Clinical Application of Ultraviolet C Inactivation of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Contaminated Hospital Environments

To overcome the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, transmission routes, such as healthcare worker infection, must be effectively prevented. Ultraviolet C (UVC) (254 nm) has recently been demonstrated to prevent environmental contamination by infected patients; however, studies on its application in contaminated hospital settings are limited. Herein, we explored the clinical application of UVC and determined its optimal dose. Environmental samples (n = 267) collected in 2021 were analyzed by a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and subjected to UVC irradiation for different durations (minutes). We found that washbasins had a high contamination rate (45.5%). SARS-CoV-2 was inactivated after 15 min (estimated dose: 126 mJ/cm2) of UVC irradiation, and the contamination decreased from 41.7% before irradiation to 16.7%, 8.3%, and 0% after 5, 10, and 15 min of irradiation, respectively (p = 0.005). However, SARS-CoV-2 was still detected in washbasins after irradiation for 20 min but not after 30 min (252 mJ/cm2). Thus, 15 min of 254-nm UVC irradiation was effective in cleaning plastic, steel, and wood surfaces in the isolation ward. For silicon items, such as washbasins, 30 min was suggested; however, further studies using hospital environmental samples are needed to confirm the effective UVC inactivation of SARS-CoV-2.

Catheter-Obtained Urine Culture Contamination Among Young Infants: A Prospective Cohort Study

Objectives: A correct diagnosis of urinary tract infection in young infants requires an uncontaminated urine culture, commonly obtained by urethral catheterization. In the current study, we examined the rates and factors associated with contaminations of catheter-obtained urine cultures in very young infants.Methods: This prospective cohort study included 143 catheter-obtained urine cultures of infants ≤2 months of age admitted to the pediatric ward of a tertiary hospital in Israel from April 2019 to September 2020. Patient's and operator's study variables were documented at the time of catheter insertion. Positive urine cultures were reviewed by a pediatric nephrologist and a pediatric infectious disease specialist and designated as infection or contamination. The study variables were compared between those with or without contamination.Results: The contamination rate in our cohort was 29%. Females were more than twice as likely to have a contaminated urine culture (37 vs. 18%, respectively, P = 0.014). Circumcision status, official training about sterile catheterization, a sense of difficult catheterization, and the shift in which the culture was obtained did not influence the contamination rate.Conclusions: Catheter-obtained urine cultures have a high contamination rate among very young infants, especially among girls.

Contamination of Mobile Phones of Health Care Workers of PIMS Hospital Islamabad

Introduction: Mobile phones are one of the most vital telecommunication devices and are used to stay in touch with both the social and professional aspects of our lives. They have also become an important tool for the rapid delivery of information in healthcare institutions, such as hospitals. However, with many benefits of mobile phone usage, also comes the drawbacks of hospital-associated pathogens surviving on these mobile phone screens. Objectives: To determine the frequency of contamination of healthcare worker’s mobile phones by different types of microorganisms. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2020 till December 2020 at PIMS Hospital, a tertiary care hospital located in Islamabad, Pakistan. A total of 121 individual mobile phones were randomly sampled. A simple random sampling method was used. Informed consent was taken before taking a sample and a questionnaire was also utilized. Results: Among 121 samples collected from different department health workers mobile phone surfaces, 112 showed significant differences (92.56%) which were positively contaminated with microorganisms. Conclusion: To conclude, a high contamination rate of mobile phones was found with microorganisms. This could lead to serious nosocomial infections. Therefore, a standard guideline on the use of electronic devices and mobile phones should be implemented in hospitals and healthcare centres. Enforce the hygiene practices such as washing hands and cleaning mobile phones a few times a day. Keywords: Healthcare Worker, Mobile Phone, Microorganism, Contamination, Disinfectant

Epidemic Curve of Contamination in a Hospital That Served as Sentinel of the Spread of the SARS-Cov-2 Epidemic in the City of Rio de Janeiro

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the operation of Brazilian hospital units, even those dedicated to non-infectious diseases. This study aims to describe the Covid-19 epidemic curve from a cardiovascular specialized nosocomial unit. All symptomatic employees were submitted to RT-qPCR. A total of 613 tests were performed on 548 employees between March 23, 2020, and June 4, 2020; with 45.7% positivity from the samples, representing 11.9% of the total employees. The epidemic curve showed a profound drop after first week of May. The data showed a high contamination rate despite widespread availability of personal protective equipment and employees’ training.

Incidence rate and antibiotic resistance profile of Cronobacter sakazakii isolated from various food products

Cronobacter sakazakii (C. sakazakii) is a foodborne pathogen which has been linked to various food outbreaks. The current study was aimed to isolate and identify this pathogen from different kind of food products and herbs as well as to reveal its antibacterial resistant profiling. A total of 235 samples were collected, including 130 Powdered Infant Formula (PIF), 55 spices and herbs and 50 samples from Bouillon Flavoured Powder (BFP). These samples were obtained from local markets in Duhok city of Iraq from February to August 2019. The collected items were checked for the presence of C. sakazakii by using conventional biochemical tests and confirmed through molecular techniques. The findings showed that 3.1% of PIF, 24% of BFP and 78.2% of spices and herbs were positive for C. sakazakii. This bacterium expressed a complete susceptibility to each of ampicillin, tetracycline, gentamycin and chloramphenicol and showed high to mild resistance to the rest of the examined antibiotics Microbiological evaluation of imported food is crucial for safeguarding public health. The high contamination rate and high drug-resistant C. sakazakii in the examined food products declared prospective hazards to endangered people.

