Methicillin-resistance Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are common in hospitals in many countries, including South East Asia. Nosocomial MRSA is characteristically resistant to multiple antibiotics but can be treated with vancomycin. More recently MRSA have emerged in the community (CMRSA) and these characteristically are not multiply resistant like the hospital strains. MRSA have been found to spread within and between hospitals, thus are referred to as epidermic MRSA (EMRSA). It is therefore important to characterise isolates so that pathogenic and epidemic strains of MRSA can be identified. For this study 309 MRSA isolated from blood cultures between June 1998 and December 1999 were provided by the Sentry Program Centre in Adelaide, South Australia. The isolates were from hospitals in Australia, South Africa, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan. Isolates were characterised by phenotypic and molecular methods. The methods used were extended antibiograms and resistograms, bacteriophage typing, countour-clamped homogeneous electric field (CHEF) electrophoresis, plasmid profiling and analysis of the mec complex. Most of the isolates were resistant to the majority of the antimicrobials tested although all were susceptible to vancomycin. Three isolates from Hong Kong and seven from Royal Perth hospitals had resistance profiles similar to those of CMRSA. The majority of isolates were not susceptible to the International Bacteriophage Set (IBS). There was a predominant CHEF pattern amongst the South African isolates which had 88% similarity with the Australian CHEF pattern 1. However, the isolates were not related in other respects and had different plasmid profiles and mec complexes. The results indicated that the South African isolates are different from those from other hospitals and that Taiwanese and Japanese isolates are generally more diverse than those in the other countries. Hospitals in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong appear to have many different strains but do not have predominance of a particular strain. This study has provided a basis for additional studies to further characterise isolates from various countries and to understand the epidemiology of MRSA in the hospitals.

Abnormal haematology parameters in patients with HIV / AIDS are common. Anaemia is a frequent complication among these patients and it is usually associated with serious complications. Neutropenia and eosinophilia are common in the advanced stages of AIDS. It is therefore important to determine the haematology parameters in HIV /AIDS patients. This prospective study was carried out between July and September 2008. A total of 113 case notes of HIV / AIDS patients attending the Heduru Clinic were randomly selected. Their certified full blood count electronic results were obtained from the Haematology laboratory in Port Moresby General Hospital. Detailed re-examination of the fixed stained peripheral blood film of each patient was carried out using high-powered microscope. Gender distribution of the 113 case notes indicated 46 (41%) males and 67 (59%) females. Analysis of the data indicated high frequency of anaemia among the patients. Microcytic hypochromic anaemia was prevalence among 47.8% of the patients, macroscopic hypochromic anaemia 29.2% and normochromic normocytic anaemia 23.0%. Blood film showed presence of anisocytosis and poikilocytosis. Although only one patient had leucocytosis, leucopenia was prevalent among 20.4% of the patients; of these mild leucopenia was more frequent than moderate leucopenia. A total of 51 (45.1%) patients had Eosinophilia; of these 76.5% had mild eosinophilia, 17.6% moderate eosinophilia and 5.9% marked eosinophilia. Thrombocytopenia was observed in 21.2% and 0.9% with induced pseudothrombocytopenia. It is hoped that these findings will serve as base line for more detailed studies, and support the need to strongly advocate for routine monitoring of full blood count haematological parameters of HIV/AIDS patients in Papua New Guinean.