Anwar Ahmed Hoosen

BACKGROUND: The GenoType® MTBDRsl assay is a new rapid assay for the detection of resistance to second-line anti-tuberculosis drugs.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the MTBDRsl assay on 342 multidrug-resistant tuberculosis isolates for resistance to ofloxacin (OFX), kanamycin (KM), capreomycin (CPM) and ethambutol (EMB), to compare the results to the agar proportion method, and to test discrepant results using DNA sequencing.

RESULT: The sensitivity and specificity of the MTBDRsl assay were ...

OBJECTIVE: To study the microbial aetiology of genital ulcer disease (GUD) in women.

DESIGN: Microbial and clinical assessment of genital ulcers in women.

SETTING: City Health sexually transmitted diseases clinic, King Edward VIII Hospital, Durban, South Africa.

PARTICIPANTS: 100 Zulu women with genital ulceration who had not received antibiotics in the previous two weeks.

RESULTS: Syphilis was diagnosed in 40%, genital herpes in 18%, donovanosis (granuloma inguinale) in 16%, chancroid ...

BACKGROUND: Little is known regarding the human papillomaviruses (HPV) genotypes prevalent in women in South Africa, a country with a high incidence of cervical cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and HPV genotypes in women with squamous abnormalities and normal cervixes participating in a community-based microbicide study.

STUDY DESIGN: A total of 159 cervical specimens, including 56 specimens from women with abnormal cytology (cases) and 103 randomly selected specimens from ...

Despite South Africa being one of the high-burden multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) countries, information regarding the population structure of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains is limited from many regions of South Africa. This study investigated the population structure and transmission patterns of drug-resistant M. tuberculosis isolates in a high-burden setting of South Africa as well as the possible association of genotypes with drug resistance and ...

River water sources and diarrhoeic stools of residents in the Venda Region, Limpopo Province of South Africa were analysed for the prevalence of Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) and the presence of virulence genes among the isolates. A control group of 100 nondiarrhoeic stool samples was included. Escherichia coli was isolated and identified by standard cultural and biochemical methods. Pathogenicity of environmental and human isolates was determined by amplification of genes associated with ...

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of tuberculous (TB) pleuritis is difficult and better diagnostic tools are needed. New blood based interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) tests are promising, but sensitivity could be low in HIV positive patients. The IFN-gamma tests have not yet been validated for use in pleural fluid, a compartment with higher level of immune activation than in blood.

METHODS: The QuantiFERON TB-Gold (QFT-TB) test was analysed in blood and pleural fluid from 34 patients presenting with ...

Treatment of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV co-infections is often complicated by drug-to-drug interactions between anti-mycobacterial and anti-retroviral agents. Rifabutin (RFB) is an alternative to rifampin (RIF) for TB regimens and is recommended for HIV patients concurrently receiving protease inhibitors because of reduced induction of CYP3A4. This study sought to determine the proportion of RFB susceptible isolates among RIF-resistant strains in a high HIV prevalence setting in South ...

BACKGROUND: The presence of multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii raises a big therapeutic challenge in our hospital. Tigecycline, a new glycylcycline with expanded broad spectrum of activity against multi-drug resistant organisms was recently licensed in South Africa.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro activity of tigecycline against carbapenem resistant A. baumannii complex.

METHODS: Consecutive clinical isolates of carbapenem resistant A. baumannii complex ...

A growing body of evidence indicates that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive individuals are more likely to be infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) than HIV-negative individuals, possibly as a result of shared risk factors. There is also evidence that HIV-positive individuals who are subsequently infected with HBV are more likely to become HBV chronic carriers, have a high HBV replication rate, and remain hepatitis Be antigen positive for a much longer period. In addition, it ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the accuracy of clinical diagnosis in genital ulcer disease (GUD); to devise management strategies for improving the control of GUD and thereby limit the spread of HIV-1 infection.

DESIGN: Clinical and microbiological assessment of GUD in men and women. The index of suspicion, diagnostic accuracy, diagnostic efficiency and positive and negative predictive values of a clinical diagnosis were investigated.

SETTING: City Health Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinic, ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the role of bacterial vaginosis (BV) on pregnancy complications in a developing community where mixed cervico-vaginal infections are common.

SETTING: The antenatal clinic at King Edward VIII Hospital (KEH), Durban, South Africa, which is a large urban tertiary hospital serving mainly a Black underprivileged population of KwaZulu/Natal.

METHODS: Asymptomatic pregnant women < or = 30 weeks gestation were recruited at their first antenatal visit. Clinical data including ...

BACKGROUND: Adenosine Deaminase Activity (ADA) is a commonly used marker for the diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion. There has been concern about its usefulness in immunocompromised patients, especially HIV positive patients with very low CD4 counts. The objective of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of ADA in pleural fluid in patients with low CD4 counts.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective case control study. Medical files of patients with tuberculous ...

OBJECTIVE--To determine the association of sexually transmitted pathogens in women with cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN). SETTING--An urban tertiary referral hospital serving a large indigent developing community. PARTICIPANTS--48 women attending a colposcopy clinic and 49 women attending a family planning clinic. METHODS--Vaginal, endocervical, rectal swab specimens and sera were collected for the detection of sexually transmitted pathogens. Cervical cytology was performed on ...

Neonatal candidaemia is a common, deadly and costly hospital-associated disease. To determine the genetic diversity of Candida parapsilosis causing fungaemia in South African neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). From February 2009 through to August 2010, cases of candidaemia were reported through laboratory-based surveillance. C. parapsilosis isolates from neonatal cases were submitted for identification by internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region sequencing, antifungal susceptibility ...

The aim of this study was to identify and characterize 97 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates. Two conventional multiplex PCR assays, a real-time PCR assay and two PCR-based genotyping techniques including the spa- and hypervariable region (HVR)-typing methods were used to identify and characterize 97 MRSA strains isolated between April 2006 to September 2007 from the Steve Biko Academic Hospital. All MRSA isolates were positive for 16S rRNA gene, 99% were ...