Background: Bacterial pathogens isolated from dacryocystitis patients are diverse and complex in terms of their distribution, prevalence, and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. The clinical importance of microbial causes of dacryocystitis and pattern of drug resistance has not been reported in northwest Ethiopia. Moreover, the management of dacryocystitis is based on only clinical observation Therefore, this study attempted to identify and define clinical and microbiological characteristics of microbial agents of dacryocystitis and its antibiotic susceptibility patterns. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from January 2011-January 2012 among dacryocystitis patients attending ophthalmology outpatient department of Gondar University teaching Hospital. Sociodemographic and clinical data collection, microbiological analysis and antibiotic susceptibility test patterns were done following standard procedures. Results: From the total of 51 dacryocystitis cases, bacterial origins were isolated among 31(60.8%) cases. The dominant isolates were Coagulase negative Staphylococci (CNS) 9(29.0%), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) 6(19.4%), and Pseudomonas species 3(9.7%). S. pneumoniae, Entrobacter species, K. pnemoniae and H. influenzae were each accounted 6.5% isolation rate. Among the commonly prescribed antimicrobials tested for susceptibility pattern; amoxicillin 38.7%, ciprofloxacin 25.8%, chloramphinicol 25.8%, co-trimoxazole 25.8%, and ampicillin 19.4% were resistant to the overall bacterial isolates identified. Only Citrobacter species were sensitive to all antibiotics tested but the rest bacterial isolates were resistant for at least to one, two, three, four and more antibiotics tested. Overall, 9(29.0%) of the bacterial isolates were resistant to only one antibiotics and resistance to two, three and four antibiotics each accounted 5(16.1%) rate. Conclusions: Though the information derived from this study was very meaningful, further studies encompassing viral, fungal, parasitic and anaerobic bacterial origin are important to better define the spectrum and relative incidence of pathogens causing dacryocystitis. Microbiological analysis and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern is mandatory for the selection of a specific antimicrobial therapy and to the control of further resistance development of bacterial strains. Keywords: Dacryocystitis, Antibiotic resistance, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Syphilis and HIV infections in pregnancy result in a number of adverse outcomes including neonatal death and vertical transmission. Ethiopia is a country where these infections are highly prevalent. However, data on co-morbidities of syphilis and HIV among pregnant women in Gondar are scarce. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of these infections and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care at the University of Gondar teaching hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from February to June 2011. Structured interviews were used to collect socio-demographic and obstetric data. Sera against syphilis were screened by rapid plasma reagin test; and confirmed by Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay. HIV infection was detected by rapid HIV test kits following the national algorithms for HIV testing. Data were summarized by descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Results: Of 385 pregnant women, reactive syphilis was noted in 11/385 (2.9%) and seroprevalence of HIV was 43/385 (11.2%). The prevalence of syphilis and HIV co-infection was 2/385(0.5%). High rate of syphilis was observed among the women with above 30 years of age (OR 3.69, 95% CI 0.83 - 16.82). Women with a history of miscarriage and stillbirth were more likely to be infected by syphilis (OR 2.22, 95% CI 0.54-9.60) and (OR 3.24, 95% CI 0.00-17.54), respectively. Conclusion: Our data indicated that syphilis and HIV infections are still important public health concerns among pregnant women in the Gondar area. Hence, we recommend strenuous screening of all pregnant women for these infections during antenatal care. Further, strengthening health education on the mode of transmission and prevention of HIV and syphilis is essential for effective control of these infections. Keywords: HIV, Syphilis, Pregnant women, Antenatal care