Microbial coinfections can increase the morbidity and mortality rates of viral respiratory diseases. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the pooled prevalence of fungal coinfections in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Web of Science, Medline, Scopus, and Embase were searched without language restrictions to identify the related research on COVID-19 patients with fungal coinfections from December 1, 2019, to December 30, 2020. A random-effects model was used for analysis. The sample size included 2,246 patients from 8 studies. The pooled prevalence of fungal coinfections was 12.60%. The frequency of fungal subtype coinfections was 3.71% for Aspergillus, 2.39% for Candida, and 0.39% for other. The World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Europe and Regional Office for Southeast Asia had the highest (23.28%) and lowest (4.53%) estimated prevalence of fungal coinfection, respectively. Our findings showed a high prevalence of fungal coinfections in COVID-19 cases, which is a likely contributor to mortality in COVID-19 patients. Early identification of fungal pathogens in the laboratory for COVID-19 patients can lead to timely treatment and prevention of further damage by this hidden infection.

OBJECTIVES: The emergence of resistant bacteria is being increasingly reported around the world, potentially threatening millions of lives. Amongst resistant bacteria, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the most challenging to treat. This is due to emergent MRSA strains and less effective traditional antibiotic therapies to Staphylococcal infections. The use of bacteriophages (phages) against MRSA is a new, potential alternate therapy. In this study, morphology, genetic and protein structure of lytic phages against MRSA have been analysed. METHODS: Isolation of livestock and sewage bacteriophages were performed using 0.4 μm membrane filters. Plaque assays were used to determine phage quantification by double layer agar method. Pure plaques were then amplified for further characterization. Sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and random amplification of polymorphic DNA were run for protein evaluation, and genotyping respectively. Transmission electron microscope was also used to detect the structure and taxonomic classification of phage visually. RESULTS: Head and tail morphology of bacteriophages against MRSA were identified by transmission electron microscopy and assigned to the Siphoviridae family and the Caudovirales order. CONCLUSION: Bacteriophages are the most abundant microorganism on Earth and coexist with the bacterial population. They can destroy bacterial cells successfully and effectively. They cannot enter mammalian cells which saves the eukaryotic cells from lytic phage activity. In conclusion, phage therapy may have many potential applications in microbiology and human medicine with no side effect on eukaryotic cells.
Agar ; Bacteria ; Bacteriophages ; Caudovirales ; Classification ; DNA ; Electrophoresis ; Eukaryotic Cells ; Head ; Humans ; Livestock ; Membranes ; Methicillin Resistance ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Methods ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning Transmission ; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission ; Sewage ; Siphoviridae ; Staphylococcal Infections ; Tail

Objectives: Vaginitis still remains as a health issue in women. It is notable that Candida albicans producing biofilm is considered a microorganism responsible for vaginitis with hard to treat. Also, Peganum harmala was applied as an anti fungal in treatment for many infections in Iran. Therefore, this study goal to investigate the role of P. harmala in inhibition of biofilm formation in C. albicans. Methods: So, 27 C. albicans collected from women with Vaginitis, then subjected for biofilm formation assay. P. harmala was applied as antibiofilm formation in C. albicans. Results: Our results demonstrated that P. harmala in concentration of 12 μg/ml easily inhibited strong biofilm formation; while the concentrations of 10 and 6 μg/ml inhibited biofilm formation in moderate and weak biofilm formation C. albicans strains, respectively. Conclusion Hence, the current study presented P. harmala as antibiofilm herbal medicine for C. albicans; but in vivo study suggested to be performed to confirm its effectiveness.

Objectives: Widespread use of β-lactam antibiotics could cause resistance to this group of antibiotics in pathogenic bacteria through the production of the enzyme β-lactamases. The aim of this study is to determine the molecular detection of AmpC β-lactamases among clinical Escherichia coli isolated from Ilam hospitals in Ilam, Iran. Methods: One hundred and twelve clinical isolates of E. coli were collected from hospitalized patients and were identified by biochemical tests. They were evaluated for extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) production, and the positive strains were subjected to AmpC enzymes; for detection of AmpC cluster genes, multiplex polymerase chain reaction was applied. Results: The analysis showed 62.5% of isolates were ESBLs positive and that five strains revealed the AmpC cluster genes. This is the first report of FOXM cluster genes in E. coli in Iran. Conclusion Based on our results, the prevalence of AmpC β-lactamases is increasing in Iran, which caused failure in antibiotic therapy. So, the current study recommended the revision of antibiotic policy in Iranian hospitals.