated the antibiotic sensitivity patterns of ESBL-UTI in Sri Lanka. METHOD: Patients with ESBL-UTI admitted to Professorial Medical Unit, Colombo North Teaching Hospital (CNTH) from January – June 2015 were recruited to the study. Their Urine culture and ABST reports were evaluated after obtaining informed written consent. RESULTS: Of 61 culture positive ESBL-UTIs, E. coli accounted for 53 (86.8%), followed by Klebsiella in the 8 (13.1%). The ESBL organisms were mostly sensitive to carbapenems; 58 (95%) to Meropenem and 45 (73.7%) to Imipenem. The other sensitivity patterns were 37 (60.6%) to Amikacin, and 28 (45.9%) to Nitrofurantoin. Meropenem resistance was observed in 3 (4.9%) and were E.coli. These three patients had received multiple antibiotics including meropenem in the recent past for recurrent UTI. CONCLUSIONS: It is evident from the above data that Carbapenems remain as the first line therapy for the majority of ESBL-UTI in the local setting. However 4.9 % prevalence of meropenem resistance is alarming compared to 0.4% prevalence in Pakistan and 0.02% prevalence in Germany. Such high prevalence of meropenem resistance should draw attention of clinicians and needs to implement measures to prevent emergence and spread of carbapenum resistant ESBL organisms in the country.Item Sensitive and inexpensive molecular test for falciparum malaria: detecting Plasmodium falciparum DNA directly from heat-treated blood by loop-mediated isothermal amplification(American Association For Clinical Chemistry, 2006) Poon, L.; Wong, B.W.; Ma, E.H.; Chan, K.H.; Chow, L.M.; Abeyewickreme, W.; Tangpukdee, N.; Yuen, K.Y.; Guan, Y.; Looareesuwan, S.; Peiris, J.S.BACKGROUND: Malaria is one of the most important parasitic infections in humans. A sensitive diagnostic test for malaria that could be applied at the community level could be useful in programs to control the disease. The aim of the present work was to develop a simple, inexpensive moleculartest for Plasmodium falciparum. METHODS: Blood was collected from controls (n = 100) and from patients diagnosed with falciparum malaria infection (n = 102), who were recruited to the study. Heat-treated blood samples were tested by a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for P. falciparum. Results were interpreted by a turbidity meter in real time or visually at the end of the assay. To evaluate the assay, DNA from these samples was purified and tested by PCR. Results from the LAMP and PCR assays were compared. RESULTS: The LAMP assay detected P. falciparum directly from heat-treated blood. The quantitative data from the assay correlated to the parasite counts obtained by blood-film microscopic analyses. When we used the PCR assay as the comparison method, the sensitivity and specificity of the LAMP assay were 95% and 99%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Unlike PCR, the LAMP assay does not require purified DNA for efficient DNA amplification, thereby reducing the cost and turnaround time for P. falciparum diagnosis. The assay requires only basic instruments, and assay positivity can be verified by visual inspectionItem Identifying the biting species in snakebite by clinical features: an epidemiological tool for community surveys(Oxford University Press, 2006) Pathmeswaran, A.; Kasturiratne, A.; Fonseka, M.; Nandasena, S.; Lalloo, D.G.; de Silva, H.J.The outcome of snakebite is related to the biting species but it is often difficult to identify the biting snake, particularly in community settings. We have developed a clinical scoring system suitable for use in epidemiological surveys, with the main aim of identifying the presumed biting species in those with systemic envenoming who require treatment. The score took into account ten features relating to bites of the five medically important snakes in Sri Lanka, and an algorithm was developed applying different weightings for each feature for different species. A systematically developed artificial data set was used to fine tune the score and to develop criteria for definitive identification. The score was prospectively validated using 134 species-confirmed snakebites. It correctly differentiated the bites caused by the three snakes that commonly cause major clinical problems (Russell's viper (RV), kraits and cobra) from other snakes (hump-nosed viper (HNV) and saw-scaled viper (SSV)) with 80% sensitivity and 100% specificity. For individual species, sensitivity and specificity were, respectively: cobra 76%, 99%; kraits 85%, 99%; and RV 70%, 99%. As anticipated, the score was insensitive in the identification of bites due to HNV and SSV