Mycotoxins Contaminant in Kelp: A Neglected Dietary Exposure Pathway

In order to investigated current occurrence of major mycotoxins in dietary kelp in Shandong Province in Northern China, a reliable, sensitive, and rapid liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of the 7 most frequent mycotoxins, including 3-acetoxy deoxynivalenol (3AcDON), 15-acetoxy deoxynivalenol (15AcDON), Deoxynivalenol (DON), Fusarenon-X (F-X), Nivalenol (NIV), T-2 toxin (T-2), and Zearalenone (ZEA). Based on optimized pretreatment and chromatographic and mass spectrometry conditions, these target analytes could be monitored with mean recoveries from 72.59~107.34%, with intra–day RSD < 9.21%, inter–day RSD < 9.09%, LOD < 5.55 μg kg−1, and LOQ < 18.5 μg kg−1. Approximately 43 kelp samples were detected, 3AcDON/15AcDON ranged from 15.3 to 162.5 μg kg−1 with positive rate of 86% in Shandong Province in Northern China. Considering there were no related investigations about mycotoxin contamination in kelp, the high contamination rate of 3AcDON/15AcDON in kelp showed a neglected mycotoxin exposure pathway, which might lead to high dietary exposure risk to consumers.

Prevalence of bacterial contamination in blood and blood products at the National Blood Service Zimbabwe

Introduction: Advances in screening for infections improve the safety of donated blood. Transfusion-related bacterial sepsis, although not established in Zimbabwe, stills makes bacterial contamination of blood clinically relevant. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Harare. Bacteriological and antibiotic susceptibility testing were done using standard methods. Results: Of the 196 samples analyzed, 6 (3.1%) were contaminated with bacteria. Platelets had a significantly high contamination rate compared to other blood products. Bacteria showed varying patterns of susceptibility to the antibiotics tested. Conclusions: The prevalence of bacterial contamination in blood products suggests that patients who receive blood products are at risk of developing infection.

Préparation d'un substrat de culture pour le strophaire (Stropharia rugoso-annulata) par trempage de résidus ligno-cellulosiques agricoles

Because of the enzymatic make-up of Stropharia, a cultivated and edible mushroom, it is capable of using agricultural wastes as substrates for growth. Different substrates and methods of preparation are compared in order to improve the resistance of the mushroom to fungal contamination by reducing soluble carbon and nitrogen content. The substrates (wheat straw, corn stalk, or wastes from pea plants) were soaked at various temperatures and durations in order to eliminate soluble nutrients. High temperatures are more efficient for a rapid depletion of free nitrogen compounds. The best substrate used for the first time in mushroom cultivation was the agricultural waste from Pisum. Because of its naturally high content of soluble nutrients, this substrate needs to be soaked in hot water to reduce contaminations. Yields of Stropharia (220 g/kg) are higher and more regular than those obtained on conventional substrate (straw). On corn stalk, a high contamination rate was found, as well as relatively poor yields.Key words: mushroom, Stropharia, substrate, waste, yield, fungal contamination.

Use of Forcing Solution Techniques to Improve Chestnut Micropropagation

Chestnut (Castanea spp.) is considered difficult to micropropagate. The timing for harvesting explant materials from forced stems is critical, although many factors need to be considered for successful micropropagation. Previous research with spirea and five-leaf aralia demonstrated that forcing solution techniques extended the availability of high-quality explant material, thus expediting micropropagation. However, preliminary research illustrated that chestnut is very difficult to force and the new forced softwood growth is very short-lived, which made micropropagation difficult. It was found that, at about 7 days from budbreak, the forced chestnut softwood growth (about 2 cm long) served as the best explant material. If longer than this timing window, the new growth would die. If shorter, the explants had a high contamination rate, exudation of purported phenolic compounds, and explants would not regenerate. Shoot proliferation and callus regeneration were achieved by culturing good-quality explants on Woody Plant Medium supplemented with 0.1 mg BA/liter. The new shoots grew vigorously in vitro with apparent normal morphology.

Observations on the distribution ofStaphylococcus aureusin the atmosphere of a surgical ward

The environment of two contiguous surgical wards was examined over a period of twelve months by means of a slit sampler, settle plates and blanket sweep plates. At the same time, nasal swabs were taken each week from the patients and all cases of sepsis examined bacteriologically.Phage typing of more than 3600 isolations ofStaph. aureusshowed that there was one predominant strain in the air, bedding, patients' noses and infected wounds.There was no relationship between the total number of bacteria in the ward air and the numbers ofStaph. aureus.The recovery of large numbers ofStaph. aureusfrom the air at certain periods was associated with a high contamination rate in the blankets and with an increased incidence of staphylococcal sepsis.Not all nasal carriers ofStaph. aureuscontaminated their bedding. There was evidence that some patients became nasal carriers of strains of staphylococci previously isolated from their bedding.Some evidence was obtained that blankets may play a role in the transmission of staphylococci from patient to patient.This work was supported by a grant from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. Our thanks are due to Mrs Elisabeth Bradshaw for her technical assistance and to Prof. John Loewenthal for his interest and for permission to study his wards.