International Journal of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences

28-34

Authors: Muhammad Aurang Zeb1, Wabdul Wahab3, Najeeb Ullah1,2* Sunil Pandey4, Taj Muhammad5

Background: Herbal medicines have been practiced for thousands of centuries by tribes all over the world. We aim to study extraction, fractionation, antibacterial and antifungal activity of micromeriabiflora. Methodology: Sample was washed properly with de-ionized water, solvents used (i.e. chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-hexane and methanol) were filtered and added. Some amounts of dehydrated reagents to purify the solvents before using. Shad dried plant powder was chopped and soaked in methanol for 10 days Dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO) was used as solvent because it did not show any activity against bacteria and also it possess polar and non-polar groups therefore, in dimethyl sulfoxide most of the polar and non-polar compounds are soluble. The antibacterial bioassay was done by Agar Well Diffusion method, by measuring the zone of inhibition against the test microorganisms. Two fungal strains i.e. Alternaria, Fusariumoxysporium were used for antifungal activities. Results: At 5mg/mm the detailed spectrum of antibacterial activity of various fraction i.e. n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol was determined. All fractions showed activity against fungal species. Highest activity was shown by Chloroform fraction against Fusariumoxysporium giving wider zone of 10.2 (mm). Ethyl acetate fraction against Alternaria was very less active giving lowest value of 5.9 (mm). Conclusion: The results of antibacterial activity revealed that methanol show highest activity among all fractions against salmonella typhi. The methanol extract of Micromeriabiflora gave the widest zone of inhibition (16.1mm) against salmonella typhi using agar well diffusion. The results therefore established a good support for the use of Micromeriabiflora in traditional medicine.

23-27

Authors: Ruchita Sainju -Department of Public Health, Nobel College, Pokhara University, Nepal

Background: All over the world, the use of pesticides is considered the most attractive method of controlling pests which involves less labor and characterizes higher output per hectare of land. I aim to study to assess Farmers Knowledge and Practices of Pesticides used and self-reported health systems associated with pesticides used in Thimi, Bhaktapur. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among farmers of Thimi, Bhaktapur. 210 farmers were enrolled in the study. Data collection involved a self-prepared questionnaire to farmers and information was collected by face to face interviews. Socio demographics status, unsafe pesticide handling practices of pesticide storage, conditions of personal protective equipment (PPE) was assessed as per the questionnaires. Results: Out of 210 farmers, who participated in the study, 70% were male and 30% were female. Majority 87% of farmers couldn’t read and write. Knowledge regarding the personal protective equipment was known to 85% used mask, 8% used gloves. Thus, no farmers were found using boots and goggles. Practices of washing hand among farmers were found to be93%. Majority (92%) of the farmers neither smoked nor drank or ate anything during spray of pesticides. Conclusion: There is a low education level, lack of information about pesticide residue, and inadequate personal protection during pesticide use among farmers in Thimi Bhaktapur.

15-22

Authors: Pankaj Chaudhary1*, Chetan Shakya1, Shanti Ram Pokhrel1, Sushil karki1, Basudha Shrestha2, Bivek Timalsina1

Background: Wound infection is a very common infection throughout the world and is causing a great fear in developing countries like Nepal. The present study was carried out in Kathmandu Model Hospital with an aim to find out the bacteriological episodes in pus samples in relation to age and sex, Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing (AST) and drug resistance pattern among the isolates. Methodology: A total of 157 pus samples included in the study were processed in the Microbiology laboratory of Kathmandu Model Hospital using standard microbiological techniques. Identification of organisms was done on the basis of microscopy, colony morphology, and biochemical tests. The antibiotic sensitivity testing of all isolates was performed by Kirby Bauer’s disc diffusion method on Muller Hinton agar and interpreted as per CLSI guidelines. Results: Analysis of 157 pus samples showed (93, 59.24%) culture positive cases with (63, 67.74%) Multi Drug Resistance (MDR) isolates. Age group (21-30) was found to be the most vulnerable age group. Staphylococcus aureus (29, 28.71%) was the predominant organism isolated among gram positive bacteria and Escherichia coli (26, 25.74%) among gram negative bacteria. Gentamycin was the most sensitive antibiotic among gram positive bacteria whereas Amikacin being the most sensitive Antibiotic among gram negative bacteria. Conclusion: Antibiograms of isolates can serve as a tool for physicians to start an empirical treatment and minimize the drug resistance problem.

4-14

Authors: Bivek Timalsina1*, Bidur Kutu1, Rusna Pradhan1, Bhagwan Maharjan2

Background: Tuberculosis remains a major public health threat in Nepal and one of the leading causes of death from communicable diseases among adults. The majority of tuberculosis is pulmonary tuberculosis infecting lungs and sputum examination is important for this as it is the major way of transmission of disease. The diagnostic procedures rely on simple and inexpensive methods mostly of microscopy and culture examination. Therefore the evaluation of these diagnostic approaches has great importance. Objectives: To evaluate and compare the efficacy of Ziehl-Neelsen staining, Auramine O staining and culture of sputum samples for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. Materials and methods: Total 299 sputum samples (170 samples from 78 Group I suspected cases with no treatment; 42 samples from 22 Group II DOTS follow-up cases; and 87 samples from 87 Group III MDR follow-up cases) were subjected to direct smear preparation each for ZN and AO staining for 1000x light microscopy and 400x fluorescent microscopy examination respectively and the remaining sample were further processed with NALC-NaOH method for culture on modified Lowenstein-Jensen Media for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Positive smears were graded according to IUATLD/WHO guideline. Result: Out of total 299 sputum samples of all types of cases, 19.06%, 29.1% and 24.41% were found pulmonary tuberculosis positive by ZN, AO and culture respectively. The case detection rates for suspected patients with no treatment were 20%, 25.88% & 28.24%; for DOTS follow-up patients were 30.95%, 57.14% & 19.05%; and for MDR follow-up patients were 11.49%, 21.84% & 19.54% for ZN, AO and culture respectively. The difference in their case detection rates was statistically significant (p < 0.01). No AO negative result with ZN positive samples was found. More number of paucibacillary cases was detected by AO method than ZN. There were 25 cultural contaminated samples. Removing contaminated cultural samples and taking culture as gold standard, the sensitivity and specificity of direct microscopic examination were found to be 60.03% and 98.51% for ZN method; and 83.56% and 94.53% for fluorescent AO method respectively. The percentage of false negative by AO staining was only 16.44% which was in sharp contrast to that of ZN (39.73%). Conclusion: This comparative study proves that AO staining (Fluorescent microscopy) is superior to ZN staining (Light microscopy) in several aspects as efficacy, sensitivity, false negativity. Thus the AO staining aided with culture can prove to be important tool for the effective and reliable diagnosis and screening of pulmonary tuberculosis.